Julio S. Bernal

TITLE: Associate Professor of Entomology, 50% Research (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station), 50% Teaching (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University).

EDUCATION:

• Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Riverside, March 1995.
• M.S. Entomology, University of California, Riverside, December 1991.
• B.S. Entomology/Plant Pathology, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico, September 1998.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION :
My research program (75% TAES 1998-Aug. 2005, 50% Sept. 2005-present) focuses on contributing to the theory and practice of biological control of arthropod pests in managed ecosystems. Specifically, research has focused on ecology and behavior of natural enemies and pests via field and laboratory studies. Teaching responsibilities (25% COALS 1998-Aug. 2005, 50% Sept. 2005-present) include classroom teaching and graduate student training.

Classroom teaching activities include Biology of Insects ENTO 313 (spring 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and fall 2005 and 2006), Principles of Insect Pest Management ENTO 401 (Fall 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005), Principles of Biological Control ENTO 608 (Spring 2006 [Co-Instructor], 2007), and Seminar in Entomology ENTO 681 (Spring 2002).

Graduate student training includes chair of six MS and three PhD committees, member of many MS and PhD committees, including off-campus PhD committees (two in Mexico, one in France). Service activities include membership in departmental committees (e.g., Education, Use and Allocation of Physical Space, several Search Committees in Entomology and Soil & Crop Sciences), one college committee (Signature Program Team), and various panels (e.g., USDA-NRI, Ford Foundation), Program Chair 2002 Joint Meeting Southwestern Branch ESA-Sociedad Mexicana de Entomología, Symposium Organizer, among others.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES:

Classroom teaching

• Biology of Insects (ENTO 313), spring 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; fall 2005, 2006
• Principles of Insect Pest Management (ENTO 401), fall 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 (no longer taught)
• Seminar in Entomology (ENTO 681), spring 2002
• Principles of Biological Control (ENTO 608), spring 2006, 2007

Graduate Student Supervision

• James Butler; M.S., summer 2004, Predicting boll weevil eradication induced pest outbreaks in Texas cotton, 84 pp.
• Rodrigo Diaz; M.S., spring 2003, Impact of the red imported fire ant upon cotton arthropods, 57 pp.
• Aldo Gardea, M.S. (current) (Host plant influences on coffee leaf miner in Chiapas, Mexico)
• Bradley Hopkins, M.S. (current) (Ecology and management of stinkbugs in Texas Gulf Coast Cotton).
• Andrea Joyce, Ph.D. (current). (Role of acoustic communication in mating in parasitoids in the genus Cotesia).
• Melissa Layton, Ph.D. (current). (Ecology of glassy-winged sharpshooter in central Texas).
• Refugio Lomeli, Ph.D. (current). (Ecology, natural enemies and management of coffee leaf miner in Chiapas, Mexico).
• Veronica Manrique, M.S., fall 2003, Host habitat location mediated by olfactory stimuli in Anaphes iole (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae), 65 pp.
• Beverly Wachtel Tomov; M.S., summer 2002, Non-target effects of transgenic sugarcane on Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Marsh), 48 pp.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Ramírez Romero, R., Bernal, J. S., Chaufaux J., Kaiser, L. (2006). Impact assessment of Bt-maize on a moth parasitoid, Cotesia marginiventris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), via host exposure to purified Cry1Ab protein or Bt-plants. Crop Prot. (in press).

Bernal, J. S. (2006). Environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms: Volume 1. A Case Study of Bt maize in Kenya (invited book review). Environ. Entomol. 35, 1139-1140.

Guinnee, M. A., Bernal, J. S., Bezemer, T. M., Fidgen, J. G., Hardy, I. C. W., Mayhew, P. J., Mills, N. J, West, S. A. (2005). Testing predictions of small-brood models using parasitoid wasps. Evol. Ecol. Res. 7, 779-794.

Manrique, V., Jones, W. A., Williams, L. H., III, Bernal, J. S. (2005). Olfactory responses of Anaphes iole (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) to volatile signals derived from host habitats. J. Insect Behav. 18, 89-104.

Bernal, J. S. (2004). Genetics, evolution and biological control (invited book review). Quart. Rev. Biol. 79, 420-421.

Bernal, J. S., Prasifka, J., Sétamou, M., Heinz, K. M. 2004. Transgenic insecticidal cultivars in integrated pest management: challenges and opportunities. In: O. Koul, G. S. Dhaliwal, and G. W. Cuperus (eds.), Integrated Pest Management: Potential, Constraints and Challenges. CABI, Oxfordshire, pp. 123-145 (in press).

Bernal, J. S., Sétamou, M. 2003. Fortuitous antixenosis in transgenic sugarcane: antibiosis-expressing cultivar deters oviposition by herbivore pests. Environ. Entomol. 32, 886-894.

Tomov, B. W., Bernal, J. S., Vinson, S. V. 2003. Impacts of transgenic sugarcane expressing GNA on parasitism of Mexican rice borer by Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Marsh) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Environ. Entomol. 32, 866-872.

Bernal, J., Griset, J., Gillogly, P. O. 2002. Impacts of developing on Bt maize-intoxicated hosts on fitness parameters of a stem borer parasitoid. J. Entomol. Sci. 37, 27-40.

Bernal, J. S. 2001. Handbook of biological control: principles and applications of biological control (invited book review). Q. Rev. Biol. 76, 109-110.

Bernal, J. S., Gillogly, P. O., Griset, J. 2001. Family planning in a parasitoid of stemborers: sex ratio, brood size and size-fitness relationships in Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and implications for biological control. Bull. Ent. Res. 91, 255-264.

SELECTED GRANT ACTIVITY:
Importation of parasitoids of Homalodisca and other Proconiini genera from northwestern Mexico for biological control of glassy-winged sharpshooter, California Department of Food and Agriculture, 2006-2008.

Development of biological control and vegetation management tactics for glassy-winged sharpshooter management, USDA-APHIS Cooperative Agreement, 2006-2007.

Developing environmentally friendly management technologies for emerging insect pests of tequila agave. TAMU-CONACyT Collaborative Research Grant Program, 2005-2006 (with B. Vinson, TAMU).

Integrated pest management for pecans in the Laguna region of Coahuila. TAMU-CONACyT Collaborative Research Grant Program, 2005-2006.

Promoting organic coffee production in Chiapas through pest management, agronomic, and economic research. TAMU-CONACyT Collaborative Research Grant Program, 2004-2005.

The impact of Bt transgenic maize and cotton on major lepidopteran pests and non-target insects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Robert Bosch Foundation (Germany) (with M. Sétamou, ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya, C. Borgemeister, University of Hanover, Germany.

Evaluation of parasitoids of the cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus. USDA, ARS, Cooperative Agreement, 2001-2003.

Biological control of Lygus lineolaris with egg parasitoids. USDA Cooperative Agreement, 2002-2004 (with W. Jones, USDA, ARS, Weslaco, TX).

Impacts of a transgenic insecticidal crop on parasitoid fitness and biological control performance. USDA-NRI Competitive Grants Program, 1999-2003.

Size-fitness relationships in a parasitoid wasp and implications for augmentative biological control. USDA-NRI Competitive Grants Program, 1997-1999.

SELECTED INVITATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

[Biological control and IPM vis-à-vis locusts and grasshoppers]. Integrated Management of the Central American locust and and pest Acridoidea in Latin America, Second International Shortcourse. Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, June, 2005.

[Prospects for biological control in the times of transgenes]. Simposio Internacional Alternativas ecológicas para el control de plagas y enfermedades agrícolas, November 2004.

Crop resistance via plant-derived transgenes and biological control via parasitoids: compatibility and promise. Symposium: Plant attribute manipulation and biological control, XV International Plant Protection Congress, Beijing, May 2004.

Effects on parasitoids of non-target, secondary pests. Symposium: Evaluating the Risk of Genetically Modified Plants to Natural Enemies: Learning from Transgenic Bt Crops, NC Branch ESA Meeting, Kansas City, March 2004.

Opportunities and risks associated with insect-resistant transgenic maize cultivars: pest management. Symposium: Insect resistant transgenic maize cultivars for Mesoamerica: need, availability, benefits, and risks. SW Branch ESA Meeting, Guanajuato, Mexico, February 2002.

SELECTED EDITORIAL/PEER REVIEW ACTIVITY

Editorial Board, Agro-Ciencia (Chile), August 2005-present.
Editorial Board, International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, March 2003-present.
Editorial Board, Naturaleza y Desarrollo (Mexico), April 2004-present.
Editorial Board, Vedalia (Mexico), August 2004-present.
Editorial Board, Biopesticides International, March 2005-present
Associate Editor, The Southwestern Entomologist, April 2001-March 2005.
Panelist, USDA, National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, Biologically Based Pest Management, 2003.
Panelist (Biological Sciences), Ford Foundation Predoctoral/Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, The National Academies, National Research Council, 2003, 2004, 2005.