The ALE lab had some fun this week!

The Entomology department had its Christmas party last night and the ALE lab represented and had a great time. We missed Chelsea, she was off learning about Hops. As Scott would say, learning is for losers!

From left to right: Scott, Cali, Andrea, Mary and Nicole

Chelsea was at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO this week representing the ALE Lab. She learned about Hops, moderated a biological control session, and caught up with Ben (ALE lab alumni) who is enjoying his career as a Michigan Extension Agent!

ALE update

With ESA behind us the ALE Lab is getting back into the groove. We have are very busy around here!

• Nicole is working hard on the Cleveland project, getting the plantings arranged, making maps, and organizing educational materials.

• Chelsea is planning a hops workshop for February, and might be visiting the local brewery every now then for "research"

• Scott is preparing for his departmental seminar, an important step for his transition from the Master's program to the Doctorate program (good luck Scott!)

• Andrea is identifying 100's (or 1000's??) of flies...and probably drinking large quantities of Mountain Dew.

• Mary of course is busy advising/helping us with everything above as well various other projects!

Members of the ALE lab enjoying some beverages at ESA.
Nicole isn't pictured, but she'll be there next year!

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE THANKSGIVING!

Finished my first week!

     Hey everyone! I figured since I have survived my first week in the ALE lab, it was time to introduce myself. My name is Nicole and in the attached picture is Cody. So what's my story? I was in the Navy for a bit, which is how I ended up with Cody. I was stationed in Italy first, then Spain and in Spain we had a kennel on base. It was love at first sight. Cody was about four or five months old when I got him and he's been with me ever since. I moved to North Carolina when I got out of the Navy and there I attended Queens University of Charlotte where I received my BS in biology. I am all set to graduate from Winthrop University, which is in Rock Hill, SC, in December with my MS in biology. If I had to throw a label on myself, it would be molecular ecologist. I really enjoy having a molecular component to my studies. My thesis research involved sampling amphibian populations at a local state park and testing them for the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd is a chtyrid fungus that infects the skin of amphibians and can cause the disease chytridiomycosis, which can be fatal in some species. I enjoyed my research and was very grateful to have picked up the skill sets I did, especially all the molecular work, while doing it as this was key to my being chosen as the new research assistant for the ALE lab.

     So what will I be doing here anyways? I was hired on to help with what we're calling the vacant lot study, which is the project Mary recently received an amazing grant for. I am very excited to be a part of this research and am looking forward to getting started on the project. The molecular aspect of the study will involve determining what some of the predators are eating. I hope to start testing protocols for that this winter so that we'll be ready when it's time to start collecting the selected specie and begin testing them. Working with arthropods is new for me and this roughly translates to reading, reading and more reading. Thankfully I actually enjoy learning about anything ecology related.

     Even though my first official work day was Monday, I attended the Stinner Summit last Friday with Mary, Chelsea, Andrea and Carol. It was a great introduction to the area and I loved the concept of the summit. The attendees work together to come up with projects that involve healthy agroecosystems and sustainable communities. There are numerous sessions in which attendees break off into groups to develop and explore an idea for a project by coming up with a mini-proposal that is then pitched to the other attendees and, at the end of the day, the attendees donate "Stinner bucks" as well as IOU's (can be for labor, expertise, money, etc.) to the projects they would like to support. The bucks are turned into funding through the Ben Stinner endowment. It was such a cool experience to see so many different groups of people come together and I think at the end of the day there were about six projects that received funding. My time this week has involved learning where to find things in the lab, learning pinning from Chelsea and Cali and yesterday I took my first trip into Cleveland to help Chelsea get soil samples for another project the lab is collaborating on. It's been a fun week and I am truly thankful that the opportunity to be a part of a lab with such a great group of people presented itself to me. I have had nothing but good feelings and excitement since I received the email from Mary saying that I had gotten the job and I know this will continue throughout my time here.

Happy Holidays!

That's a good lookin' lab.

ESA still happening.

We are still having a great time at ESA! The students are selling goods to raise funds for themselves....

Some OSU men manning the EGSA booth

Scott, MSU student Brett, and Caitlin are ready to stop selling t-shirts

The Ohio State Entomology Department has a great mixer where we could visit each other  talk to alumni, and spend time with friends!

Emily and Scott at OSU mixer

Yuting, Erin, Priya, and Samuel at OSU mixer

ESA adventures.

We are all staying busy viewing posters, watching presentations, and networking!

Scott questions a Penn State student about her bumble bee research

We are also finding time for the occasional adult beverage.

Emily, Ben, and Scott enjoying a beverage (or 2)

Ben Phillips Wins DeLong Award!

The Ohio State University Entomology department held it's DeLong award competition yesterday afternoon, an event that takes place every year before our national meeting (ESA). It not gives the students a chance to practice their presentations for ESA, and provides travel money to the winners! 

Today we found out that an ALE lab graduate student, Ben Phillips, won the first place award! 

The judges were very pleased with the quality of the student presentations, and could not decide on second place. The second award was split equally between Jacob Wenger (Michel Lab) and Larry Long (Herms Lab).

Congratulations Ben, Jake, and Larry!!

New student!

Hello all!  I’d like to introduce myself as the newest member of the ALE Lab!  My name is Andrea Kautz and I am excited to be a part of this wonderful group of entomologists.  I am a Master’s student with specific interest in biocontrol.  Originally from the small town of Monroeville, Ohio, I grew up on a farm catching insects as a favorite hobby.  I completed my undergraduate career here at OSU with a B.S. in Zoology and a minor in Entomology. 

Now I am not entirely new to the lab necessarily; I was hired on about a year ago as an undergrad to help sort through last season’s data for Ben… and Caitlin… and Scott….. and Chelsea of course!  So needless to say, I am pretty familiar with the current research going on in the lab.  I guess I did an okay job as an undergrad assistant because Mary decided to take me on as her new student.  Ben even elected me to be his right-hand (wo)man this summer with his pumpkin project!  It was a busy and fast summer, but I definitely learned a great deal about all of the effort that goes into a successful field season.

This first semester, the plan is to come up with a sweet project idea and plan PLAN PLAN for the 2013 field season!  Details to come…

Congratulations to Chelsea!

 Last Sunday, August 12 the ALE LAB graduated its first student!!  Chelsea Smith received her M.S. in Entomology at the Ohio State University Summer Commencement. Chelsea did an amazing job in all aspects of her M.S. program. Her research focused on the decline of the native Convergent Lady Beetle. Chelsea examined whether exotic lady beetles were contributing to this decline by consuming native lady beetle eggs. She found that native lady beetles do incur significant egg predation in the field, but surprisingly this was not due to feeding by exotic lady beetles. Instead, a diversity of predators including harvestmen, slugs, and grasshoppers fed on the eggs of the native lady beetle. Chelsea has presented her work at multiple state and national meetings. At the 2011 Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting she was awarded runner up in the Student Competition for the Presidents Prize for her talk titled "Evidence refuting the interference competition hypothesis for native lady beetle decline".

Chelsea has also contributed significantly to undergraduate teaching here at OSU. She worked as a teaching assistant for the Center for Life Sciences where she taught Biology 101 for three quarters. She has also advised undergraduate students who have successfully completed research projects in the lab. She has also been very active in Extension, developing and presenting at multiple meetings and field days throughout her graduate career.

Chelsea has accepted a position as our Laboratory Technician so you will continue to see her blog posts in the future!  Congrats Chelsea, you should be very proud of all you have accomplished!!

Bug Mania at Blue Pike Farm

This past Saturday the ALE lab presented a workshop at the Blue Pike Farm in Cleveland (bluepikefarm.com). We talked about beneficial arthropods and cucurbits (melons, squash, cucumbers, etc), and then Scott and Caitlin discussed the research they have been conducting in Cleveland.

Thanks for letting us present Carl!

Lab day!

Today is the last day of work for a majority of our undergrads, and they are keeping busy in the lab!

Paul is busy pinning bees...

 Andrea and Alec are sorting samples...

And Shawn got stuck with washing the dishes.

Someone's gotta do the dirty work...Thanks Shawn!

Tour of our sites in Cleveland with the OARDC Associate Director

Today we gave Bill Ravlin, the Associate Director for OARDC, a tour of our field sites in Cleveland. He was very interested in the research being conducted by our graduate students. We visited one of the vacant lots which typically consist of mowed turf, weeds, and the occasional tire.

Some ornamental plants remain behind as a reminder of the homeowner who once lived on the lot. After the homes are empty the city knocks them down, the basement is filled in, and the turf is planted which then needs to be maintained at an immense cost to the city. Cleveland has a goal of demolishing 25 vacant homes every week.

We took some time to visit the urban gardens which are on land that had previously been vacant lots. Our research is mainly focused on how the re-purposed vacant lots change the arthropod community as well as the ecological services they provide. Some of these gardens are maintained by Green Corps who bring in high school kids from the surrounding area to work and learn about farming, running a business, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many of these kids are then inspired to go to College and earn degrees where they can use these skills. Mike, a high school student working at one of the gardens, gave us a tour and told us about his plans to double major in landscape architecture and mechanical engineering.

We got a chance to meet up with Caitlin during a busy day in the field. She described her project involving spider activity in the vacant lots, urban garden, and grassland sites across Cleveland.

Overall the trip was a success! Bill got a chance to learn about research funded partly by the SEEDS grant foundation, which he is very involved in. We had a chance to showcase issues in Cleveland, practices done to manage all the vacant land, and how our research is helping the city further understand the impact these changes are having on the ecology of the area.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Bill!

Putting names to the faces.

That's a smart lookin' group

ALE lab: Summer 2012

Undergraduate in the Spotlight: Heidi

Hello. My name is Heidi Rogers, an Undergraduate Environmental Science Student at California State University Chico. Why have, out of all places, I chosen to go to Ohio for an entomology internship at the OARDC? …I seem to be asked this question often.  I guess a small pilgrimage to the Midwest intrigued me. How can I consider myself a true American if I have never even seen most of the country? How else would I know about the drive in liquor stores? Experience the immensity of the Great Lakes? See the Amish culture? Taste Jeni’s ice cream? Or get the chance to work at one of the nation’s leading entomology research facilities? Back in Chico, my entomology course taught by Dr. Donald Miller, an avid butterfly and moth avenger used The Study of Insects written by Dr. Triplehorn and Dr. Johnson of OSU as our main textbook. So why not come to Ohio!

I wrangled my way into Scott Prajzner’s Graduate study on Pollinators under the tutelage of Dr. Mary Gardiner. Thus far I have driven to 30 sites in Ohio to count Bombus impatiens and conduct floral diversity analysis around the strategically placed hives. 

Scott Prajzner:

 

Chelsea Smith and Paul Joseph:

 

You wouldn’t be smiling either if you only knew how many hours it took to count individual flowers in the gardens of “Master Gardeners” (a title to those who, more often than not, have such an extensive diversity of flowering plants collection, that they have designated their backyards as Wilderness Habitat).

Alex:

Bombus impatiens Doing it’s thang:

And...We're Back.

After a break, we are updating the blog again.There have been some changes occurring. While our lab is still based in Wooster, some of the members reside in Columbus adding an extra layer of complication to how our lab works. It wouldn't be ALE lab if it was easy though. Stay tuned for posts about our research, outreach, exciting lab news, and ecological happenings...

ALE lab holiday party. 6 months ago...