Texas A&M University Department of Entomology
2017 Twentieth Annual Graduate Student Forum
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Minnie Belle Heep Center, Rm. 101

9:05 Welcome, Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy

9:10 – 9:20 Opening remarks, Dr. David Ragsdale

9:20 – 10:20 Keynote speakers, Dr. Adrianna Szezepaniec & Dr. Ismael Badillo Vargas

10:20 – 10:30 Coffee break, 1st floor atrium

10:30 – 10:45 Tyler Raszick – “Population genomics and patterns of host use in the cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus
(Reuter, 1876) (Hemiptera: Miridae)”

10:45 – 11:00 Mackenzie Tietjen – “The mystery of the immature stages of Ixodes scapularis in the South: Where are they?”

11:00 – 11:15 Xiaotian Tang – “Immune response of potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, to Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum in
the midgut”

11:15 – 11:30 Shavonn Whiten – “Putting the pieces together: Insight into the perimeter of protection provided by the peritrophic matrix
after adult mosquito blood feeding”

11:30 – 11:45 Alexandria Payne – “Synergistic effects of in-hive miticides and agro-chemicals on honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony
growth and survival”

11:45 – 1:00 Lunch (On your own)

1:00 – 1:15 Pierre Lau – “Honey bee (Apis mellifera) pollen preferences between nutritionally distinctive diets”

1:15 – 1:30 James Tracy – “Landscape Phenology of Monarch Breeding in the South-Central United States”.

1:30 – 1:45 Isaac Esquivel – “Spatial Relationships of Cotton Fleahopper and Verde Plant bug: Implications for Management”

1:45 – 2:00 Chloe Hawkings – “Fire ant vitellogenins”

2:00 – 2:30 Coffee and cookies reception, judge deliberation

2:30 – 2:35 Award ceremony

2:35 Adjourn