Bug Talk

[RE-UPLOAD FROM NOV. 19, 2020]

Apologies for the audio problems! In this episode, undergraduate entomology student, Brenna Jeffs, details her experiences as the president of the MSU Bug Club and talks about some of her post-graduation plans.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM JUNE 15, 2021]

In this episode, Alex Hitchcock, an undergraduate student studying Molecular Biotechnology, explores his experiences as an Entomology Research and Outreach Fellow (EROF) and his position as a Horticulturalist at Josh's Frogs.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM MARCH 23, 2020]

In this podcast, Dr. Anthony Ingrao delved into his military background and experiences with being a disabled veteran, as well as his journey that led him to co-found the Heroes to Hives program.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM MAY 12, 2020]

In today’s podcast Andrea Glassmire, Kayleigh Hauri, and Ali Zahorec talk with Dr. Sara Hermann, who is faculty at Penn State University. Dr. Hermann earned her PhD in the Landis lab here in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University. She describes what it's like working a dual career position and starting a new lab, all while being a mom of two beautiful kids. Dr. Hermann is a positive role model for scientists with a deep passion for research, teaching, and policy. Enjoy!!

Send any questions in regard to this episode to Andrea’s email: [email protected]

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM JUL. 17, 2020]

In this episode of Bug Talk, Andrea chats with Oscar Castaneda, a GIS specialist at Michigan State University.  In his spare time, Oscar is an activist for the civil rights of immigrants and is Vice President of the Action of Greater Lansing organization.  Oscar was born in Guatemala and was educated in the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship.  He has been living and working in the States for over 25 years and is still struggling to obtain his green card.  Instead of letting obstacles deter him, Oscar faced the problem head on by playing a prominent role in establishing Lansing, MI as a Sanctuary City.  Oscar continues to help other immigrants understand the legality of the United States immigration system.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM APR. 27, 2020]

In this episode Ali and Zsofia chatted with Dr. Jen Pechal about maintaining insect colonies at home during quarantine, traveling to do research on many continents, her childhood inspiration for studying decomposition, her garden and animals in her backyard, and getting inspiration through teaching.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM APR. 23, 2020]

In today’s podcast Andrea Glassmire talks to four current postdocs in the Entomology Department, Drs. Eli Bloom, Kelsey Graham, Nate Haan, and Benjamin Jarrett, to find out what life is like as a postdoc at Michigan State University. Our conversation spanned many topics including how we found our current postdoc, the importance of networking, and balancing work and life. It turns out, we all took different strategies to get to where we are today and we are all successful because we are doing what we love….Entomology!!

Send any questions in regard to this episode to Andrea’s email: [email protected].

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM JUN. 23, 2020]

In this episode Andrea Glassmire and Kayleigh Hauri talk with a collaborative research group from Louisiana State University and the LSU Ag Center – Rodrigo Diaz, James Cronin, Laura Meyerson, Tracy Meyerson, Xuelian Meng, John Nyman, Ana Salgado, and Joshua Snook. They are collaborating on a project examining the mechanisms causing the die-off of an important wetland grass system, Phragmites australis, that stabilizes the Louisiana coastline. The Phragmites die-off is a multi-faceted problem, and each collaborator is investigating different aspects of this die-off. The restoration of Phragmites is an applied ecological challenge that will be important for stabilizing the Louisiana coastline, and the only way to accomplish this is using basic research to understand what the mechanisms are.

The Phragmites research team includes additional scientists studying the role of plant pathogens, soil microbes, plant volatiles, and Asian parasitoids. For a glimpse, please see the research topics covered here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM APR. 21, 2020]

In this podcast Ariana, Jen and Zsofia talk to Dr. Therese Poland about her life growing up in Canada, how she found a career in forest entomology initially focusing on chemical ecology, and running 20 marathons. We also chatted about the Michigan Entomological Society and her recently becoming the coeditor-in-chief of Environmental Entomology. Therese works for the US Forest Service and is also an adjunct professor in our department. The book Therese recommended in this podcast is “Buzz - The nature and necessity of bees” by Thor Hanson. The gods of technology were not with us during the recording, so we expose how the sausage gets made since we don’t edit the audio files - sorry about that - we hope you still enjoy this episode.

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM JAN. 19, 2022]

Dr. Ned 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.

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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