Diorhabda elongata on saltcedar flower buds.

Recipients of the Outstanding MS in Biological Control Award

 

2011 -- no nominees!  Please apply for 2012!

 

Romero-2010-ms

2010 Wendy Romero
Ms. Romero received her BS degree in Biology from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, in 2005, and her Licenciate in Biology (cum laude) in 2007.  Her diploma thesis was entitled “Effectiveness of conventional and biological miticides for the control of the avocado brown mite.”
She joined Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree's Agro-Eco Research Lab in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph in 2009, where she is completing her MS on the topic: “Development of reduced risk control strategies for western flower thrips and silverleaf whitefly associated with propagative material.” 
The focus of her research is on use of novel reduced risk immersion treatments to control these pests in poinsettia and chrysanthemum cuttings.
Her studies at Guelph have demonstrated the potential of significant improvement in biocontrol programs by controlling these pests using alternatives that offer no residual impacts  on natural enemies, and reduce initial pest populations, allowing biocontrol to be more effective. 
She has presented numerous talks on her work to both scientific and grower audiences, and her methods are being adopted by growers in Canada and the USA.

 

Thelma Heidel2008 Thelma Heidel
Thelma Heidel received a joint Bachelors degree in Plant Pathology and Entomology from the University of Wisconsin in 2003. During this time she worked with Dr. Gary Jahn of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) rice stem borer parasitoids as part of a year long internship at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños. When residing in Madison, she worked with Dr. Walt Stevenson as a lab technician in the Plant Pathology Department. In 2004 she took a job with Syngenta Corporation where she worked on the development of products for managing corn pathogens.

Thelma joined Dr. Robert O’Neil’s Biological Control Laboratory at the Department of Entomology of Purdue University in May of 2005. There she assessed the potential non-target effects of a soybean aphid parasitoid on aphid communities in Indiana prairies. In addition to collecting thousands of aphid colonies on a wide variety of plant hosts, she supervised the summer laboratory workers responsible for carrying on Dr. O’Neil’s work as his health declined. Thelma received her MS in May of 2008. In August of 2008 Thelma accepted a 5 year NSF-IGERT Fellowship at the University of Minnesota where she works on risk assessment with Dr. George Heimpel in the Department of Entomology.

 

Karrie Koch2007 Karrie Koch
Karrie A. Koch received her B.S. degree in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in environmental science and biology. In the summer of 2005, she began her M.S. program at the University of Minnesota, majoring in entomology. Currently, she is completing her Master’s degree, under the direction of Dr. David Ragsdale, in the secondary effects of soybean rust fungicides on the beneficial fungi infecting the invasive soybean aphid. She anticipates completing her M.S. in the spring of 2008. Concurrently, she has begun class work for her Ph.D. in entomology, with a minor in invasive species and genotypes, after receiving an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) at the University of Minnesota. Karrie’s research interests include biological control of agricultural pests and for her dissertation research she plans to focus on the role of beneficial fungi in the natural control of the invasive soybean aphid.

 

 

Nicholas Schmidt2006 Nicholas Schmidt
Nicholas Schmidt, Iowa State University, began his graduate career after completing a B.S. at Luther College, Decorah, IA, where he studied the impact of conservation practices on various insect taxa. During his first field season, Nick saw the potential for conservation practices to improve upon the biological control of soybean aphids. Since then Nick has attacked his research and related projects, and as a result he is a co-author on two peer-reviewed articles and lead author on yet another. Nick will transition to a Ph.D. program in the fall, working with Dr. Lisa Schulte and myself at ISU to employ landscape ecological techniques to quantify the impact of reconstructed tall grass prairies on soybean aphid population dynamics. Nick is also developing a respectable teaching portfolio that reflects his interest in biological control. He has been a teaching assistant for three of the four semesters he has been at ISU. This is notable as there is no requirement for M.S. students to TA. On his own, Nick identified being a TA as an opportunity to overcome a discomfort with public speaking and being in a position of leadership. His students note his infectious interest in entomology and his eagerness to work with them. Furthermore, Nick is now identified as a leader within our department. He is serving as the vice-president and now president of the Entomology Graduate Student Organization at ISU. In summary, Nick has a multi-faceted interest in biological control that makes him an excellent choice for the IOBC award for Outstanding Graduate Student in Biological Control.