The Department of Entomology is excited to welcome our excellent new class of graduate students for Fall 2022! They have each provided a photo and short bio as an introduction. Welcome all!

Celeste Huff
M.S. Entomology and Agroecology – Steffan Lab

I am incredibly excited to learn more about the intricacies of the natural world and ways to improve our food systems.  In my time during my undergraduate studies in Horticulture, I found that UW Madison has excellent programs and fascinating research surrounding agriculture, pollination ecology, and entomology. I look forward to discussing these topics and more with other passionate students and faculty!

With my roots in Central Wisconsin, it’s no surprise that I’m going to be working with cranberries. I will be joining the Steffan lab working on determining the roles of microbial populations in pollen and improving cranberry pollination. The creative research in this lab will immensely benefit Wisconsin’s cranberry farmers and broadly aid our understanding of bee health and nutrition.

In my free time, I love gardening, baking sweets, creating art, running, backpacking, and beekeeping.  I am very close with my family and adore my two kittens, Boopert and McBean.

 

Ebony Taylor
M.S. Entomology – Schoville Lab

I grew up in Miami and am the proud product of many cultures. The Afro-Caribbean and Latin cultures of south Florida exposed me to multiple spoken languages, traditions, and customs. On Saturday mornings, my Jamaican father played Reggae music and we ate guava cheese pastries at the local bakery. During the holidays, my friends and I shared and embraced one another’s cultures as we sang songs and performed dances reflecting our different backgrounds. Similar to the cultural diversity I observed as a child, I was also struck by the diversity of my natural environment. As a kid, I observed bumbling bumble bees and crept up on crawling caterpillars. Their behaviors reminded me of myself, a curious creature always on the move. It was during this time of my life that I decided to become an entomologist, or as I referred to it, a “bug doctor”.

My current hobbies are reminiscences of my childhood. I gravitate towards the arts (painting or ceramic making), inhaling sweets (boba tea and chocolate floral desserts), grounding myself in nature (the beach or hiking), and satisfying my unwavering inquiries (science museums, stargazing, and traveling).

Why UW-Madison? I believe if you want to understand almost anything in the world, you must comprehend its mental state and its make-up. As such, I am diving into insects’ genetics with Dr. Sean Schoville’s lab, and I’m excited to begin this hands-on learning experience.

 

Emma Terris
M.S.  Agroecology- Schoville Lab/Groves Lab

I am from the Twin Cities area in Minnesota and am so excited to begin the second chapter of my Wisconsin experience! Originally pursuing the PreMed track, I switched my focus after working as a summer field researcher in Wisconsin and becoming more interested in food systems.

Some areas of research that excite me are anything involving genetics and genomics, the interaction between humans and the environment, and global health topics as they relate to agriculture. In the fall I will be joining the Schoville lab working with potato beetles, which I am quite acquainted with from my brief time in the field.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking in State parks, playing tennis, any activities on the water, trying new restaurants around Madison, and attempting to become a runner. I love to try new things and am very excited to meet everyone!

 

Eliza Pessereau
M.S. Entomology and Agroecology – Gratton Lab

I grew up in Northern California surrounded by vineyards, but only became interested in farming once I started undergrad in the Midwest, the land of corn and soy. After undergrad I explored agricultural work with the Peace Corps and various gardening jobs around the US, but I eventually felt the pull to go back to school.

For my Masters I’ll be working in the Gratton Lab, researching the use of early flowering cover crops as resources for wild pollinators. I’m looking forward to learning more about insect ecology and Wisconsin agriculture, as well as getting to do outreach through the Gratton Lab’s wild bee survey program, WiBee.

In my free time I like to bike, garden, cook, and take pictures of bugs and plants. I’m excited to be at UW Madison and I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the incoming grad students!

 

Fatma Besbes
PhD Entomology – Guédot Lab/Holland Lab

Tunisian by blood and soul, I’m taking this unique opportunity miles away from home for the sake of knowledge and science. As part of both Guédot and Holland Labs, my research interests align to the following questions: How do insects interact with each other as a population, with their host plant, and with other organisms? How can we develop sustainable management strategies to ensure a balanced environment? I believe that the answers to these questions will be of critical for the scientific community and will inform current and future IPM-related studies.

As for fun, I’m a life enthusiast who enjoys life in its smallest details. I’m keen on photography, music, art, worldwide cuisines, exploring new places and new cultures. Plus, you already have a teammate for any adrenaline related-activities.

 

Michael Troutman
M.S. Entomology – Schoville Lab

My name is Michael, and I am starting as a master’s student in the Schoville Molecular Ecology lab this fall. I am studying the population dynamics of butterflies in Yosemite National Park and gene flow of grasshoppers in the Rocky Mountains. As an undergraduate, I majored in environmental biology and minored in environmental geoscience and classical civilizations. For the past year I have worked on species distribution models as a lab technician.

I am a big public outreach advocate and am active on both iNaturalist as well as Facebook insect ID groups. I am currently interested in pursuing further research on landscape genetics, population dynamics, social behavior, and effects of climate change. I also enjoy using ArcGIS as well as R and look forward to further developing my statistical and programming knowledge.

When not looking at insects in one form or another I enjoy hiking, skiing, playing tennis, board games, and reading (especially sci-fi books). I also do wildlife photography and am enthusiastic about documenting as much biodiversity around me as possible. I love the outdoors and am happy to just walk around and explore.

 

Victoria Salerno
M.S. Entomology and Agroecology – Steffan Lab

I started off my undergrad as a PreMed major, but after stumbling into a entomology-focused research lab at UWL, I found a deep LOVE for insects (especially bees!) and immediately changed my major.

I am wholeheartedly excited to begin working with the Steffan lab and to begin researching native bee ecology in cranberry ecosystems. I am excited to dive into investigating novel methods of bee conservation and broaden our understanding of native bee ecology. As Wisconsin is one of the largest cranberry producers in the country, I look forward to positively impacting my home state through my research.

I adore the outdoors and am currently enjoying hiking, playing tennis, and volunteering at the Dane County Humane Society. My favorite place in the area to spend time outdoors is Devil’s Lake State Park. I also am always up to try new things, so if you are looking for another teammate to play volleyball or want to go birding, I’m in!

 

This article was posted in News.