About Texas A&M Entomology
The mission of the Department is “to create and implement knowledge that improves lives”. The primary strength of the Department is our collective expertise to address diverse questions that span across programmatic areas and affect most aspects of human endeavor. Faculty, students and staff conduct discovery, transitional, and applied entomological research, which is delivered to Texans and the world, through educational outreach, classroom teaching, and distance education.
Recent growth in the Department includes 8 new faculty hires in the last 5 years with a total of 50 faculty members. Department-wide accomplishments are numerous, following are a few highlights: The cultural background of the faculty represent every continent on the globe which has led to a global expansion of teaching, research, and extension programs; Diversification of the student body has followed a similar trend, and the undergraduate program in Entomology has expanded to the point where Texas A&M Entomology educates more than one-third of all entomologists in the United States.
Currently, there are 76 Entomology undergraduates, 98 Forensic and Investigative Science undergraduates (46 new freshman), 37 double majors, 3 minors, and 53 Graduate Students (12 MS, 41 Ph.D.) The Department of Entomology has opened its research expertise to students across the country and has become the home to the only National Science Foundation funded Research Experience for Undergraduates site in Entomology in the United States, additional information about the department is available at http://insects.tamu.edu.
Facilities and ResourcesThe Department of Entomology occupies 42,000 square feet of laboratory, office, and classroom space in the Heep Center, built in 1977. Additional office and research space is available in the 17,600-square-foot Entomology Research Laboratory and in the 14,400-square-foot Biological Control Facility. In addition to the state facilities at College Station, a major USDA entomology research laboratory is located on campus. Members of the department's faculty are also stationed at nine modern, well-equipped regional research centers located in major agricultural areas in the state, enabling interested students to carry out research programs at these off-campus locations.
Specialized facilities available within the department include a collection of more than 1.4 million insect specimens, greenhouses, walk-in and individual-temperature/ photoperiod programmable chambers, computer terminals and printers, a photographic darkroom, federally approved maximum quarantine facilities, an NIH-approved P3 containment facility for virology research, and equipment for a full range of biochemical, physiological, and toxicological investigations.
About the University
Texas A&M University, the Land Grant institution in the state, is committed to academic excellence and diversity, and is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Over 48,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at the University; additional information about Texas A&M University is available at http://www.tamu.edu. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences includes more than 6,700 graduate and undergraduate students in 14 departments with more than 360 faculty members. Texas AgriLife Research and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are two of the major state agencies with resources committed to Department programs, more information at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/
About the Community
The University is located in College Station, Texas which -- combined with the twin city of Bryan-- forms a community of approximately 155,000 people with high-quality amenities and a low cost of living. In addition to excellent health, educational, and recreational services, the community affords a rich variety of cultural activities typical of a major university environment, including museums, music, art, and theater. Visit the city websites at College Station or Bryan, at http://www.cstx.gov/home/index.asp or http://www.bryantx.gov/ . Additional information about the twin cities is available on our local chamber of commerce website http://www.bschamber.org/