Several entomology faculty and students won awards at the North Central Branch meeting of the Entomological Society of America, held in Des Moines, Iowa, March 9-12.

Fred Baxendale, professor of entomology, received the C. V. Riley Achievement Award. The award, the highest honor given by the North Central Branch of ESA, is for outstanding contributions to the science of entomology.

The UNL Linnaean Team won first place in an entomology quiz bowl competition held at the meeting. Team members are entomology graduate students Alister Bryson, Kyle Koch, Wayne Ohnesorg and Johan Pretorius. With the win, the UNL team qualified to compete at the ESA annual meeting in Portland, Ore., in November. The team also received a $2,500 travel grant to support their participation.

Student presentation awards included:

• Justin McMechan received first place for his Ph.D. 10 Minute Paper presentation, “Establishing Risk for Alternative Over-Summering Hosts for Wheat Curl Mites and Associated Viruses.” The paper was co-authored with Gary Hein, professor of entomology.

• Carolina Camargo finished in third place in the Ph.D. 10 Minute Paper presentation. Her presentation, “Toxicity of Thiamethoxam Seed Treatments on Key Natural Enemies of Soybean Aphid,” was co-authored with entomology faculty Blair Siegfried and Tom Hunt.

• Johan Pretorius received third place for his Ph.D. 10 Minute Paper presentation, “The Influence of Tillage in Sugar Beets on Beneficial, Edaphic Arthropod Communities, and the Arthropod-Mediated Ecosystem Services They Provide.” The paper was co-authored with entomology faculty Gary Hein and Jeffrey Bradshaw.

• Camila de Oliveira received third place for her MS Ten Minute Paper presentation, “Impact of Co-Infection of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus and Triticum Mosaic Virus on Virus Transmission Rates and Wheat Curl Mite Reproduction in the Field.” The paper was co-authored with UNL’s Hein and Stephen Wegulo.

Entomology graduate students David Wangila and de Oliveira received North Central Branch ESA Presidential travel scholarships to attend the meeting.

The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA has more than 6,500 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org.