February Bruner Club Who’s Who

Chelsea Piitz

Mitchell Stamm

Ana Maria Velez

Tara Wood

Travis Prochaska

Amanda Maegli

Lia Marchi

Alister Bryson

Justin McMechan

Alister Bryson

Alister Bryson• Originally from Glenwood, IA• Graduated high school in 2003 and attended college at Iowa

State University • Graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in Biology and was commissioned

as an officer in the United States Navy. • 2007-2011 Stationed in San Diego for 3 years and Bremerton,

Washington for 1 year.• Accepted into the Medical Entomology Program in August 2011

at UNL.• Live in Lincoln with wife-Emilie, daughter-Abbie, and

Siamese/Himalayan Mix cat- Rilo Kitty.• Currently in the USN Reserves

Amanda Maegli• Hello. I am a graduate student working in Dr. Roberto Cortinas’

medical entomology lab. My main focus is the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum).

• I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 with a degree in entomology. I am a true badger fan even though I now go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

• I grew up in Wisconsin where my family and I traveled around the state to go to hockey games every weekend. I love hockey! As an undergraduate at UW, I would go to all of the men’s badger hockey games. I got my boyfriend (who knew nothing about hockey) to fall in love with the sport. Or it could have been the Kohl Center environment…student section is a blast and we love to scream, shout, chant, dance and sing. You probably noticed that if any of you went to the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska football game in Madison.

Amanda Maegli

• I also enjoy traveling. Every year my family and I go on vacations around the United States. This past summer we went to Washington, and this coming summer we are thinking about going to Switzerland. I have also had the benefit of traveling with my boyfriend to Texas, Mexico, and Banff, Canada. Whenever I can find some spare time, I try to get back to Wisconsin to see my family and boyfriend.

• Well that is just a little about me, and I would like to say “On Wisconsin!”

LIA S. MARCHI

LIA S. MARCHIEntomology Graduate Student I was born in Brazil and grew up in town called Limeira (Sao Paulo

state).

In December of 2009, I received my Bachelors Degree in Agronomic Engineering by Sao Paulo State University (UNESP – Botucatu).UNESP gave me a lot of opportunities and I ended up studying

and researching in areas like Agriculture, Microbiology and Entomology.

During that period, I spent one semester in Concord, NE learning about US agriculture and improving my knowledge in Entomology.

In May of 2009, I initiated my masters at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Under the orientation of Dr. Thomas Hunt and Dr. Tiffany Heng-Moss, I’m currently working on a project to categorize the tolerance of a soybean genotype KS4202 to the soybean aphid.Graduation projected date - Summer of 2012Future plans – continue my studies in soybean during the PhD

program.

Justin McMechan: Research

“Transmission of Triticum mosaic virus and its impact of the biology of the wheat curl mite Aceria tosichella Keifer (Eriophyidae) and an evaluation of management tactics for the wheat curl mite and the wheat streak complex”

Advisor: Dr. Gary Hein

Justin McMechan

About Me• M.S. Dept of Entomology• Grew up in southwestern

Manitoba, Canada– Cattle and grain farm

• Education– Associates in Agribusiness

(2006)• Assiniboine Community

College– Bachelors in Agronomy (Crop

Production and Agricultural Sciences) (2009)

• University of Minnesota – Crookston

Hobbies• Sand Volleyball

• Soccer

• Ice Skating

• Winter Weather!

Brainard, NE

Chelsea Piitz

Chelsea Piitz

• MS Student May 2012?! • Dr. Tom Hunt & Dr. Blair Siegfried working on

Bean Leaf Beetles response to Thiamehoxam Seed Treatments

Travis Prochaska

Travis Prochaska• Born and raised in Nebraska, Home of the “Good Life!”

• From Seward

– Known for it’s giant 4th of July celebrations.

– Our independence day bash is known throughout the country. In 1979, the United States Congress passed a resolution declaring Seward “America’s Official 4th of July City - Small Town USA.” In years past, attendance has approached the 50,000 mark.

• I am a farm boy whose family has always revolved around agriculture … growing approximately 600 acres corn and 600 acres soybeans.

• Community service has always been apart of my life. For three years, I sat on the 4th of July committee and helped plan the big party. I happened to be in charge of our Grand Parade!

Travis Prochaska• Since I started high school in 2001

– helped organize and run 28 blood drives – approaching the 2 gallon club in total donations. – sat on the Red Cross Disaster Action Team for several years. – Seward-York-Thayer-Fillmore county areas was lucky enough to

only have 1 disaster, a flood during the 2008 summer. This would have been my one and only response during my time on the team except that I was part of the disaster. During this time, it was considered unsafe by emergency crews for our family to leave our homestead.

• Just as I have a love of insects, I also have a love of nature and horsepower! – Nebraska happens to be a crown jewel in bird migrations by

sitting in the heart of the central flyway. With that, you can often find me near Grand Island in the spring watching the snow geese and sandhill crane migrations!

– As most of you know, my biggest thrill is racing.

Mitch Stamm

Mitch Stamm

• My Interests– Discrepancies in insecticide

control under field conditions

– How insecticides move in plants

– How insects feed from exposure to insecticides

• Document soybean aphid feeding behavior on seed treated soybeans using electronic penetration graphs (EPG).

Tara Wood

Tara Wood• Grew up in Illinois with my Mom Dad and younger sister. • Received college scholarships in soccer and basketball• Graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science

– Minors in Biology, Philosophy and Religion.

• M.S. in Entomology from the University of Arkansas– began working as a Program Associate writing fact sheets on biofuel

topics as part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

• I had many amazing opportunities to travel while at Arkansas (see pics). – Southern Arkansas to hunt alligators. – Mexico to observe the monarch migration with students from

Arkansas, Purdue and Kentucky– Australia for a Biosecurity meeting at the Australia Academy of

Science.

Tara Wood

• I made the challenging decision to begin the Doctor of Plant Health Program in January 2010, where I was the first and only student that semester. I hope to one day use this degree to help improve food security in developing countries.

• I like…– Spending time with my family, going out with friends,

traveling, fly fishing, caving, canyoning, dancing, hiking, bird watching, mountain biking, playing with my dogs, watching the Chicago bears, and playing sports. I also try to stay active in my church, and I like to work as a volunteer with Alzheimer patients.

Ana Maria Velez

ANA MARIA VELEZ

About me• From Colombia, South

America• B.S. Biology - Colombia• M.S. Entomology, National

University of Colombia, “Population genetics of fall armyworm in Colombia”

• Ph.D. UNL Toxicology Lab (Dr. Blair Siegfried), “Characterization of Cry1F resistance in fall armyworm”

Hobbies• Travel• Scuba diving • Biking• Jigsaw puzzles• Knitting• Love pets• Have a bearded dragon