Hsiao-Ling Lu working in Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio's
lab
Former Ph.D. Student Receives Comstock Award from ESA
A recent graduate of the Department of Entomology received the John H. Comstock Graduate Student Award during the 2011 National meeting in Reno, Nevada.
Hsiao-Ling Lu received the honor for her work as a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M under Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio. Lu's research with Pietrantonio focused on the characterization of key receptor proteins (vitellogenin receptor, short neuropeptide F receptor, and insulin receptors) involved in regulation and reproduction in the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Her dissertation work improves current knowledge of social insects, such as the fire ant, and contributes to research in the fields of insect physiology, molecular biology, and social insect biology.
Lu has six peer-reviewed publications and one book chapter and her work has been presented at national and international scientific conferences. She has also received several additional awards during her career, including the Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Award, the Mark Lu Educational Foundation of Hualien scholarship, and other presentation awards.
Lu received her Bachelors and Masters in Entomology form the National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan under the guidance of Drs. Kuang-Hui Lu and Wu-Chun Tu. She completed her Ph.D. in entomology in August of 2011 under the guidance of Pietrantonio at Texas A&M.
Lu currently is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Maryland.
"I am proud of Hsiao Ling and grateful to ESA for recognizing her achievement" Pietrantonio said. "Hsiao Ling has been a critical player in the laboratory throughout her Ph.D. studies. Her ability to perform different experiments simultaneously has been one of the secrets of her productivity and greatly contributed to the competitiveness of our work in fire ant research."
The Comstock Award is given to one graduate student from each of the Entomological Society of America's five branches to promote interest in the science of entomology at the graduate level and to stimulate interest in attending the annual meetings.