Insect Agroecology and Evolution Lab

We are very excited to congratulate Kristian Brevik for finishing his Ph. D. thesis titled, “Rapid evolution in agroecosystems: Transposable elements and epigenetics in the Colorado potato beetle”.

Kristian has been using genome resequencing to examine the genomic patterns associated with rapid adaptive change in CPB, primarily focused on how insecticides affect transposable elements and DNA methylation.

In addition, Kristian is gaining recognition as an artist. In both art and science, he aims to bring focus to the ” the ways interactions shape species, often about the interactions between humans and other-than-humans.”

To see his artwork, visit his website: http://www.kristianbrevik.com/ or follow him on Twitter @KristianBrevik

Kristian’s next steps are to continue charting his own course in navigating art+science+activism.

As a lab, we stand with #BlackLivesMatter. We work to increase diversity, representation, and allyship in ecology, evolution, entomology, and agriculture. As a lab community, we aim to continue learning and supporting each other in navigating the intersection between the academic world and racial justice. You are welcome here.

Zoe Albion has been working on a summer project while supported by a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. It was nice to see that her research was profiled by UVM Today.

https://www.uvm.edu/uvmnews/news/summer-not

Elisabeth is on a roll with two new publications from her thesis!

In a study published in Canadian Entomologist, she found during multiple 24 hour observational studies that swede midge emerge as adults in the first few hours after dawn and are ready to mate.

She has also found that both natural and the cheaper racemic pheromone blends can disorient male swede midge and prevent them from mating.

Here are the publications:

Hodgdon, E. A., R. H. Hallett, K. F. Wallin, C. A. Stratton, and Y. H. Chen. In Press. Racemic pheromone blends disrupt mate location in the invasive swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01078-0

Hodgdon, E. A., R. H. Hallett, C. A. Stratton, and Y. H. Chen. In Press. Diel patterns of emergence and reproductive behaviour in the invasive swede midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2019.21