Departmental Seminars

The Entomology Department regularly hosts seminars during the spring and fall teaching semesters in at noon on Fridays in Russell Labs 150 or via Zoom. For each seminar listed below, note the format may be in-person, virtual, or both. Use this link to join the recurring zoom meeting for virtual attendance.

2023 Spring Colloquium

DateSpeakerTitleAffiliationFormat
Feb 3Molli PauliotThe Emerald Ash Borer’s Impact on Ho-Chunk Black Ash BasketsUW-Madison AnthropologyIn-person
Feb 10Jennifer ZaspelIntegrating collections, research, education, and exhibits to advance biodiversity science and STEM learningVP/Academic Dean, Milwaukee Public MuseumIn-person
Feb 17Jay WatsonWI DNR's Terrestrial Insect Conservation & Management ProgramWI Department of Natural ResourcesVia zoom
Feb 24Jared AliCANCELLED: Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense and Multi-trophic Interactions: Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic TravelersPenn StateCancelled due to weather
Mar 3Seth DonougheEggshells and wings: How developing tissues build complex materials, and what this reveals about predictability in evolutionUniversity of ChicagoIn-person
Mar 10Olivia BernauerGlobal change and pollinators: Functional diversity and resilienceUW-Madison EntomologyIn-person
Mar 17No ColloquiumSpring Break
Mar 24PJ LieschTales from the Insect Diagnostic Lab: Trends and other Stories from 2022UW-Madison EntomologyIn-person
Mar 31Miriam Kishinevsky
Parasitoids in the field: what do we assume and what do we know?UW-MadisonIn-person
Apr 7Allee HochmuthCommunication and Conflict Transformation 101: A Cross-Disciplinary ApproachUW-MadisonIn-person
Apr 14August Easton-CalabriaMS defenseUW-Madison EntomologyIn-person
Apr 21Quinn McFrederickThe weird world of pathogens, microbes, and meat-eating beesUC RiversideIn-person
Apr 28Ben IulianoPh.D. defense: Ecological and social dimensions of insect natural enemy conservation in Wisconsin agricultural landscapesUW-Madison Entomology, Integrative BiologyIn-person
May 5Skye Bruce (Harnsberger)Ph.D. defense: Landscape ecology & conservation of grassland butterflies in WisconsinUW-Madison EntomologyIn-person

Past seminar series

+2022 Fall Colloquium

2022 Fall Colloquium

DateSpeakerTitleAffiliationFormat
Sep 16Berry BrosiEffects of experimentally induced community-level phenological mismatches on plant pollination and fecundityUniversity of WashingtonIn person
Sep 23Rick LindrothThe butterfly effect: highlights, lowlights, and insights from my 37-year career at UW-MadisonUW-MadisonIn person (Rm. 184, 10:45AM)
Sep 30Shawn Steffan and Allee HochmuthDepartmental Codes and Policies etc.UW-MadisonIn person
Oct 7Ainsley SeagoEvolution of beetle iridescenceCarnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, PA)Virtual
Oct 14Russ GrovesDepartmental awards and recognitionUW-MadisonIn-person
Oct 21Prarthana DharampalMicrobes within food webs--the invisible dark matter that mattersUW-MadisonIn-person
Oct 28Bobbi PeckarskyEffects of climate change on stream insectsUW-MadisonIn-person
Nov 4Ignacio Escalante MezaMechanisms and evolutionary implications of behaviors: biomechanics and communication in an arachnidUW-Milwaukee/University of Illinois at ChicagoIn-person
Thu Nov 10Victoria LasonCharacterizing Insect Feeding Behaviors Which Enhance Epiphytic Salmonella enterica Bacterial PopulationsUW-MadisonIn-person (Rm. 147, 9-10am)
Nov 11Zeyaur KhanAn Adventure in Applied Entomology:
A History of Three Decades of Research and Future Directions of Push-Pull Agriculture in Africa
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, KenyaVirtual
Nov 18Xia LeeZuam thiab Hmoob (Ticks and the Hmong)WI DHS + UW EntomologyIn-person
Nov 25No ColloquiumThanksgiving Break
Thu, Dec 1, 4-5pmDr. Laura FigueroaBees, bugs & beyond: one researcher's story to understand and promote pollinator health and inclusivity in scienceUniversity of Massachusetts-AmherstIn-person (Rm. 216 - Shorger Library)
Dec 9Anurag AgrawalDoane LectureCornell EEBIn-person
Thu, Dec 15Mitchell LannanMS Exit Seminar: Impact of attract-and-kill on Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and survey of bee abundance and diversity in Wisconsin vineyardsUW-Madison EntomologyIn-person
+2022 Spring Colloquium

2022 Spring Colloquium

DateSpeakerTopic/TitleAffiliationFormat
Jan 28Celso OliveiraPhytochemical diversity and plant-insect interactionsUW-MadisonIn-person
Feb 4Dr. Shalene JhaPlant-animal interactions and ecosystem services in the face of global changeUniversity of Texas, AustinVirtual
Feb 11Dr. Lynn AdlerFloral traits mediating bee-pathogen interactionsUniversity of Massachusetts, AmherstVirtual
Wed, Feb 16Dr. Emily BickDigital Entomology: Approaches in precision pest ecologyUniversity of CopenhagenIn-person and virtual
Feb 18No seminar---
Feb 25Dr. Punya NachappaWild wild west: emerging viruses and viroids of hemp in ColoradoColorado StateIn-person
Mar 4No noon seminar---
Mar 4, 1:00-2:00pmPrecision Pest Ecology candidate #2Research SeminarIn-person (Russell 184) and virtual
Wed, Mar 9Dr. Sara EmeryBig data, conservation biological control and precision pest ecologyUC DavisIn-person and virtual
Mar 11Dr. Art WoodsThermal ecology of aspen leaf minersUniversity of Montana, MissoulaIn-person
Mar 18SPRING BREAK---
Mar 25PJ Liesch2021's Trends and Highlights from the UW Insect Diagnostic LabUW-MadisonIn-person
Thu, Mar 31Dr. Diana SixFrom little to big: Bark beetle-fungus symbiosis effects at the landscape levelUniversity of Montana, MissoulaDoane lecture (in-person, 584 Russell Labs)
Apr 1Dr. Diana SixForests, bark beetles and a changing climate: Finding trees that have what it takes to persist in the face of severe outbreaksUniversity of Montana, MissoulaDoane lecture (in-person)
Apr 8Dr. Amelia LindseySymbiont-mediated losses of sex in parasitoid waspsUniversity of MinnesotaIn-person and virtual
Apr 15Dr. Lora RichardsCaterpillars, chemistry, and plants: A story of diversity and scaleUniversity of Nevada, RenoIn-person and virtual
Apr 22Dr. Emily Poppenborg MartinArthropod biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland: pathways to prediction, pathways to enhancement?University of HannoverVirtual
Apr 29Yi-Ming WengEvolution in sky islands: how alpine beetles respond to glacial cyclesUW-MadisonIn-person and virtual
May 6Erin LoweDissertation defenseUW-MadisonIn-person and virtual
+2021 Fall Colloquium

2021 Fall Colloquium

DateSpeakerTitleAffiliationFormat
Fri, Sep 10EGSA-hosted picnicIn person 
Fri, Sep 17Dr. Matt SmithThe mechanisms and ecological impact of individuality in insect behaviorUW-Madison (from Harvard)In person + Virtual
Fri, Sep 24Dr. Genevieve PugesekThe cryptic life cycle stages of bumble bees: using natural history to guide conservationUW-Madison (from Tufts)In person + Virtual
Fri, Oct 01Dr. D. André Green IIMonarch migration as an integrative model of complex trait evolutionUniversity of MichiganVirtual
Fri, Oct 08Dr. Joe LouisRegulation of plant defense responses to sap-sucking aphidsUniversity of NebraskaVirtual
Fri, Oct 15Dr. Mary JamiesonUnderstanding drivers of plant-insect interactions: from landscapes to moleculesOakland UniversityIn person + Virtual
Fri, Oct 22Dr. Lynette StricklandVariation in nature: maintenance, control and benefitsUniversity of MemphisVirtual
Fri, Oct 29Dr. Lora RichardsPhytochemical diversity, plant-insect interactionsUniversity of Nevada-RenoIn person + Virtual
Fri, Nov 05No colloquium (Entomology Society of America Meeting)
Tue, Nov 9Dr. Gebbiena Bron - Research SeminarFrom plague to Rift Valley fever: exploring vector-borne pathogen invasion, persistence, and controlWageningen UniversityIn person (Rm 150)
Wed, Nov 10Dr. Gebbiena Bron - Teaching SeminarZoonotic vector-borne diseases: How they stay with us and how to control themWageningen UniversityIn person (Rm 216)
Fri, Nov 12Dr. Anurag AgrawalConvergence and divergence in the diversity of insects feeding on a toxic plantCornell UniversityIn person (Doane Lecture) + Virtual
Mon, Nov 15Dr. Andrew MacDonaldInfectious disease in a changing world: Land use and climate change impacts on vector-borne diseaseUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraIn person (Rm 150) + Zoom
Tue, Nov 16Dr. Andrew MacDonaldPlanetary health impacts of land use
and land cover change
University of California, Santa BarbaraIn person (Rm 216) + Zoom
Fri, Nov 19Dr. Anthony VaudoBee nutritional ecology: unifying behavior, communities, and conservationUniversity of Nevada-RenoZoom
Fri, Nov 26No colloquium (Thanksgiving)
Mon, Nov 29Dr. Jean Tsao - Research SeminarDistribution of Lyme disease risk in the eastern US: it's not just about the ticks....or is it?Michigan StateIn person (Rm 150) + Zoom
Tue, Nov 30Dr. Jean Tsao - Teaching SeminarEmerging infectious diseases and spillover events: Cats, mink, deer, oh my!Michigan StateIn person (Rm 216) + Zoom
Fri, Dec 03DEI Committee
Fri, Dec 10Martin VenturaStudent DefenseUW-MadisonIn person + Zoom