Published on 05/21/21

Entomologist Carmen Blubaugh selected as UGA Service-Learning Fellow

By Michele Hatcher

Agroecologist and entomologist Carmen Blubaugh has big plans for her service-learning course taught through the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and her efforts have been recognized with her selection as a 2021-22 University of Georgia Service-Learning Fellow.

The university honor comes with a fellowship award of up to $2,500 to be used for developing her proposed project, and she will have the opportunity to be matched with a mentor from previous service-learning fellow cohorts based on areas of interest. The yearlong program consists of a retreat, monthly meetings and a Service-Learning Fellows Showcase during which participants present their final projects at the end of the year.

“Service-learning is powerful and hard,” Assistant Professor Blubaugh explained about her developing program. She challenges her students to research and “deeply consider community needs” as they generate insect outreach projects with lasting impact.

For her fellowship project, Blubaugh is developing a collaborative school-garden research network focused on insect food webs, her research passion.

“We’re interested in how vermicompost applications influence communities of pests and beneficial insects, and we’ve recruited a group of teachers who are excited to try out pilot experiments together with their classes in raised beds,” Blubaugh said.

Blubaugh’s students will be paired as mentors with local elementary school classrooms to implement research projects that creatively integrate garden-based experiments with state STEM education standards. The service-learning students will introduce common garden insects, create collections of pests and beneficial insects, compose lecture content on ecosystem services that insects provide, and develop bug sampling activities to collect data.

Traditionally, this would be the extent of the program, but Blubaugh pushes her students and the young students they serve to find a firsthand view from which to learn.

“My service-learning students will work together to analyze and synthesize the data and present the results of our experiment to all of our collaborating classrooms,” Blubaugh explained. “Through this project, our students will experience food webs in real life, practice analytical skills and appreciate the benefits that biodiversity can bring.”

Blubaugh said she is honored to be a part of the fellows program and is looking forward to the mentorship opportunities it offers.

“I’m excited to make friends with other faculty who share my commitment to service and hope to find some mentors and collaborators who can offer guidance and expand the scope and impact of my project,” she said of the program opportunities.

For Blubaugh, the passion for seeing the lightbulb of understanding go on for students is what it is all about.

“I work individually with each of my students to hatch a plan for a service project that leverages their unique talents, but they don’t escape from me without stepping outside of their comfort zones to practice communication, resourcefulness, discipline and empathy,” Blubaugh said. “It’s rare that students at a giant R-1 university have these opportunities in-class, but these intangible skills are everything for students once they move on from college.”

Michele Hatcher is the editor of the Hexapod Herald, the newsletter of the University of Georgia Department of Entomology.

Authors:

Michele Hatcher

Experts/Sources:

Carmen Kay Blubaugh

Assistant Professor Carmen Blubaugh focuses her teaching and research on addressing pest problems in crop production. Her work focuses on providing management tools that reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and on understanding and predicting some of the numerous ecological factors that control predator-prey dynamics.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Download Image

CAES News

A larger-than-life legacy: CAES student’s contagious enthusiasm inspired others 12/17/24 Jordan Powers

When Miriam Edelkind-Vealey applied for a summer role at a University of Georgia pollinator biodiversity lab in 2020, the junior undergrad didn’t quite know what to expect. After being told she got the position, Edelkind-Vealy didn’t hear anything for a few weeks. It was only then that she learned a collaborator on the project, second-year master’s degree student Amy Joy Janvier, had passed away.

University and state leaders cut the ribbon during the Science and Ag Hill dedication ceremony. (Chamberlain Smith/UGA)

CAES News

UGA dedicates first phase of Science and Ag Hill modernization 11/01/24

The University of Georgia held a dedication ceremony on Oct. 30 to celebrate the completion of the first phase of renovations to modernize research and instruction facilities and infrastructure on UGA’s Science and Ag Hill. This area of campus, located just south of Sanford Stadium, includes buildings dedicated to a variety of scientific disciplines such as biology, physics, geology and agricultural sciences.

CAES doctoral students Sofia Varriano and Leniha Lagarde follow farmer Clay Brady to the pasture where many of his chickens are kept.

CAES News

UGA researchers study how free-range chickens influence farm sustainability 10/31/24 Maria M. Lameiras

Researchers in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are studying how pastured and free-range chickens impact ecosystems on integrated crop-livestock farms. Supported by a $749,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, entomology doctoral student Sofia Varriano and her thesis advisor, agroecologist and systems biology Professor Bill Snyder, are testing the promise of integrated crop-livestock agriculture to increase the sustainability of smaller farms.

The study represents the most detailed and comprehensive picture to date of the health of the monarch fall migration in Eastern North America. (Photo courtesy of Pat Davis)

CAES News

The monarch butterfly may not be endangered, but its migration is 10/22/24 Leigh Hataway

With vigorous debate surrounding the health of the monarch butterfly, new research from the University of Georgia may have answered the biggest question plaguing butterfly researchers. Why are the wintering populations declining while breeding populations are stable? Published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study suggests that monarchs are dying off during their fall migration south to Mexico.

Jennifer Berry, Apicultural Research Professional and Lab Manager for the UGA Honey Bee Program, recently achieved her Ph.D. and Triple Dawg status. She has been working with the Honey Bee Program at UGA for over 20 years. (Photo by UGA College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.)

CAES News

Queen bee: Berry turns a sweet hobby into research and impact 08/20/24 Brandon Ward

Jennifer Berry has always been interested in insects. As a child, she would spend time in the woods behind her house, fascinated by the multi-legged life that lived among the trees. In summers, Berry visited her grandparents’ Missouri farm, where her grandfather would take her to a buzzing tree to collect bits of honeycomb. After safely smoking out some of the bees, he would hold Berry up to see the hive and take a couple of small combs for them to enjoy. “I always wanted more,” she said.

CAES News

A back-to-school guide to the nitty-gritty on head lice 08/12/24 Allison Johnson

As students return to school, head lice often become a common concern for administrators and parents. Understanding how to prevent and manage head lice infestations is crucial for maintaining healthy environments in schools and at home. Allison Johnson, the Pesticide Safety Education Program coordinator for the University of Georgia, provides essential information and advice to help mitigate the spread of this pesky pest.