A team of graduate students has brought home a win from the Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting on April 3, in Seattle, Washington. The team represented the graduate program in Entomology and the ¡¯ (PEPS), University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).
Consisting of students Michelle Au, John Adam Lawrence, Maisha Lucas and Juliana Salehi, the entomology team narrowly beat the University of California-Riverside in a tense tie-breaker, then went on to beat Washington State University in the final round.
The win qualifies them to compete at the national-level Entomology Games in November 2023 at the ESA¡¯s annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. The PEPS¡¯ entomology team won the Entomology Games in 2021.
The students are graduate research assistants and undergraduate students in the research labs of Mark Wright and Jia-Wei Tay, both professors and extension entomologists. Students were coached by Wright.
“Our students put a lot of work into this,” said Wright. “They study all the time, including practice runs during lunch on a wide variety of topics in entomology down to the most obscure facts about insects. I¡¯m confident our team will proudly represent UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ at the national contest in November.”
Tay added, “They did it, and we’re so proud of them! I have faith in our current team for the upcoming national competition!”
The ESA provides each team with a travel award to assist them in getting to the national meeting. The students are also supported by the Au Yeung, Sui Shan and Emmett Richard Easton Scholarship at CTAHR; Tanada Family Entomology Fund; and Nan-Yao and Jill H. Su Endowed Fund for Urban Entomology.