Alejandro Calixto Places Third at 2008 ESA Meeting
Congratulations to Alejandro Calixto on receiving third place within the Ph.D. category of the student oral presentation competition at the 2008 Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America meeting.
Calixto received the award for his presentation of his paper titled " titled "Canopy and Ground Dwelling Spiders in Pecan In Central Texas." Calixto worked alongside a team of TAMUS scientists that included Mr. Allen Dean and professor Dr. Â Marvin Harris (both from the Department of Entomology and AgriLife Research) and Texas AgriLife Extension Professor of Entomology and Extension Specialist Dr. Allen Knutson and District 9 Extension Pest Management Specialist Bill Ree.
"Alejandro has an excellent background in ecology begun in the rain forest of Colombia and bolstered by field experience with pelagic birds in Canada. His studies at Texas A&M have concentrated on the ant mosaic in Texas, focusing on how to use poison baits to reduce fire ants and benefit other resident ants so they will compete with the fire ant as well, Harris said.
"He also has a strong program investigating the role of spiders in the agroecosystem, especially in pecans and rangeland. He is an excellent student,"he said.