Andrew F. Read, a professor of biology and entomology at Penn State, has been named the Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences. Read perhaps is best known for his research on how natural selection shapes the virulence of malaria and how the "unnatural" selection imposed by medicine shapes the evolution of disease-causing organisms. This evolution causes drugs to fail and can create "super-bugs" that are resistant to pharmaceuticals. Since evolutionary responses to drugs, insecticides, and vaccines are the main causes of problems in preventing and treating infectious diseases, Read sees potential to use an improved understanding of pathogen evolution to inform public-health decisions. (more)
A free public lecture titled "Feeding the Future: From the Lab Bench to the Dinner Table" will take place at 11 a.m. on Feb 18, in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The speaker will be Bruce McPheron, professor of entomology and dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State. The event is the fifth of six lectures in the 2012 Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science, a free minicourse for the general public with the theme "Food: Strategies for Growing Enough for Everyone." No registration is required. The lectures take place on consecutive Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas Building. (more)
A free public lecture titled "Novel Solutions to Complex Diseases for Subsistence Agriculture" will take place at 11 a.m. on Feb. 11 in Room 100 of the Thomas Building on Penn State's University Park campus. The speaker will be David Hughes, who is an assistant professor of entomology and biology at Penn State. (more)
Consuelo De Moraes, professor of entomology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named a 2011 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was elected by her peers for her distinguished contributions to the fields of entomology and chemical ecology, particularly with regard to research on plant-insect interactions. (more)
Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are part of a $5.7 million, multi-state project to study the brown marmorated stink bug. The three-year project is aimed at developing economically and environmentally sustainable pest-management practices for the pest, which has caused millions of dollars worth of crop damage and become a major homeowner nuisance since it first was found in the United States, near Allentown, in the late 1990s. Penn State will receive nearly $900,000 of the grant to study stink bug biology and behavior, develop monitoring and management tools and practices, and provide extension education programs to disseminate new knowledge to crop producers. (more)
The Entomological Foundation, a Maryland-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to build a future for entomology by educating young people about science through insects, has announced the winners of its 2011 student and professional awards. Several entomologists with ties to Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are among the honorees. (more)
Are you being bugged by bugs? Are mice or rats chewing on your last nerve? A new publication from Penn State Extension gives readers advice about how to deal with them. (more)
Penn State's Department of Entomology hosted The Great Insect Fair at the Ag Arena on the University Park campus on Sept. 17. Visitors explored a variety of insect-related displays, collections, activities and games that included an insect deli, which offered some interesting snacks to fair-goers brave enough to try them. Go to http://live.psu.edu/flickrset/72157627690664468 to view photos from the fair. (more)
Some people lump all insects together and consider them just plain creepy. Visitors at Penn State's 2011 Great Insect Fair can learn to recognize and value good bugs for the necessary roles they play in keeping bad bugs at bay. Sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences' Department of Entomology, the fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 17 in the Snider Agricultural Arena, at the corner of Park Avenue and Fox Hollow Road (across from Beaver Stadium) on the University Park campus. "Insects perform many beneficial activities in our gardens and in the environment as a whole," said Steven Jacobs, senior extension associate in entomology and fair coordinator. (more)
New research has revealed how infection by a parasitic fungus dramatically changes the behavior of tropical carpenter ants (species Camponotus leonardi), causing them to become zombie-like and to die at a spot that has optimal reproduction conditions for the fungus. The multinational research team studied ants living high up in the rainforest canopy in Thailand. A paper describing the research was published in the BioMed Central open-access journal BMC Ecology on May 9. To see photos related to this research, visit http://live.psu.edu/flickrset/72157626690115010 online. (more)
