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Entomology Student Research Recognized at TAMU Student Research Week

by Rob Williams

April 6, 2009

Research is the first step in discoveries. For four students in the Department of Entomology, their research discovered top honors for excellence during this year's Student Research Week.

These students were part of hundreds of other projects presented during the event held from March 23-27.

Senior Entomology major Patricia Mullins received first place in Ecology/Conservation for her presentation titled "Host Specificity of Non-pollinating Fig Wasps of Dominica, W.I." Mullins is currently involved in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program under Dr. John Oswald. Her research involves investigating the distribution and seasonality of Texas silphids.

Senior Entomology student Ashleigh Faris was a Taxonomy winner receiving second place in the Ecology and Conservation section for her poster entitled "Sharing Knowledge: an interactive key for parasitic wasps of the family Signiphoridae".

She also is part of the Department's National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program and works in Dr. Jim Wooley's laboratory.

Hsiao-Ling Lu won first place in the Agriculture/Agronomy/Botany/Plant Science taxonomy and was also named a session winner for her oral presentation.  Hyeog-Sun Kwon won second place in the Agriculture/Agronomy/Botany/Plant Science taxonomy and session during the oral presentation portion of the event. Lu won the award for her presentation entitled "Developmental expression pattern and RNA interference of the vitellogenin receptor in fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) queens."

Kwon was recognized for his presentation entitled "Characterization of a calcitonin receptor-like receptor(AaegGPRcal1) from Malpighian Tubules of Aedes aegypti and its in vivo functional analysis."

Both Lu and Kwon are students in Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio's laboratory and are working towards their PhD degrees.

The mission of Student Research Week, SRW ( http://srw.tamu.edu ), is to recognize and celebrate student research at Texas A&M University. SRW aims to highlight the excellence and broad range of this research to the University community.

During the event, students present their research either by submitting and displaying a poster or making an oral presentation and are judged by a panel of their peers or faculty members. Other events include expert lunch panels, resource tables, research symposiums and guest speakers.