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Bill gave a talk for the Maryland Entomological Society’s virtual November meeting titled “Non-target effects of transgenic corn debris on streams: the changing picture of risk assessment”. His work has shown that transgenic corn plant material within streams has no negative effects on aquatic macroinvertebrate abundance in streams adjacent to crop fields. The Maryland Entomology Society posted the full details of his talk on Facebook.  The Entomological Society of America’s annual meetings attract entomologists from all over the United States and even international nations. This year’s annual meeting in Portland was a prime opportunity for former and current Lamp Lab members to connect. Rebecca Wilson-Ounekeo (Ph.D. 2020), Morgan Thompson (M.S. 2019), & Yasmine Helbling (lab manager) met for lunch in Portland and recounted their fond memories of their time in the lab. After earning her doctorate degree, Dr. Wilson-Ounekeo relocated to the West Coast and is currently the undergraduate biological laboratory and stockroom coordinator at Portland State University. Dr. Thompson will also be relocating to the West Coast in January for her next position as an associate professor of chemical ecology and insect behavior for the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside. Yasmine Helbling, the current lab manager, presented two talks at the annual meeting. Her first talk was for a workshop she was invited to participate in titled “Coming out of the Camouflage: How to Navigate Your First Meeting” that was aimed at new members who have never attended the conference before. The talk was titled “Becoming a Meeting Maestro” and suggested actions the audience members should undergo before, during, and after the meeting to ensure a positive experience. Yasmine’s second talk titled “Comparison of Aphidius ervi behavior on Medicago sativa stems with and without glandular trichomes” was awarded first place in the plant-insect ecosystems, behavior, biocontrol, and ecology section of the undergraduate 10-minute presentation competition. Photo (left to right): Dr. Rebecca Wilson-Ounekeo, Yasmine Helbling, & Dr. Morgan Thompson  The Annual Cornerstone Event is hosted by the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Maryland and gives undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to present posters about their research. The Lamp Lab contributed three posters to this event. Ph.D. student Helen Craig was awarded first place in the Healthy Food Systems category for her poster titled "In vitro and in situ evaluations of black soldier fly larvae as a methane-mitigating protein substitute in dairy cattle diets". Woohoo Helen!! Her results show that there are no detected negative effects of partially substituting soybean meal with black soldier fly larvae meal in dairy cattle diets, however, more research is needed to confirm the methane-mitigating effects. Zoey Blackman, an undergraduate student advised by Helen, presented a poster titled “Investigating demographic effect on human perception of insects as a food source”. She has been working with Helen for over a year to compose, distribute, and analyze surveys that probe the general public about their views of entomophagy. Katherine Siniuk and Yasmine Helbling presented a poster titled “Diversity of Predaceous Arthropods in Agricultural Drainage Ditches”. They have both been statistically analyzing data collected from the Delmarva peninsula in efforts to determine the family-level diversity of predators that utilize the semi-natural habitat created by the agricultural drainage ditches. Amy Goodman recently joined the lab as an intern in September, but has already been featured on the University of Maryland's Entomology Department's social media accounts. A blog post about her work on wetland restoration has been posted on Facebook, Instagram, X, & Bluesky Social. Lets go Amy!! The photos included in the blog posts can be found below. Helen Craig is a PhD student in our lab that regularly gets rewarded for her hard work. Her outstanding teaching abilities were recognized by the Charles F. Reichelderfer Memorial Mentorship Award and a 2024 - 2025 Teaching Achievement Award. She and three undergraduate students did a literature review on entomophagy. An article titled “Surf, Turf—and Chirp?: Entomology Team Delves Into Benefits, Challenges of Eating Insects” about their work was published in the MarylandToday, a University of Maryland publication. Her graduate research involves investigating the efficacy & social implications of using insects as a protein supplement in dairy cattle. Please fill out this survey to increase our knowledge of the general public’s views on the topic.  Helen Craig & Dr. Gruner posing for the camera as Helen is awarded with the 2024 - 2025 Teaching Achievement Award at the Entomology Department's annual retreat. Three members of the Lamp Lab, Bill Lamp, Amy Goodman, and Yasmine Helbling, went to EntoQuest 2025. EntoQuest is an informal summer meeting hosted by the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America. We connected with other entomologists by playing games and collecting bugs. Bill Lamp led a demonstration on aquatic macroinvertebrate collection. Yasmine presented a poster on predator family diversity within agricultural drainage ditches in the Delmarva Peninsula. Photo, left: Amy Goodman and another person collecting macroinvertebrates from stream. Photo, right: Yasmine Helbling presenting her poster. Honors students Yasmine Helbling, Katherine Siniuk, and Maya Hensley (left to right) graduated from the Entomology Honors Program in May. They borrowed insects from UMD's Insect Zoo to take graduation photos to celebrate their success. Maya's honors thesis was titled "Response of leafhoppers and their relatives (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha) to an alfalfa cultivar with glandular trichomes for resistance to potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae". Her study compared the leafhopper biodiversity between resistant alfalfa cultivars with glandular trichomes and susceptible alfalfa cultivars without glandular trichomes. Katherine's honors thesis was titled "A comparison of native and invasive leaf decomposition and its impact on macroinvertebrate assemblages in Maryland streams". Her study compared the decomposition rates and macroinvertebrates assemblages of the invasive tree of heaven and native tulip poplar trees. Yasmine's honors thesis was titled "Do glandular trichomes indirectly foster aphid populations in alfalfa by suppressing biological control?". Her study compared the abundance of pea aphids, mummies, and Aphidius ervi wasps in resistant alfalfa cultivars with glandular trichomes and susceptible alfalfa cultivars without glandular trichomes.  We are excited that our education article on insects as food and feed was published in American Entomologist over the weekend. The article was written as a collaboration between Helen Craig and a group of undergraduates that helped her with her research project: Logan Rogalski, Mary Lenahan, and Maya Hensley. The title of the article is "Pack a Bug in your Lunchbox: Education on Insects as Food and Feed," and can be found here.
We are pleased to receive three awards at the EB-ESA in Harrisburg! Helen Craig received the Herb Streu Award for outstanding service to the ESA, especially for her excellent contribution to the development and program of EntoQuest. Amanda Brucchieri won first place for her Master's talk on "Farm pond characteristics that promote dragonflies as conservation biological control agents over pasture habitats", and Yasmine won first place for her undergraduate talk on "Do glandular trichomes indirectly foster aphid outbreaks in alfalfa by suppressing biological control?". Congratulations to Helen, Amanda, and Yasmine
Four submitted papers/posters and a symposium talk at the Eastern Branch ESA meeting in Harrisburg!3/10/2025
We look forward to presenting our research at the EB-ESA in Harrisburg! Nearly all of the Lamp Lab will be there: Shane Windsor, Helen Craig, Amanda Brucchieri, Robert Salerno, Yasmine Helbling, and Katherine Siniuk. And Bill, of course. See the list of presentations here.
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