Bug Talk

[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 be...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM SEPT. 1, 2021] Dr. Anthony Cognato (Graduate Program Director) and Heather Lenartson (Administrative Assistant to the Chairperson and Academic Programs) talked about this year's new grad student orientation, the new Student Information System that replaces much of the physical paperwork for both PhD and MS students and allows them and their committee members to track their pro...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM SEPT. 8, 2021] If you are interested in graduate school and are considering joining our department, this episode will provide you with a wealth of information about where to start this process. Dr. Anthony Cognato (Graduate Program Director) and Heather Lenartson (Administrative Assistant to the Chairperson and Academic Programs) talk about topics related to admission to graduate s...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM SEPT. 22, 2021] The MSU Entomology Department is very fortunate to have a wonderful new group of graduate students joining us in 2021. This episode features five of these new grad students: Cynthia Fiser, Julie Michaelson, Ronnie Miller, Charlotte Schuttler and Lauren Goldstein. We talked about how they selected graduate schools, why they ended up choosing MSU and what were the thi...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM NOV. 3, 2021] In this episode Julie and Zsofia talked with Raul Medina, professor of entomology at Texas A&M. Raul received the Entomological Society of America's 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Award. We chatted about how foreign-born people currently living in the US can work with US-born minorities to strengthen each other, how he came to connect his personal...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM NOV. 10, 2021] This episode features Dr. Hannah Burrack, incoming chair of the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University. This new position start on Jan. 1, 2022, and in this episode we chatted about her background and thoughts on leadership. Watch this episode on YouTube here! Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram and Bluesky .

[RE-UPLOAD FROM DEC. 8, 2021] In this episode Zsofia talked with Dr. Inga Zasada, nematologist with the USDA-ARS based out of Corvallis, OR. We chatted about how Inga was inspired by her scientist parents and growing up in Alaska and Oregon to want to become a biologist. She also talked about her unusual path to nematology, including being a Peace Corps volunteer on the Maltese Islands for 2 years...

[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 m...

[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...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM MARCH 31, 2021] This week our cohosts celebrated ONE YEAR of the podcast! 🥳🥳 we answered questions submitted by our listeners (thank you all for your feedback! 🥰) Watch this episode on YouTube here! Stay connected with MSU Entomology on LinkedIn , Facebook , Instagram and Bluesky .

[RE-UPLOAD FROM JUNE 16, 2021] Dr. Jean Tsao (Twitter: @JTsao1) from MSU's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife talks about everybody's "favorite" ticks! We also chatted about how she became an expert in this group of arthropods and she shared this list of resources with us: Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) page on  tick-borne diseases Current MDHHS Ly...

[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...

[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 fellow...

[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...

[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.c...

[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...

[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...

[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...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM FEB. 3, 2021] In this week's episode of Bug Talk, Natalie talked with her Undergraduate Research Advisor, Dr. Kate Boersma. Kate is an assistant professor at the University of San Diego, California. She is an entomologist who focuses on arid land aquatic ecology. Natalie and Kate talk about the research they've done together, what it is like to be a first generation stude...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM FEB. 17, 2021] Kayleigh, Natalie, Ariana, and Zsofia welcomed Dr. Olivia Cope to the department, she is a new postdoc in the Wetzel Lab. Olivia will also be joining our podcast team as co-host, so keep an eye out for episodes by her. Olivia told us about her life growing up in Seattle, doing her undergrad at Berkley and getting a PhD at the University of Wisconsin with Rick Lindrot...

[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...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM JAN. 20, 2021] In this episode, Ali and Zsofia chatted with Yolanda Chen, an associate professor at the University of Vermont. Yolanda shared with us how she got interested in evolutionary biology, her experience working at the International Rice Institute in the Philippines and talked to us about having kids while establishing her career as an assistant professor. We also discusse...

[RE-UPLOAD FROM JAN 20, 2021] In this fun conversation with Dr. Samuel Ramsey, Jen, Natalie, and Zsofia asked him about how he came to love insects, his life as a singer/performing artist, and his passion for science communication. We mentioned his YouTube channel called Doctor Buggs, his appearance on American Idol, and his 3-minute thesis summary. Samuel is currently a postdoc at the USDA Bee La...