Congratulations to Sarah Rothman on being named a Finalist for the Presidential Management Fellowship! The PMF Program is the Federal Government's flagship leadership development program for advanced degree holders across all academic disciplines. Finalists can secure an appointment for a two-year, full-time, paid fellowship at a Federal agency.

Dr. Paul Leisnham and Sarah Rothman both presented research at the Mid-Atlantic Mosquito Control Association Annual Meeting.

Congratulations to Zoe Nix on earning her B.S. in Environmental Science and Technology! We’ll miss having you in the lab!

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman on winning the Dr. Bruce A. Harrison Outstanding Student Award form the Mid-Atlantic Mosquito Control Association! As part of the award, she has been invited to present her research at the 49th Annual MAMCA Conference in January.

Sarah Rothman presented her research at the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting, held right here in National Harbor.

Sarah Rothman presented her research at the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting in a talk titled “Detritus communities representative of socioeconomically diverse urban neighborhoods affect the outcome of competition between mosquitoes.”

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman, who received a Love of Learning Award from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi!

Welcome to undergraduate researcher Josh Hilton! For his capstone project, Josh will be testing for differences in the size of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes raised on detrital resource bases representative of socioeconomically diverse city blocks.

Sarah Rothman presented her research on the effects of socioeconomically diverse detrital resource bases on competition between Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes at the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman for receiving a Dean’s Fellowship!

Congratulations to Karla Branch on her excellent poster at the SOARE Poster Session and Closing Ceremony! Her work measuring wing lengths suggests that regionally-common detritus comprising white mulberry and black walnut produces more numerous and larger tiger mosquitoes. Good luck at NC A&T—we’ll miss you here at UMD!

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Leisnham, newly appointed Chair of the Department of Environmental Science and Technology!

Welcome to undergraduate researcher Karla Branch! Karla joins us for the summer from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University as a UMD SOARE (Summer Opportunities in Agricultural Research and the Environment) Scholar. Karla will be testing for differences in the sizes of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes that were raised on detrital resource bases characteristic of city blocks that vary in socioeconomic status.

Congratulations to Aubrey Tingler on earning her M.S. in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science, Mary Fitzell on earning her B.S. in Environmental Science and Technology, and Narayan Spaur on earning his B.S. in Biological Sciences: Physiology & Neurobiology! Both Aubrey and Mary begin work for the federal government—Aubrey at NOAA Office of Coastal Management and Mary at USDA APHIS—while Narayan begins as a medical assistant. Wishing you all the best!

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman on her induction to Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society!

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman, who was selected to represent UMD in the Northeastern Association of Graduate School’s Three-Minute Thesis competition finals! She received an honorable mention, placing in the top five presentations.

It was recently announced that Sarah Rothman won the Murray F. Buell Award for Excellence in Ecology for her outstanding oral paper at the 2022 ESA Annual Meeting! Her presentation, titled “Differences in plant community composition along socioeconomic gradients in Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC: Implications for Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes,” was recognized amongst over 100 student competitors.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman and Aubrey Tingler, who were both selected to receive the Ecological Society of America’s Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award! Award recipients receive communications training and learn about the federal budget and appropriations process, then meet with congressional decision-makers to discuss federal support of research and education in the biological sciences.

Dr. Paul Leisnham and Sarah Rothman are co-authors on a new collaborative study titled “Aedes albopictus host odor preference does not drive observed variation in feeding patterns across field populations.” The results suggest that variation in reported A. albopictus feeding patterns are not driven by differences in innate host preference, but may result from differences in host availability. This work is the first to compare A. albopictus and A. aegypti host preference directly and provides insight into differential vectorial capacity and human feeding risk. Check out a figure from the paper below!

Sarah Rothman was recognized by The Graduate School as being among the top 2% of campus Graduate Assistants, earning her an Outstanding Research Assistant Award—congratulations!

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Leisnham and collaborator Dr. Shannon LaDeau, who were awarded a grant by the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station to explore mosquito aquatic habitat and gut microbiota along socioeconomic gradients in Baltimore, MD and Washington DC!

Congratulations to Annie O’Connell on completing her independent capstone research and presenting it at ENST’s poster day! She graduates with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Technology. We’ll miss you!

Sarah Rothman presented her research at the Entomological Society of America, Entomological Society of Canada, and Entomological Society of British Columbia Joint Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Sarah won first place in the student competition of her session on Vector Biology and Management!

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman on receiving the Bentley Holden Scholarship from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies! She will visit the Institute this summer to work alongside Drs. Shannon LaDeau and Jane Lucas to explore differences in mosquito aquatic habitat and gut microbiota in juvenile habitat characteristic of city blocks of varying socioeconomic status.

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Leisnham and Sarah Rothman, who collaborated with Drs. Shannon LaDeau and Jane Lucas at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and were granted the Lang Assael Innovation Award! The award will be used to explore whether and how mosquito microbiota reflect human socioeconomic conditions surrounding juvenile habitat.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman for being selected to represent University of Maryland in the International 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition, which challenges graduate students to explain their dissertation research in just three minutes! You can view her submission and vote for your favorite 3MT here: https://universitas21.com/3MT2022. Voting for the People’s Choice Winner ends October 3rd.

Welcome to undergraduate researcher Zoe Nix! Zoe will be assisting with mosquito colony maintenance and lab experiments.

Congratulations to Aubrey Tingler, who accepted the Maryland Sea Grant State Science and Policy Fellowship with the Maryland Department of the Environment! She will be working on climate resilience issues in the state with a focus on better preparing communities to respond to rapidly changing storm water challenges. She will be working on the fellowship full time while completing her Master's thesis in the lab.

Sarah Rothman and Aubrey Tingler both presented their research at the Ecological Society of America and Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution Joint Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada! Sarah was also a panelist for a Dissertation and Thesis Writing Workshop that Aubrey organized and moderated on behalf of the ESA Student Section.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman, who was awarded two grants by The Graduate School, the Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant and the International Conference Student Support Award, to present her work at the Ecological Society of America and Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution Joint Meeting in Montreal, Canada!

Welcome to master’s student Barry Bowman and undergraduate researchers Lydia Clark and Annie O’Connell! Barry will be studying how perceptions and attitudes towards stormwater management practices affect stakeholder adoption of best management practices. Lydia will be conducting community outreach projects in partnership with Maryland Sea Grant and Annie will be researching the effects of different detritus communities on oviposition choice in Aedes albopictus.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman on being elected to the Graduate Association for Technology and Environmental Science Executive Board! She will serve as the Secretary.

Congratulations to Pablo Gonzales and Rami Homsi on earning their Bachelor’s degrees! We’ll miss you both!

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman, one of the winners of the Campus-Level Final-Round 3MT Competition! The 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) Competition challenges graduate students to explain their dissertation research in just three minutes.

Sarah Rothman and Aubrey Tingler each presented their research at the Eastern Branch Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Congratulations to Sarah for placing second in the PhD student presentation competition!

Congratulations to Aubrey Tingler for being selected as a finalist for the NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship! She will compete against other finalists for placement as a fellow in one of 12 partnered placement sites.

Congratulations to Sarah Rothman for receiving a Dean’s Fellowship!

Aubrey Tingler is a co-author on a newly published article titled “Ethical, legal, social, and economic (ELSE) implications of artificial intelligence at a global level: a scientometrics approach” in the journal AI and Ethics. Check out some results from the paper below!

We’re excited to have undergraduate researchers Gabi Chen, Pablo Gonzales, Rami Homsi, and Nuelle Johnson join the lab! Gabi and Nuelle will be assisting in the lab with mosquito research; Pablo and Rami will be conducting a project on green infrastructure and stormwater management involving community outreach.

Sarah Rothman presented a talk titled “Differences in plant resources for Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes along socioeconomic gradients in Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC” at the Entomological Society of America’s Annual Meeting.

Former lab members Drs. Saunders and Villena were co-authors on a newly published article titled “Condition-Specific Competitive Effects of the Invasive Mosquito Aedes albopictus on the Resident Culex pipiens among Different Urban Container Habitats May Explain Their Coexistence in the Field” in the journal Insects. Check out some results from the paper below!

Welcome to undergraduate researcher Meagan Collins! Meagan will be testing for differences in the sizes of female Culex mosquitoes among city blocks that vary in socioeconomic status.