55th Annual Southwestern Branch Entomological Society of America Meeting

Five undergraduates traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas to attend the 2007 edition of the annual meeting of the Southwestern Branch of Entomological Society of America. Through their attendance, the students hoped to gain a better understanding of their discipline and what may be in store for them as future entomologists. Their activities included networking with scientists to investigate future job and graduate school opportunities, meeting other students in the same field of interest who will be our future colleagues, and to have a little bit of fun while doing it.

The trip was highlighted by Texas A&M Entomology bringing enough students to comprise two Linnaean Games teams; one entirely made up of graduate students and a second composed mostly of undergraduate students. The graduate student team included: Robert Puckett, Brad Hopkins, Maggie Toothaker, and Lizette Peters. While putting up a valiant effort, they were defeated in the first round by the team from Oklahoma State University, who later went on to win first place. The second team: Andy Boswell, Brittney Bane, Patricia Mullins, and Ricardo Hernandez (as the graduate student representative). This team won their first round by defeating the team from Tarleton State University. They were later defeated in the second round by the team from New Mexico State University who went to the finals and were beaten by OSU.

Not only did the TAMU students demonstrate the intellect in the Linnaean Games, they showcased their creative skills during the awards banquet. In response to popular demand, students from Texas A&M and West Texas A&M combined together and performed the legendary “Big Mac Skit,” composed by Dr. Marvin Harris. This skit informs the audience of numbers of people, entomologists especially, needed to make one Big Mac. There are no encore performances scheduled for the rest of the of 2007, but rumor has it that they’ll be appearing next year during the 56th annual meeting. Obviously, one of the best parts of the meeting was the camaraderie and socializing that took place in the evenings after all the scientific meetings ended. Sampling the local cuisine and listening to a great jazz band play into the early hours of the morning represent some of the memories that many will not soon forget.

Students from Texas A&M also took home many coveted awards. The Branch John Henry Comstock Graduate Student Award, which is given to an outstanding graduate student (usually a Ph.D.), was received by Alejandro Calixto. Robert Puckett was nominated by the Branch for the Jeffrey P. LaFage Graduate Student Research Award, which recognizes a graduate student who proposes innovative research that advances or contributes significantly to the knowledge of the biology or control of pests in the urban environment, especially termites or other wood-destroying organisms. Texas A&M Entomology Graduate students also swept the Student Oral Paper Competition where Andrea Joyce received 1st place in the Student Oral Competition, Alejandro Calixto received 2nd place, and Michelle Sanford received 3rd place. All are graduate students from Texas A&M.

The end of the ESA trip was highlighted by participation in the Insect-Expo, which was an all day event held the Corpus Christi Natural History and Science Museum. The Insect Expo consisted of a multitude of many different display booths, some out of our own collection; interactive displays, which included the popular life cycle of the Tomato Bud Worm; and a swarm of free samples throughout. A see and touch tale with tarantulas and Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches was also a huge hit with the visitors. Students set up their things by 8:00 AM on Thursday and by 9:00 the first students started to arrive. The band of Texas A&M Students were exhausted with the last group of visitors departed at 3:30 PM. It was estimated that 1,400 5th-7th graders attended the Insect Expo.

This year was definitely a good one for Texas A&M bringing 5 undergraduate students into the world of ESA and showing them many aspects of what the future holds for them. None of these students had ever been before and after the conference all said they were just waiting till next year so they can go again.