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Entomology News 2008


Holiday firewood should be purchased, burned locally

By Jennifer Stewart
Purdue News Service
December 16, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - With temperatures plummeting and the holiday season in full swing, it may be time to light the fireplace. But being selective about firewood can help prevent a whole host of problems in the months to come.

[More...]


Christian Krupke part of study suggesting warmer temperatures could lead to boom in corn pests

By Elizabeth K. Gardner
Purdue News Service
December 16, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Corn earthworm media Download photo Climate change could provide the warmer weather pests prefer, leading to an increase in populations that feed on corn and other crops, according to a new study. [More...]


Cate Hill, Purdue Entomology, Plays an Integral Part in Release of the Lyme Disease Tick Genome Annotation

December 3, 2008
Press Release

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health has funded the sequencing, assembly and annotation of the genome of the Lyme disease tick [More...]


Entomology Professor Rick Foster to assist in Indiana Guard unit's agriculture training for Afghan mission

By Beth Forbes
Purdue News
November 13, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A unit of specially selected Indiana National Guard members will be trained next week at Purdue University for deployment to Afghanistan as agricultural educators. [More...]


Purdue Entomology Students take awards at 2008 OVEA

October 28, 2008

Purdue Entomology students won awards in every category at the 2008 OVEA Ceremony. [More...]


John Foster

Purdue alum in entomology to be honored with John V. Osmun award

Purdue News Service
By Ashley Bechman
October 17, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - John Foster will be given the John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Achievement Award for Entomology at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in Phendler Hall. [More...]


EAB

Wood fair offers lessons in dealing with invasive species

Purdue News Service
By Jennifer Stewart
October 14, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An upcoming event near Indianapolis will offer activities and resources for homeowners and others to help deal with invasive species and to learn to use wood products in ways that don't endanger native forestland. [More...]


Fincannon Video Clip

David Fincannon (BS ’82) creates DVD chronicling pest control industry

PCT Newsletter
October 6, 2008

David Fincannon, A-All Pest Termite Exterminators, Dallas, Texas, and Pi Chi Omega have created a DVD titled "The Greatest Generation and the Modern Pesticide Revolution," which chronicles the pest control industry prior to, during and after World War II. [More...]


Linda Mason

Linda Mason represents Agriculture as part of leadership team for $3.92 million NSF grant to attract women into STEM disciplines

By Clyde Hughes
Purdue News Service
September 17, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue is launching a national model program to increase the number and diversity of successful women faculty members in the STEM disciplines - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - as well as agriculture. [More...]


Shauna Stapleton

Soccer standout and Purdue Entomology Senior Shauna Stapleton still scoring off the field

Purdue Agriculture News
By Heather Crabtree
September 11, 2008

In her very first soccer game when she was 5, Shauna Stapleton bent down and picked up the ball with her hands, violating one of the first rules of the game. [More...]


Kevin Steffey

Purdue alum Kevin Steffey (BS '73) being honored as one of 10 Fellows this year at the ESA annual meeting in Reno

Entomological Society of America
September 2, 2008

Dr. Kevin L. Steffey has been recognized for his extension entomology program at the University of Illinois, where he has been an extension specialist (100% appointment) since 1979, first with the Office of Economic Entomology, then with the Department of Crop Sciences (since 1996).[More...]


Jeff Holland part of 100-year study

Entomology professor Jeff Holland's interest in beetle communities contributes to 100-year study

By Douglas M. Main
Purdue News Service
September 4, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A century-long study seeks to see the forest for more than just the trees.[More...]


Chris Oseto

Entomology professor Chris Oseto was one of the 49 professors inducted into the Book of Great Teachers

By Brian Wallheimer
Journal & Courier
August 29, 2008

Most, if not all, of the professors who walked across the stage at the Purdue Memorial Union on Thursday had won awards before.

But these awards were special.[More...]


Kids learning about bugs

Students get into nature with help of Arwin Provonsha and others

The Paper of Montgomery County Online
August 28, 2008

Montgomery County fourth graders got down and dirty for a lesson Wednesday.

The lessons that the students learned Wednesday - and even more will be learning today - were not presented in a classroom. They were part of a series of presentations at the annual Field Days sponsored by the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District at Cain's Homelike Family Farm on Indiana 47 near Darlington. [More...]


Ralph Williams

Ralph Williams, Purdue entomology professor, uses bugs to solve mysteries

By Jennifer Christos
Journal & Courier
August 27, 2008

Did you know that insects can help detectives solve mysteries? Ralph Williams, an entomology professor who teaches forensic science and crime investigation at Purdue University, said forensic entomology is a relatively new area of entomology. [More...]


Greg Hunt with Bees

Healthy honey bees is goal of Greg Hunt, a Purdue apicultural researcher and geneticist, along with a multi-institutional research team

By Susan A. Steeves
August 21, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -A combination of pathogens, pesticides and parasites may underlie such a massive disappearance of honeybees that agricultural production may be threatened, says a Purdue University researcher. [More...]


Indiana State Fair Roach Race

Purdue's Entomology department shines on its day at the State Fair

Purdue News Service
August 15, 2008

Purdue entomology faculty member Arwin Probansha signals graduate student Tabitha Carroll to release the roaches as assistants Adbeel Cueva and Darius Okley, both 9, of Indianapolis, watch Friday (Aug. 15) during Purdue Day at the Indiana State Fair.[More...]


Emerald Ash Borer Feeding

Emerald Ash Borer found in another part of infested county is no surprise, according to Jodie Ellis

Herald Journal
Kevin Howell
August 14, 2008

Emerald ash borer, an invasive little green beetle that has been causing devastating damage to North American ash trees after arriving in the United States from Asia in the early 1990s, has spread to yet another area in Indiana.[More...]


Tim Gibb

Purdue entomologist Tim Gibb among researchers working with housing authority to rid high-rise of bed bugs

By Laura Misjak
August 5, 2008

Johnnie Freeman never realized bed bugs were real. He just thought that was a funny-sounding name used to get giggles out of children.

Now, he knows better. And he's not laughing. [More...]


Greg Hunt

Greg Hunt Collaborator on $4.1 Million USDA Award to Study Colony Collapse Disorder

By Jennifer Martin
July 17, 2008

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that more than $4 million will be awarded to the University of Georgia to study the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and other diseases affecting bee populations, whose pollination is valued at $15 billion annually to U.S. agriculture. [More...]


Red Flour Beetle

Purdue entomologists Jeff Stuart and Rajat Aggarwal contribute to discovery of "selfish" gene in red flour beetle

By Sharon Durham
July 31, 2008

Tracking the red flour beetle in grain storage facilities could become easier, thanks to research to identify a key gene in this grain-feeding pest. [More...]


Tom Turpin Master Farmer

Tom Turpin, Honorary Master Farmer

By Steve Yaninek
July 31, 2008

Congratulations to Tom Turpin who was recognized today as a Honorary Master Farmer at the 2008 Master Farmer Awards Presentation hosted by Indiana Prairie Farmer and Purdue University. [More...]


Flooding damaged cropland, but reduced pesky insects according to Purdue entomologist John Obermeyer

Media-Newswire.com
July 23, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The only good thing that may have come from the floods in Indiana in May and early June is the reduction of crop insects because they weren't able to survive the wet conditions, said a Purdue University expert. [More...]


Purdue entomologist Jodie Ellis says traps have detected emerald ash borer in northern Indiana county

Purdue News
By Jennifer Cummins
July 22, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Emerald ash borer has been detected in Kosciusko County in northeastern Indiana. [More...]


Entomology department joins other butterfly lovers to measure ecology's health

Journal and Courier
By Curt Slyder
July 20, 2008

Butterfly nets were in abundance Saturday afternoon on Lafayette's south side. [More...]


Walter (BS ’05, MS ’07) To Lead Invasive Species Efforts In Pennsylvania

PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX
July 9, 2008

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Ashley Walter, a Purdue University graduate and national standout in invasive species management, has been named Pennsylvania's new invasive species coordinator, said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff today. [More...]


No experience necessary: Butterfly counters wanted

Purdue News
By Jennifer Cummins
July 3, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University's entomology department and Eli Lilly and Co. are inviting butterfly enthusiasts of all ages to the Tippecanoe County Butterfly Field Day on July 19. [More...]


Asst. Professor Grzesiek Buczkowski's research shows single insecticide application can kill 3 cockroach generations

Purdue News
By Susan Steeves
June 23, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - One dose of an insecticide can kill three generations of cockroaches as they feed off of each other and transfer the poison, according to Purdue University entomologists who tested the effectiveness of a specific gel bait. [More...]


Cliff Sadof, Purdue researchers release natural enemy of emerald ash borer

Noblesville Daily Times
Press Release
June 18, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Three species of wasps collected from ash trees in China have the potential to save ash trees in North America.

On Thursday (June 19) Purdue University researchers, armed with permits from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, will begin to release 200 of the first wasp species in an ash forest near Rousch Lake in Huntington. [More...]


USDA Teaching Award to Entomology Facutly Member Chris Oseto

By Steve Yaninek
June 16, 2008

Congratulations to Chris Oseto who has been awarded a 2008 regional USDA Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award. [More...]


Ralph Williams, Faculty Member, States Mosquitoes May Be Early and Numerous Due to Floods

Purdue News
By Susan Steeves
June 12, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Hoosiers should be extra vigilant this year to avoid mosquito bites because itching and scratching season likely will begin early due to June's massive flooding, according to Purdue University experts. [More...]


Jacob Rowland (BS '08) Reports West Nile Not Yet Here, But Threat Remains

Journal and Courier
by Lakin Brown
June 9, 2008

Two mosquito groups have tested positive for the West Nile virus in Marion County.

It's that time again in Indiana. [More...]


Michael Scharf (BS '91, MS '93, PhD '97) Helps to Develop Genetic Pesticide in UF Lab

PCT Online
May 29, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Each year in the United States, termites gnaw away more than $1 billion in structural damage despite an ever growing array of insect control techniques. In this battle, the next generation of weapons could target the termite’s very genes. [More...]


Indiana joins multistate effort to fight emerald ash borer

Purdue News
By Jennifer Cummins
May 13, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has declared May 18-24 Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, part of a multistate effort to reinforce the dangers of firewood movement by unsuspecting citizens. [More...]


Lyndsay Knoblock-Fast (BS '04) hired as Animal Health Field Specialist for Whitmire Micro-Gen Hires

Press Release
By Trish Grove
April 30, 2008

ST. LOUIS, MO – Whitmire Micro-Gen announced today that it has hired Lyndsay Knoblock-Fast as an Animal Health Field Specialist. In this role, Knoblock-Fast is responsible for sales across the United States for Whitmire Micro-Gen animal health products. [More...]


Monarch butterflies returning to the sky

Journal and Courier
By Kevin Smith
May 7, 2008

If the pungent smells of bright tree blossoms are not enough to show that spring has finally arrived, evidence of one of the great journeys in nature is a sure sign. [More...]


Purple traps to be placed around state to detect emerald ash borer

Purdue News
By Jennifer Cummins
May 5, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Bright purple objects resembling box kites will be used to trap emerald ash borers in ash trees throughout the state in preparation for the pest's first emergence in early to mid-May. [More...]


Corey Gerber (BS '93, MS '95, PhD '03) and Entomology staff member John Obermeyer, part of an award-winning team

Purdue News
By Susan A. Steeves
April 28, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An interdisciplinary group of specialists that lead the Purdue Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center has won the university's 2008 Agriculture Team Award. [More...]


Dave Mueller (BS '75) and Purdue Receive Insect Biosensors Research Grant

PCT Online
April 28, 2008

WESTFIELD, Ind. — Insects Limited, in partnership with Purdue University, received a Small Business Initiative Research grant (SBIR) from the state of Indiana and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for work in the area of insect biosensors. This is one of only four state and federal SBIR grants awarded in Indiana this year. The grants totaled $160,000. [More...]


Carolyn Foley, MS student, Received the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Teaching

By Steve Yaninek
April 22, 2008

Congratulations to Carolyn Foley, a MS student working with Jeff Holland, who received the Purdue University Graduate Student Award for outstanding teaching at the Celebration of Graduate Student Teaching Banquet. [More...]


Green menace returns to haunt ash trees in Indiana counties

Ag Communications
By Jennifer Cummins
April 21, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - They're coming back and they're hungry for ash trees.

Emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that feeds on North American ash trees, will begin flying again in the state of Indiana in May. [More...]


Entomology Faculty Promotions

By Steve Yaninek
April 17 2008

Congratulations to Linda Mason and Cate Hill!

Linda has been promoted to Professor, and Cate has been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. The Board of Trustees gave final approval for these promotions on Friday. Both promotions are effective July 1st. [More...]


Outstanding Entomology Students are recognized

By Steve Yaninek
April 14, 2008

Congratulations to the following students and staff who were recognized yesterday at the College of Agriculture Spring Awards Program. These awards recognize outstanding contributions and accomplishments in the Department of Entomology.
[More...]


Entomology Student, Shauna Stapleton, honored at annual awards convocation

Purdue News Service
By Julie Rosa
April 13, 2008

Shauna Spring Stapleton, an entomology major with a minor in pre-medicine from Springfield, Ohio, received the $500 Flora Roberts Award for the outstanding graduating woman. Stapleton has been on the dean's list and semester honors list [More...]


Shauna Stapleton, Entomology Senior, will receive the 2008 Varsity Walk Award

By Purdue Sports
April 9, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Reamer Club announced Tuesday that Shauna Stapleton will receive this year's Varsity Walk Award, which is presented each spring to the outstanding senior who has participated as a varsity athlete and brought national recognition to Purdue. [More...]


Major offers 'endless opportunities' ranging from Purdue to Disney

Purdue Exponent
By Brittni Ballard
April 7, 2008

Tupperware in the refrigerator seems commonplace, as does disposing of old containers and contents. Usually.

A tour of the department of entomology's rearing house defies this rule - that when bugs get in, the Tupperware goes out. [More...]


Entomology Senior Gains Top Honors in Agriculture for White Grub Biological Control Research

By Steve Yaninek
April 3, 2008

Terri Hoctor, a Senior in the Department of Entomology won top honors in the College of Agriculture for her poster “Comparison of indigenous and commercial strains of the nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ”. Terri independently conducted a series of laboratory and field studies aimed at characterizing [More...]


Prize Winning Hessian Fly Research Poster

By Steve Yaninek
April 3, 2008

Jacob Shreve an undergraduate student in Biological Sciences got first place in the life sciences for his poster on “Genetic variation of Hessian fly populations from Manitoba Canada”. Jacob did a study addressing the genetic diversity in three Manitoba populations of Hessian flies and how it might relate to the ability [More...]


2008 Entomological Society of America North Central Branch Meeting
By Steve Yaninek
March 27, 2008

 

The event featured 10 symposia, BS/MS/PhD student competition sections, and several submitted papers sections. The number of participants was lower than normal, but this may have been because the meeting was at the eastern edge of the branch, and it started the day after Easter. [More...]


Michael R. Kanost, PhD '83, Distinguished Agricultural Alum honored
Purdue News
By Hannah Brescher
March 27, 2008

Michael R. Kanost of Manhattan, Kan., is university distinguished professor and biochemistry department head at Kansas State University.  Throughout subsequent decades, Kanost has taken part in many research initiatives, [More...]


David Mueller, BS '75, Announces Candidacy for Indiana State Senate
PCT Online
March 12, 2008

WESTFIELD, Ind. - David Mueller, founder and owner of Insects Limited, Westfield, Ind., declared his candidacy for Indiana State Senate, District 21. This district includes the 125,000 citizens in Kokomo, Greentown, Sheridan, Tipton, Westfield, and Zionsville and the surrounding region. More than 200 Republican [More...]


Rose Pest Solutions Adds Jami Guenther, MS '05, to Technical Department
PCT Online
March 11, 2008

TROY, Mich. - Rose Pest Solutions announced Jami Guenther has been named regional technical and quality representative for the company’s western Michigan and Indiana operations. [More...]


Pioneering Women in Plant Pathology!
APSnet
The American Phytopathological Society
March 7, 2008

Virginia Ferris earned a Ph.D. degree in plant pathology at Cornell University in 1954 studying potato late blight. After graduation, she shifted to work on the golden nematode, and nematology became her life’s work. Ferris juggled a family and career while generating her own grant funds [More...]


Family, Friends Gather for John Osmun's 90th Birthday Celebration
PCT Online
By Brad Harbison 
February 25, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Family and friends gathered on Friday to celebrate John Osmun’s 90th birthday. [More...]


Charlie Hromada, MS '54, passes away

CHARLES "Charlie" JOSEPH HROMADA, 76, of Germantown, passed away Saturday, February 9, 2008 at Baptist Memorial Hospital -Memphis. Son of Hungarian immigrants Joseph and Genevieve Hromada, he was born September 1, 1931 and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. [More...]


Entomology Professor, Bob O’Neil, passes away
Journal and Courier
February 7, 2008

Robert James O'Neil, 52, died February 6, 2008, at home. He was born July 14, 1955 in Boston, MA, son of Harold and Margaret Ryan O'Neil. He graduated from Belmont High School, Belmont, MA, earned his bachelor's degree from University of Massachusetts, his master's degree from Texas A&M University and his PhD from University of Florida in Gainesville. [More...]


2008 edition of the 'Corn and Soybean Field Guide' is available
Ag Communications
By Julie Douglas
January 31, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A pocketbook sized in-field reference is now available that provides a variety of applicable information for row crop producers and crop specialists throughout the Corn Belt. [More...]


Fishing in the Entomological Stream: A book by Purdue entomology students
Department of Entomology
By Thelma Heidel and Jody Green
January 23, 2008

Entomology professor Dr. Larry Murdock always emphasizes in his classes that being a good scientist consists of more than just the ability to conduct good research. In particular, he emphasizes the importance of writing well. [More...]


72nd Annual Purdue Pest Management Conference
PCT Online
By Chuck Bowen
January 8, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers, pest management professionals, manufacturers and other industry professionals traveled from throughout the country to attend the annual Purdue Pest Management Conference this week. [More...]


Jan Douglas Hacker, BS '69, Passes Away Charleston
Daily News

Jan Douglas Hacker, 61, of St. Albans, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, January 12, 2008 at home. A native of Converse, Ind., born on June 15, 1946, Jan is the son of the late Dean L. and the late Norma Hacker. [More...]


Entomology students gain perspective through Mexico trip
Purdue Exponent
By Emily Fata
January 9, 2008

Foregoing typical holiday festivities to spend their semester break in the remote rainforests of Mexico, eight Purdue students gained a unique perspective regarding the world's monarch butterfly population. [More...]


Entomologist: Don't let volunteer corn report for duty
Ag Communications
By Steve Leer
January 2, 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Bt could stand for "big trouble" in the years ahead if farmers aren't careful in their use of biotech corn, said a Purdue University entomologist.
[More...]