Get Six Legs Up on Graduate School in Our Summer Internship Program
Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University
We offer a summer internship program for undergraduate students who are both highly qualified and motivated toward graduate study. In this unique internship program, students will
Participants are expected to gain invaluable research experience and skills needed for success in graduate school and a career in science.
Applicants must be committed to pursuing graduate study, in their junior or senior year, willing to relocate to either The Ohio State University main campus in Columbus or The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center campus in Wooster for this ten-week summer program, and must provide the following application materials: a copy of academic transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, recommendation forms from 3 undergraduate professors, and a 1-page statement of scientific and professional interests and goals, including how they match one or more of our specific internship opportunities, written by the applicant.
PDF versions of the application and reference forms are available by clicking one of the links below:
We will begin reviewing applications May 1, 2000, and continue until the internships are filled. Please make every effort to have your application materials submitted by May 1, 2000.
Checklist for Applicants:
The following internships are available for Summer 2000 (more information on the mentor and the research program is available by clicking the mentor's name and project title):
Synergism between Entomopathogenic Nematodes and a Chloronicotinyl Insecticide against White Grubs, Parwinder Grewal
My program encompasses ecosystem level approaches to turfgrass pest management. In this
particular project you will study the interactions between black cutworm larvae and insect-parasitic nematodes in turfgrass microcosms. Studies will focus on population dynamics of the
worms and the nematodes. The specific questions addressed will include, (i) how the nematodes
find the cutworms in turf canopy? (ii) What are the optimum environmental conditions for
maximum nematode activity? (iii) how, when, and how many nematodes to be to applied for
effective control of the cutworm? (iv) do the nematodes recycle in the infected worms? This
project will provide training in experimentation in behavioral ecology, biological control, and
parasitology. In addition, training in experimental design, statistical analyses, scientific report
writing, and poster presentation will be provided.
Physiology and Biochemistry of Chemical Defenses of Plants to Herbivores, Dan Herms
Population outbreaks of plant-feeding insects have been associated with stressful environments.
The objective of our research program is to understand how environmental stresses such as
drought and nutrient deficiency affect the natural chemical defenses of trees through effects on
whole plant physiology. Research opportunities include field studies to determine how stress
affects photosynthesis, partitioning of carbon by the plant to growth and defense, and the effects
of these plant responses on insect herbivores. These studies will contribute to (1) an
understanding of how the abiotic environment affects insect populations, (2) the development of
alternative strategies to pesticides for managing agricultural pests.
Colorado potato beetle behavioral responses to potato alkaloids, Casey Hoy
The goal in agricultural use of insecticides, and now transgenic crop varieties, has typically been
eradication of insect pests with high and uniform doses. Plants have evolved to produce their
own defensive chemistry, however, and it rarely (if ever) appears in uniformly high concentrations
that kill any insects feeding on the plant! The usual scenario is low and highly variable
concentrations, at multiple spatial scales, that have a greater effect on insect behavior than direct
mortality. My research program is exploring how we can better imitate the use of plant defensive
chemistry in agriculture in ways that support biologically-based management of insect pests. We
examine the genetics of behavioral responses of insect pests to naturally produced or synthetic
toxins and how those responses contribute to or prevent physiological adaptation by the insect.
Results are critical to the debate on avoiding resistance to the new genetically engineered crops
and long-term to capturing the full benefits of ecological process in agriculture.
Use of refelective mulches to manage tarnished plant bug populations in strawberries, Joe Kovach
The tarnished plant bug (TPB) is a major annual pest of strawberries in Eastern North America.
Several alternatives control tactics have been studied to reduce the reliance on pesticides for
managing this pest. Biological control agents that show some promise of TPB control include the
parasitoids, Anaphes iole and Peristenus digoneutis and the fungal pathogen, Beauveria
bassiana. Cultural tactics that reduce TPB densities include resistant cultivars, good weed
management, and vacuuming. One cultural control method that has provided some control of
other heteropteran species, particularly aphids, is the use of reflective mulches to repel the adults
and prevent egg laying. Although it is not fully understood, the mulch may act as a sky mimic and
confuse the adults so they do not land on the plants and lay eggs. If egg laying is reduced than
fewer nymphs are present and less misshapened fruit is observed. The objective of this study is to
determine if surrounding strawberries with reflective mulch will reduce tarnished plant bug
densities and damage. The results of this research will provide us with more information to help
growers further reduce their reliance on pesticides.
Honey Bee Foraging Behavior for Trace Elements and Minerals, Jim Tew
Within the past twelve years, three major new pests of honey bees have been introduced into the
US honey bee population .Ê As a consequence of these new pests, both managed and feral
populations of honey bees have declined precipitously while the demand for commercial fruit and
vegetable pollination has increased significantly.Ê Maintaining healthy, populous hives of bees is
of paramount importance within the honey bee industry.Ê Honey bees are commonly seen
foraging in unorthodox places such as saw dust piles, manure pits, in the drain holes of potted
plants,Ê and have even been seen scraping paint from farm equipment.Ê These foragers appear to
be gathering minerals and elements not otherwise provided by nectar and pollen.Ê The
prospective student would spent part of the program evaluating honey bee foraging behavior on
these uncommon sources.ÊÊ Nutritional and disease control studies are integral in developing
new procedures and recommendations for beekeepers who must contend with these new
challenges in beekeeping and must contend with these challenges within very narrow chemical
residue limitations.ÊÊ Routinely maintaining healthy colonies, in spite of diseases and pests,
directly supports my interest in pollination ecology and general hive maintenance.
Enhancement of Stigmaeid Predatory Mites in Apple Orchards, Celeste Welty
European red mite (Panonychus ulmi) is one of the most troublesome foliar pests in commercial
apple orchards worldwide. It has several well-studied natural enemies such as the mite Neoseiulus
fallacis (Phytoseiidae), but most natural enemies are suppressed or eliminated by common
orchard pesticides needed to control insects and fungi that attack the fruit. In working with this
pest in a research orchard for the past 6 years, we have noticed a steady increase in density of
another predatory mite, Zetzellia mali (Stigmaeidae). Little is known about its ecology but it
shows promise for biocontrol even when exposed to common pesticides. A small project planned
for 2000 will be our first study focused on Z. mali, with objectives of determining its seasonal
within-tree distribution, which pesticides it can tolerate, how it can be transferred to orchards
where it is not found naturally, and how well it can coexist with other predator species