Functional Genomics Entomology at the University of Minnesota
Lab News!
The latest (and hopefully greatest) from our group.
Science, science-adjacent, and life in Minnesota.
Gloria finished screening ~3000 midge larvae for parasitism. She did all the DNA extractions and PCRs in record time! 2022/06/03The first crosses with Laura’s new fly stocks are emerging and we have a phenotype! 2022/06/02Welcome, new MS student Sarah Lisak! Sarah is co-advised by Bob Koch and will be using molecular approaches to quantify biocontrol of soybean gall midge. 2022/06/01Megan’s FiSH protocol is working! Next step, confocal training. 2022/05/23Amelia received the Exemplary Faculty Award from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). 2022/04/21Laurapresented her non-thesis seminar which focused on the use of insects in art across history. We all learned SO much: you can view the recording <here>. 2022/04/21Megan presented her thesis proposal on endosymbiont niche partitioning. You can watch the recording <here>. 2022/04/16Megan and Laura showcase their science-themed art at the UMN SciArt Exhibition. 2022/04/01The lab’s first preprint is on BioRxiv! Megan is leading the charge on Wolbachia confections; read more <here>. 2022/03/30Amelia is selected as the Excellence in Early Career award recipient by NCB ESA. 2022/03/22The lab attends the NCB ESA meeting and Gloria wins an award for her presentation on gall midge predation. 2022/03/22.Laura wins a free T-shirt. 2022/03/14First annual lab spring cleaning, featuring Mim’s for lunch, inventory checks, and some elbow grease. 2022/03/10Welcome, Ashlyn Anderson! Ashlyn joins us from Bemidji State/North Hennepin to work with Laura on PI-Wolbachia. 2022/03/01Gloria presents her M.S. thesis proposal seminar. 2022/02/15Amelia was featured on RadioBio. You can listen to the podcast <here>. 2021/12/13Congrats, Tessa! Tessa defended her M.S. thesis on cryptic species after Amelia stepped in as interim advisor a few months ago. 2021/12/09Laura presented her Ph.D. thesis proposal seminar. 2021/11/16Laura and Gloria attended ESA 2021 and gave excellent talks on their research! 2021/11/02Amelia was selected as the SysEB awardee for this year’s ESA early career standout symposium. 2021/11/01Finally, a lab group photo! L->R: Megan, Hailey (Aukema Lab adoptee), Laura, Tina (Koch Lab adoptee), Amelia, Gloria. 2021/10/28Welcome, new grad student Megan Jones! She is joining us with an Excellence in Entomology Fellowship to work on mechanisms of Wolbachia infection. 2021/09/07Discovery of Edward (Scissorhands) 2021/07/22Laura generated the lab’s first yeast transformants. 2021/07/17Amelia receives the Faculty Award for Mentorship in Entomology 2021/07/13Welcome Gloria Melotto, new M.S. student in the Koch and Lindsey Labs, working on soybean gall midge biocontrol! 2021/06/30Our fluorescence microscope is here! 2021/06/14We’ve been finding an abundance of “smooth Kens” (i.e. males with no genitalia). 2021/05/05Publication of the DROP database for Drosophila parasitoids is out in Molecular Ecology <here>. 2021/05/29Laura was awarded Honorable Mention for her GRFP proposal! Huge congrats! 2021/03/23A lucky sighting of the northern lights. 2021/03/20Hannah Tubby and Annie Lyra get to be honorary scientists. 2021/02/13Amelia’s postdoc work is published in mBio <here>. 2021/02/09The qPCR machine is here! We are ready to run lots of samples. 2021/01/08The walk-in insect incubator is (finally) up and running! 2020/12/20The lab’s first PCR! 2020/09/22We have pipettes! 2020/08/05Amelia’s review on Wolbachia‘s mechanisms for host interaction is published <here>! 2020/07/16Welcome, Laura Fricke, PhD student and UMN DOVE Fellow! Laura will tackle Wolbachia-mediated parthenogenesis. 2020/07/10The lab is born! 2020/07/07