Graduate students in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas earned awards at the recently held Southeastern Branch meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Five entomology graduate students achieved two first‐place and three second‐place finishes in Oral (paper) Presentation.

Graduate students from the Department of Entomology have won 14 ESA awards in the past year. 

• Aaron Cato
  Adviser: Gus Lorenz
  1st place Ph.D. Student Oral Presentation Competition II
  Insecticide termination for rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax, in Arkansas rice
• Hillary Fischer
  Adviser: Fiona L. Goggin
  1st place Ph.D. Student Oral Presentation Competition III
  The role of singlet oxygen in aphid-resistant Fatty Acid Desaturase7 Arabidopsis mutants
• Joseph Black
  Adviser: Gus Lorenz
  2nd place M.S. Student Oral Presentation Competition I
  Horizontal transmission of Helicoverpa armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) within a soybean field
• Mary-Kate Williams
  Adviser: A.L. Szalanski
  2nd place M.S. Student Oral Presentation Competition II
  Molecular survey for the honey bee trypanosome parasites Crithidia mellificae and Lotmaria passim
• Layton McCullars
  Adviser: Gus Lorenz
  2nd place M.S. Student Oral Presentation Competition III
  The impact of defoliation on select growth stages in rice

The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. The Southeastern Branch includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Southeastern Branch ESA Meeting was held March 3-7 in Orlando, Florida.