NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State student Bayleigh Smith of Lake Charles won first place at the 2018 Entomological Society of America, Entomological Society of Canada, and Entomological Society of British Columbia Joint Meeting held recently in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Smith, a biology major, competed in the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) section of the undergraduate poster competition. Her project was studying the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and the cellular responses that helps the tick recognize and initiate a response to invading pathogens.
Biology student Samantha Smith of Alexandria presented her research in the potential use of brown widow, Latrodectus geometricus, toxins as biopesticides.
NSU faculty member Dr. Lindsay Porter gave an oral presentation on the immune response of Amblyomma americanum to microbes.
The conference had a record attendance of 3,800 people from 68 countries with 2,430 oral and 569 poster presentations.
