Bug Talk

In this episode Lauren Goldstein talks with Ben Phillips, who is a Vegetable Crops Educator at Michigan State University (https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/benjamin_phillips). Ben discusses his education and current job responsibilities working with growers.

In this week's episode of Bug Talk, Jen chats with Stefanie Steele, Pollinator Conservation Specialist for urban and small farms in underserved communities and USDA NRCS partner biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation! We chat about Stefanie's background and education and how she found her role at the Xerces Society. Stefanie also gives some tips on steps you can take while in graduate school to gain skills to work at a non-profit. To learn more about the Xerces Society and their work visit xerces.org

Dr. Maxime Eeraerts is a new postdoctoral associate in the MSU Entomology Department (https://www.isaacslab.ent.msu.edu/people/lab-members/). He is originally from Belgium, has a background in biological engineering and got interested in honey bees during his M.S. degree. After his Ph.D., he moved to Washington State University in 2021 for 9 months to work on a blueberry pollination project. He is currently housed in Rufus Isaacs' lab and is conducting a meta-analysis to better understand the pollinator dependence of different fruit crops. He is funded by a unique foundation that is intended to increase exchange of knowledge between the US and Belgium. He is also an outdoor enthusiast, biker, runner and will be exploring MI this summer.

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Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Laura Ingwell is an assistant professor of horticultural entomology at Purdue University (https://ag.purdue.edu/entm/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=lingwell). First, she talked about her path from dentistry into community ecology and then to entomology. She then shared with us her thoughts about the role of extension, delivering research results to growers and the importance of building personal connections to gain trust.
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Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Ke Dong is a professor at Duke University leading a research program on insect toxicology and physiology (https://kedonglab.biology.duke.edu/). In this episode she talked about her childhood growing up on a silkworm experiment station in China, playing with silkworms, and her mother's influence on her interest in biochemistry. She talked about the importance of her mentor during her PhD program, the "two-body problem", and raising her son while managing a research program at Michigan State University. She also shared with us about her new life in North Carolina, including her teaching responsibilities and a new seminar course she created.
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Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

In this episode Zsofia talked with Dr. Nayeli Carvajal. Nayeli is  starting her postdoc at MSU in the Entomology Department this month. She will be moving from California to Michigan in April just in time to see spring in all its glory! She completed her Ph.D. in Nov. 2021 at the University of California - Irvine  studying the effects of climate change on insect-plant interactions. During her postdoc, she will be working on determining how heat waves affect potatoes and its associated pests. Outside of research, Nayeli is passionate about plants, hiking, she also enjoys reading and cooking. Check out her website: https://nayelicarvajal.weebly.com/
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Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Zsofia and Jean Tsao (https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/jean_tsao; former guest of the podcast on Ep. 62) cohosted this episode featuring Dr. Jannelle Couret, a first-generation Afro-Caribbean/Latina scientist. She researches the biology of arthropod vectors and the eco-epidemiology of vector-borne human pathogens. She completed her PhD in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution of Infectious Disease at Emory University. We chatted with her about how she found her current faculty position and a unique fellowship she had as a postdoc. Check out her website for some of the fantastic art we talked about during the podcast: http://www.vectorbiology.org/
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Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Dr. Megan Fritz (http://www.meganfritzlab.com/people.html) is alumna of the MSU Department of Entomology.  She sat down in person with Zsofia to talk about career and family. She chatted about being an undergraduate research assistant in an entomology lab, being inspired by the people around her to choose entomology as a career, and going to grad school without getting an M.S. first. Meghan also discussed her choice to start a family in graduate school, raising children while completing her Ph.D., the role of a supportive adviser and community to be able to do this and thinking about why it might be a good option for some to have kids during this time of life.
*Contact/follow us @bugtalkpodcast on Instagram or Twitter.
Thanks to Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Dr. Ned Walker (https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/edward_walker) is a professor in the Entomology Department at Michigan State University. His work focuses on mosquitos, ticks and other insects important from a human health perspective. In this conversation, Ned talked about his life growing up in Ohio, getting into medical entomology during his undergrad, growing his interest in mosquito ecology and eventually coming to MSU as a postdoc in Rich Merritt's aquatic entomology lab. After getting his current position, he developed an international research program that took him to many different countries around the World. It is interesting that Ned's life today would be very different if it wasn't for an early mentor he met in college who encouraged and taught him at a critical time of his life. Ned also talked about his love of music, playing the guitar and being in bands.

Thanks to Jason Roedel for improving the sound quality, Matt Grieshop for the music and Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!
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In this episode Osten Echedor (MSU Bug Club President) and Nate Howder (MSU Bug Club Vice President) talked about everything MSU Bug Club related! Bug Club's mission is to provide a welcoming environment for students interested in learning about entomology to connect with fellow arthropod enthusiasts and develop professional skills. We chatted about the club's history, current activities, membership, meetings and future plans. This fun group has members from many different undergraduate majors and love to play games at their meetings. They also organize collecting trips and feed you snacks that have arthropods in them!
Follow Bug Club on Discord (https://discord.gg/6tqT6fA6ZV), Instagram (@bugclubmsu), and join them at Springticipation 2022 (Student Involvement Fair on Wednesday, January 19 2022, 6:00 PM-8:00 PM at the Duffy Daugherty Building - Indoor Football Practice Center 771 Chestnut Rd , East Lansing , MI)
Email them at [email protected].

Thanks to Jason Roedel for improving the sound quality, Matt Grieshop for the music and Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!
*Contact/follow us @bugtalkpodcast on Instagram or Twitter.
*Visit us on our YouTube channel.