April Award Round-Up
The Department is pleased to announce several awards and achievements earned by members of the Entomology community here at UW-Madison!
Professor Russ Groves was elected to the UW-Madison Biological Sciences Divisional Committee. The Biological Sciences Divisional Committee recommends promotion or appointment with tenure and selects Hilldale Award recipients and Hilldale Lecture speakers.
Morgan Weissner (Groves Lab) received the 2026 Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, an award presented by the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association. Morgan is working on identifying potential trans-generational effects of sub-lethal pesticide exposure on the Colorado potato beetle, including novel RNA-interference-based pesticides.
August Easton Calabria (Crall Lab) received the 2026 Senator Robert Caldwell Graduate Fellowship. August works on colony ontogeny and collective behavior in bumble bees and how these aspects of their life histories shape their responses to a rapidly changing environment. He is currently interested in exploring the population-level differences in bumble bee colonies’ responses to stressors such as climate extremes and pesticide exposure.
Fletcher Robbins (Bick Lab) received a 2026 American Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship to conduct a research visit with Dr. Niels Holst at Aarhus University (Dr. Emily Bick received the same fellowship in 2017 for her work with Dr. Holst). Fletcher will be spending several weeks there collaborating on a modeling and pest monitoring research project, which should be a great opportunity to expand both the applied and international dimensions of his work.
Emilie Parkanzky (M.S. student, Guedot Lab) and Ari Maurer (undergraduate, Schoville and Groves labs) were honored at the 2026 CALS Student Awards Celebration on 04/08/2026 from 4:00-5:30. Emilie received the Graduate Service & Outreach Award, while Ari received the Undergraduate Leadership Award.
Nathan Lin and Ari Maurer received Honorable Mentions in the 2026 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Competition. This Fellowship supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time, research-based masters and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), including education.
At the Entomological Society of America North Central Branch Meeting, held April 19-22 in Des Moines, Iowa:
- PJ Liesch (“WI Bug Guy”, Insect Diagnostic Lab), was awarded the ESA-NCB Educational Project Award for the 2024 Cicadapalooza event and the Periodical Cicadas in Wisconsin website that accompanied it.
- Ari Maurer (Schoville and Groves labs) awarded 2nd place in the undergraduate 10-minute talk competition, titled “Investigating phenotypic and genomic cross-resistance in the Colorado potato beetle.”
- Karen Fuenzalida (Paskewitz and Bartholomay labs) awarded 2nd place in the poster competition.
- Zoe Narvaez (Paskewitz lab) awarded 2nd place in the photography competition.
Sohan Alleshwaram is receiving a 2026 Sophomore Research Fellowship. Funded by grants from the Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, the Kemper K. Knapp Bequest, and the Provost’s Office, the Sophomore Research Fellowship provides research training and support to undergraduates.
Samantha Surges is receiving a 2026 Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship. The Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship provides research training and support to undergraduates.
And finally, we recognize the following undergraduates for earning an Entomology B.S. this semester: Charlotte Butz, Julia Cohen, Elizabeth Ehlert, Zephyr Henry, Garrett Laube, Anthony Luzzio, Ari Maurer, and Ted Wong.
Congrats to all!