2025

Joe Elias awarded Shepherd Family Research Grant

April 16, 2025 - Joe received a grant to fund his summer field-based research in which he will be developing methods for AI detection and species identification of moths at light traps. Joe's approach is designed to be capable of consistent morphospecies identification in the absence of an image reference library.


Lab-organized symposia accepted for EntSoc

April 15, 2025 - Three symposia organized by lab members were accepted for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society in Portland, Oregon. The three sessions are: Night Watch on Autopilot: Innovations in Automated Nocturnal Insect Monitoring (co-organized by Joe Elias and his external collaborator Laurel Symes), Understanding Drivers of Insect Biodiversity Loss Through Synthesis (co-organized by Eliza and Chris Halsch, with collaborators Chris Elphick and Joe Millard), and Historical Data and the Study of Biodiversity (co-organized by Eliza with collaborators Jessica Ware and Christie Bahlai).


Alison Kryger wins student oral presentation award at ESA Mid-Atlantic Meeting

April 5, 2025 - Alison presented her undergraduate Honors Thesis research at the Ecological Society of America Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Her talk, "Plant community assembly dynamics on rock walls: the role of environmental filtering and dispersal syndrome" got second place for undergraduate student oral presentations!


Suyeon Jang selected for NSF REU program

April 2, 2025 - Suyeon was accepted into a summer NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in marine ecology!


Eliza recognized as a 'Career Champion'

March 28, 2025 - Eliza was nominated by students as a 'Career Champion' for helpful career advice and support.


New paper out in Science on butterfly declines

March 6, 2025 - The Status of Butterflies Working Group that Eliza is a part of published a paper in Science documenting the loss of one out of every five butterflies in the United States since 2000. The study was widely covered in the media, include:


Casey Lau wins the 'Innovation & Technology' category for student employees and the Overall Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year

February 21, 2025 - Casey was recognized for her outstanding organizational skills, developing creative online meeting spaces for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Status of Insects Research Coordination Network (RCN), and serving as the Program Manager for the RCN.


Julianna Yager wins the Best Oral Presentation at the Biology Graduate Student Organization Symposium

January 18, 2025 - Jules received the award for her talk "Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Insect Availability and Grouse Reproductive Success", making her 2/0 for oral presentation awards.


Lab members present at the Biology Graduate Student Organization Symposium

January 18, 2025 - PhD students in the lab, Joe Elias and Julianna Yager, and undergraduate researcher Jackie Just all presented their research at the Biology Graduate Student Organization (BGSO) Symposium.

2024

Julianna Yager wins student talk award at the Entomological Society of America meeting

November 11, 2024 - Jules traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, where she presented her first-ever conference talk "Gamebirds and Insects: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Variable Insect Availability on Grouse Reproductive Success." She received second place in the graduate student presentation competition.


Emma Foster successfully defends her Honors Thesis

April 29, 2024 - Emma Foster successfully defended her Honors Thesis "Long term phenological shifts in moth communities in Central New York" and will graduate with distinction before moving on to a PhD position at the University of Michigan.


Alison Kryger receives two grants to support her summer fieldwork

April 22, 2024 - Alison received funding from two competitive programs---the Summer Scholars and Artists Program (SSAP) and the Undergraduate Research Award---to fund her summer fieldwork for her Honors Thesis. She will be rappelling down cliffs to study plant community assembly dynamics on rock walls.


Julianna Yager awarded Shepherd Family Research Grant

April 12, 2024 - Jules received a grant to fund her summer fieldwork sampling insects in forests across Central New York to study their phenology and abundance in relation to bird breeding season.


Emma Foster presents at the ESA Mid-Atlantic Meeting

April 6, 2024 - Emma presented her Honors Thesis research as an oral presentation at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.


Four new students join the lab through the BUPNUR program

January 15, 2024 - The lab welcomed four new, funded undergraduate students to work on the EntoGEM project through the Binghamton University Projects for New Undergraduate Researchers (BUPNUR) program.

2023

September 1, 2023 - The lab joins the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University.