Bug Talk

[RE-UPLOAD FROM MARCH 25, 2021]

Dr. Sheila Colla is an assistant professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. Her lab focuses on researching native pollinators, especially bumble bees. In this episode, Sheila talked about her undergrad research experiences that led her to study bumble bees, and the  people who influenced her most in her career. We also talked about pollinator conservation more broadly, the advantages of working in an interdisciplinary department, funding for research in Canada, and community science programs.

You can find Sheila on Instagram @findingflowersmedia and on Twitter @SaveWildBees.

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM MARCH 22, 2021]

Ariana and Zsofia talked with Jackie Perkins about fieldwork safety guidelines and how we approach field work this upcoming field season. Jackie developed a document that contains best practices on traveling to and working at field sites while doing research. It is designed to provide information for existing employees and their supervisors, and new employees that may not have much experience working in remote locations. The document provides useful information on preparing for fieldwork, traveling, and emergencies. It includes a section on Safe Fieldwork For All, informed by the recent Demery & Pipkin article.

You can follow Jackie on Instagram @msuberrybugs and follow the Isaacs Lab on Twitter @IsaacsLab.

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM JUNE 2, 2021]

Zsofia and two guest co-hosts, Julianna Wilson and Elizeth Cinto Meija, talked with Drs. Jabbar Bennett, (MSU’s Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Professor of Medicine in the College of Human Medicine) and Quentin Tyler (Associate Dean and Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Director of MSU Extension), two leaders at MSU. We asked them about their current positions, their take on what it means to be a good leader, what the pandemic taught them about leadership, how to move forward after the lockdown, balancing personal views with the larger vision of an institution, their view on the future of the university, their mentors and people who inspire them and what they think the future will bring.

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.

[RE-UPLOAD FROM MAY 26, 2021]

Ariana, Jen, Natalie and Zsofia chatted with Jenna Walters about the Entomology Research and Outreach Fellowship (EROF). We chatted about how Jenna (Twitter: @Jenna_M_Walters) was inspired by Insects for Inclusion to start this program, what activities had been undertaken by the EROF committee over the last year, funding the program, recruiting and interviewing fellows and finally offering 7 fellowships for this summer.

You can follow them on Twitter and Instagram @erof_msu

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM MAY 12, 2021]

Dr. Amanda Lorenz is the undergraduate advisor in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University. In this episode, Natalie, Ariana and Zsofia chatted with her about our undergraduate program, current recruitment strategies, employment opportunities and courses for entomology undergraduates. Amanda described the demographic of our undergraduate students and strategies used to increase diversity. We also talked about how graduate and undergraduate students interact in our department. Amanda is our Bug House coordinator and she talked about what an important outreach tool this has been. If you are interested in our undergraduate program and have questions, please feel free to send an email to Amanda ([email protected]). You can also find out more about our undergraduate program and how to apply to MSU on our department's website.

Watch this episode on YouTube here! 

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM APR. 14, 2021]

In this episode, Olivia and Zsofia chatted with outgoing MSU Entomology postdocs Andrea Glassmire and Eli Bloom. They shared the challenges of the pandemic-era job market and what they’ll remember fondly about the MSU Entomology community. Andrea is starting a new position working in the Cronin Lab at Louisiana State University and can be found online at aglassmire.com. Eli is on Twitter at @susta1nabeelity and on the Szendrei lab website. 

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

Thanks to Jason Roedel, audio engineer, for improving sound quality, Matt Grieshop for the music, and Ellie Darling for designing the Bug Talk logo!

Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.

[RE-UPLOAD FROM APR. 14, 2021]

On this week's episode, co-hosts Jen, Natalie, and Ariana chatted with Dr. Meg Lowman ("Canopy Meg"). Dr. Lowman is a conservation biologist, educator, ecologist, writer, explorer, and public speaker. Her expertise involves canopy ecology, canopy plant-insect relationships, and constructing canopy walkways. We chatted about what it's like being a woman in science, her global travels, science communication, and her new book!

Learn more about Meg's conservation work here, or follow her on Twitter @canopymeg

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM MAR. 10, 2021]

On this episode, Jen and Ariana chatted with Dr. Julie Lesnik, an associate professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit. She studies the evolution of humans eating insects and has even wrote a book on it called Edible Insects and Human Evolution. We chatted about how humans evolved to eat insects, her time studying chimpanzees in Africa, and gives some advice to graduate students within STEM.

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.

[RE-UPLOAD FROM MAR. 3, 2021]

In this podcast, Jen and Zsofia talked to Rebecca Tonietto, assistant professor of biology at the University of Michigan-Flint. Rebecca is a pollination ecologist, who got her start with Ann Fraser's entomology course at Kalamazoo College. She then worked as a research assistant on melon pollination in New Jersey where her interest in pollinators began. She is a native of Michigan and has found her way back to the Flint area after going to graduate school at Northwestern University where she worked - among other things - on pollinators on roof gardens. Rebecca gave some really nice examples from her life of how following your gut and staying open to opportunities can land you in the 'right' place.

Follow Rebecca on Twitter @beckytonietto

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

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[RE-UPLOAD FROM FEB. 24, 2021]

In this episode, Jen, Olivia, Andrea and Zsofia chatted with MSU alumna, Jaree Johnson. She is a medical-veterinary entomologist in the military and she talked to us about growing up in Indiana, getting into entomology, working in industry, getting an M.S. from the MSU Entomology Department and then going to work in the military. She also chatted about what her life is like living in different countries, her love for travel and food, and her hobbies. 

Follow Jaree on Instagram and Twitter @alliknowarebugs. Here is a link to a previous conversation with her on YouTube: Army Medical Entomology, Who Knew? - MAJ Jaree Johnson

Watch this episode on YouTube here!

Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.