Pest Management Foundation Announces 2022-2023 Student Scholarship Recipients

 

This year’s recipients are:

 

• Madison Gits, University of Florida 

• Christopher Hayes, North Carolina State University

• Jun-Yin Lum, University of California Riverside

• Simona Principato, University of Kentucky 

• Jin-Jia Yu, Rutgers University

 

To be eligible for scholarship consideration, applicants needed to be currently enrolled undergraduate (junior or senior year) or graduate students majoring in entomology and focused on urban pest management are eligible. They also had to have completed at least two semesters of study with at least one year remaining before graduation. Applicants also had to be full time students in good academic standing (3.0 GPA or better on 4.0 scale). Only one scholarship is awarded per college or university each year.

 

For more information on the Pest Management Foundation’s Student Scholarships, visit www.npmapestworld.org/studentscholarship.

 

Below is additional info on each of the recipients and their areas of study.

 

CHRISTOPHER HAYES

UNIVERSITY: North Carolina State University

Christopher Hayes is a PhD candidate at NC State University in the field of urban entomology and is investigating how malaria control tools may drive the evolution of pyrethroid resistance in bed bugs. He is particularly interested in how long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs), as well as commonly used repellent products affect bed bug host-seeking behavior. He regularly co-teaches workshops on a variety of pests to pest control professionals from around NC and the surrounding states in association with the NCSU Structural Pest Management Training & Research Facility. Outside the university, he has taught more than 1,500 members of my community about the importance of urban pest management, served as an NPMA intern, and am a member of the Pi Chi Omega fraternity. 

 

JIN-JIA YU

UNIVERSITY: Rutgers University

Jin-Jia Yu is a second year Ph.D. student in the department of entomology at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. He obtained bachelor’s and master’s degree in entomology from National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan in 2017 and 2020, respectively. He works with Dr. Changlu Wang in urban entomology. His research focuses on insecticide resistance of bed bugs and ectoparasites carried by house mice. Currently, he is studying the mechanisms causing high pyrethroid resistance in field-collected bed bugs. He published three peer-reviewed journal articles from his previous and current research. Apart from doing scientific research in the lab, he also likes outdoor activities and desire to breathe the fresh air from nature during weekends. His career goal is to work as a scientist developing new solutions to urban pest management. 

 

MADISON GITS

UNIVERSITY: University of Florida 

Madison Gits is from La Porte, Indiana. She received her bachelor’s degrees in Animal Behavior and Biology from Indiana University and her Master’s degree in Entomology from Purdue University. She is currently an Entomology PhD student at the University of Florida co-advised by Dr. Michael Scharf and Dr. Faith Oi. She is interested in studying insecticide resistance in German cockroaches and how to transfer knowledge to stakeholders.

  

SIMONA PRINCIPATO

UNIVERSITY: University of Kentucky 

Simona Principato is a PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky. She is currently working with bed bugs in the Urban Entomology lab with Dr. DeVries. She completed her B.S. in Biotechnology at the Universita’ degli Studi di Perugia (Italy) and her M.S. in Entomology at Harper Adams University (United Kingdom). Her work focuses on understanding the distribution of histamine excreted in the feces of common urban pests and the possible health relevance of bed bug- derived histamine, mitigation strategies and bed bug control. As she continues with her studies, she strives to acquire a wide knowledge, research expertise, laboratory techniques and skills to support the pest management industry in efficiently tackling the continuous challenges of urban pests. 

 

JUN-YIN LUM

UNIVERSITY: University of California Riverside

Jun-Yin's research focuses on the German cockroach, a significant urban pest commonly found within households. Using a combination of toxicology and population genetics, Jun-Yin studies how insecticide resistance can be inherited in these insects. By improving our understanding of insecticide resistance, we hope to develop better methods of controlling these cockroaches, which are rapidly evolving to become "unkillable".