Blog Archives

Ali Shokoohi passes his Master's defense!

12/6/2023

We are pleased that Ali passed his defense with flying colors. He is still editing his thesis, entitled "Enhancing biological control by ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) through agricultural drainage ditch management practices," and expects to complete graduation requirements in January for Spring graduation. Congratulations, Ali!

Ali Shokoohi places in a poster session!

12/6/2023

Ali Shokoohi got third place for the poster session on "Advancing Agricultural Production Systems hosted by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland. The poster was based on his thesis work on conservation biological control by ground beetles through management of agricultural drainage ditches. The work was supported by a USDA SARE grant to our lab. Congratulations, Ali!

Olivia Rosen is top blog winner for BSCI 467, 2023!

12/6/2023

Out of the 48 student blogs written this semester, Olivia's blog entitled, "Life moves pretty fast: Beneath the surface of rushing water," was selected as the top of the class. Based on her trip to Fishing Creek, north of Frederick in the Catoctin Mountains, she photographed and described the rapid movement of water and its consequences on the abundant insect life in the stream. Check out her blog here.

Lamp Lab at the ESA meeting in the National Harbor!

12/5/2023

The Lamp Lab went to the Entomological Society of America's annual meeting at the National Harbor in November 2023. See below for awesome pictures and the titles of each members presentation or poster!

Graduate student, Ali Shokoohi (left), presented his Master's research in the graduate student competition in the biocontrol/predator section. The title of the presentation was, "Enhancing biological control by ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) through agricultural drainage ditch management practices".

In the photo on the right, Helen Craig (right) and Jenna Kraemer (left) are presenting the results of the RCAP Summer 2023 Undergraduate Internship. It was presented in the Formal and Informal Teaching symposium. The title of the presentation was, "Undergraduate research within a multistate, transdisciplinary project: Integration with principal investigators and graduate students".

Dr. Lamp (left), is presenting on the ongoing literature review that is being completed by the graduate students in his ENTM 798K course. The presentation is titled, "Does management of plant diversity enhance arthropod-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes?"

Graduate student, Amanda Brucchieri (above), is presenting her poster on her Master's research. The title of her poster is, "Characteristics of farm ponds that promote dragonfly reproduction for biological control".

Graduate student, Helen Craig (above), is presenting her poster titled, "Educating and empowering University of Maryland students on the importance of insect biodiversity in sustainability". Her poster got second place in the graduate student competition for Education, Outreach, and Extension posters!

Previous lab technician, Jillian Stewart (above), is standing by her poster titled, "Potato leafhopper resistant alfalfa plots have fewer natural enemies than non-resistant alfalfa".

Graduate student, Robert Salerno (above), is standing by his poster titled, "Subterranean arthropod sampling of agricultural ditches on the Delmarva peninsula: A comparison of techniques".

Lab technician, Shane Windsor (above), is presenting his poster on, "Analyzing spatial and temporal distribution of hymenopteran parasitoids within agricultural drainage ditches and adjacent cropland".

Undergraduate, Yasmine Helbling (above), is presenting her poster about incorporated DNA barcoding activities into undergraduate level biology courses and how the students responded to surveys.

Undergraduate, Felicia Shechtman (left), is presenting their poster titled, "Use of sticky traps to compare patterns of flying insect biodiversity on farms: taxa diversity and ecological roles".

Michelle Campano joins the Lamp Lab!

12/4/2023

We welcome Michelle Campano to the Lamp Lab! She is a senior General Biology major and Science, Technology, Ethics, and Policy minor. She is currently in Dr. Lamp's BSCI 467: Freshwater Biology course and has experience working with bees at a summer internship at Montana State University! She will be working with our graduate student Amanda Brucchieri in a literature review for the "Science and Technology Based Approach (STBA) to Minimize Climate Vulnerability and Achieve Sustainable and Resilient Food Production Systems (SRFP) in Maryland" grant. They hope to determine how climate change will affect insect pest management in the future in Maryland agriculture through this literature review. We are excited to have Michelle!