This week was the CFAES Annual Research Forum and Poster Competition!

The Meuti lab was fortunate to have TWO undergraduates present at this event 🙂

Astery Maradiaga, our Undergraduate Visiting Scholar from Honduras, presented her work “Where do all the mosquitoes go in winter?”

Alma Anzalone presented her work, “Identifying seasonal differences in the transcript abundance of seminal fluid proteins in male tiger mosquitoes.” She was a 1st place winner in the insect category!

Our lab would not be the same without the hard work and creativity that undergrads bring to the lab 🙂 We are so happy they were able to share their work, and we are so proud of their accomplishments!

Alma (right) puts her poster up with Carly (left). Alma came in 1st place in her category!

Astery shares her work 🙂

The College of Arts and Science recently announced recipients of college-wide awards for research, teaching, mentoring, and service.

PhD student, Madison Von Deylen (Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology) won the Graduate Student Award for Teaching Excellence!

Madison is a dedicated lab instructor who has prioritized undergraduate education. We are so proud of all her work and the effort she applies to outreach and education. Congratulations, Madison! We are so happy you’ve been honored with this award!!

Congratulations to Hannah Dehus who successfully defended her Master’s thesis work, “Investigating urban mosquito ecology and mosquito management.” We are so incredibly proud of Hannah and all of her hard work over the years!!

She has been such a wonderful lab member and we’re going to miss her. However, we’re very excited to see her continue her research on mosquito management in urban areas as she pursues her PhD at OSU. Congratulations again, Hannah! Enjoy the bright future ahead of you! 🙂

Hannah prepares her thesis defense!

Hannah (left) with a very proud mom (center) and sister (right). Congrats, Hannah!

A huge congratulations to Chloe Chiu who successfully defended her Master’s thesis work, “Uncovering reproductive consequences of seasonal differences in mosquito ejaculate.” After graduating Chloe plans to pursue a career in the pest control industry, possibly in Singapore where she has extended family.

We are so incredibly proud of Chloe and all her hard work over the last 2 years. We are going to miss her terribly but we are looking forward to seeing all the amazing things she’s going to accomplish 🙂 Congrats again, Chloe!!

The faces of some VERY proud parents 🙂

This week, Hannah and Chloe presented their research at the annual American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) meeting! The meeting was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico this year.

Chloe Chui presented her work, “Uncovering reproductive consequences of seasonal differences in mosquito ejaculate.” Hannah presented her work, “Are efforts to conserve urban bees increasing risk of mosquito-borne disease?”

We are incredibly proud of our students and wish them the best in their student competitions! Congratulations on all your hard work, Hannah and Chloe!

Hannah gives her talk at AMCA 2025.

Chloe gives her talk at AMCA 2025. 

This week, undergraduate student Alma Anzalone presented her work “Identifying seasonal differences in the transcript abundance of seminal fluid proteins in male tiger mosquitoes,” at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum! This was a wonderful opportunity for Alma to share her hard work with the public and we’re very proud of her!

Dr. Megan Meuti (left), Alma (right), and Alma’s mother (center) stand proudly in front of Alma’s poster presentation.

Research Assistant Maria Fiorta publishes her first 1st author publication! Her paper “Light pollution disrupts seasonal reproductive phenotypes and reduces lifespan in the West Nile vector, Culex pipiens,” was accepted by the Journal of Insect Physiology! Congratulations Maria on this huge accomplishment!

Matt has had an eventful 2024! He successfully defended his thesis “Uncovering the molecular regulation of daily and seasonal responses in the northern house mosquito Culex pipiens,” in July and graduated with his PhD in December. We are so proud of Dr. Wolkoff and his achievements over the years. Beyond his contributions to science, he has been a wonderful member of the Meuti lab. We are going to miss him, but we’re lucky that he’ll continue to work at OSU as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Dr. Christy Petersen’s lab. Congratulations Matt on this accomplishment and your bright future!

ESA 2024 takes place in Phoenix, AZ.

It’s not an ESA conference without insect shadowboxes!

This week Megan and Mizuki headed to Phoenix, Arizona to attend the Entomological Society of America’s (ESA) annual meeting! They had a great opportunity to share their research and enjoyed hearing from all the other presenters. We’re glad they represented the Meuti lab and got some nice Arizona weather!

This week, Megan was fortunate enough to meet her academic grandmother and personal hero, Judy Willis at the University of Georgia where she gave a seminar to the Entomology Department. Judy’s contributions in the field of insect molecular physiology have been substantial and Megan was honored to meet her! Megan also got to visit with former lab member Derek Huck.