Student places first in international competition

BY Brenda Garza | THE RIDER

Zika research student Brenda Hernandez-Barron, a biology senior, placed first in a poster competition at the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) in Orlando, Fla.

The Entomological Society of America hosted the “Entomology without Borders” congress, attended by more than 6,000 people.

The five-day competition, which began Sept. 25, had nearly 6,000 oral and poster presentations and 298 symposia, making it the largest gathering of entomology students, scientists and experts, including two Nobel Prize-winning professors who were keynote speakers.

“It’s the biggest convention you’ve seen,” Hernandez-Barron said. “You would have to walk 10 minutes just to see the other talks that you were interested in.”
Biology Assistant Professor Christopher Vitek said, “I always encourage [students] to participate. Whenever I go to a conference like this, I try to bring undergraduates and graduates who have research ready to present.”

His student, Hernandez-Barron, participated in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition: Medical Veterinary Entomology division.
“We weren’t expecting to win because we knew the competition would be high,” Vitek said. “I was hoping for it and I knew that she definitely deserved it.”

This is the second year Hernandez-Barron competes at the congress.

“I was very shocked,” Hernandez-Barron said about winning the award. “I saw a lot of work that was in my category and a lot of people were more than capable of getting that prize.”

The congress conducts a yearly competition and the international competition takes place every four years.

“Last year, I didn’t win,” Hernandez-Barron said. “[This is] an international convention. Last year was a national convention [and] I didn’t win anything, so I honestly didn’t expect to win. I’m very happy that I won and I can put my school’s name out there before I graduate.”

ICE 2016 gathered representatives from more than 97 countries and discussed recent advances in the science of entomology, as well as creating awareness of the challenges needed for food security, human health and the conservation of the environment.

Hernandez-Barron’s poster, “Zika Virus Infection and Dissemination within South Texas Mosquito Vectors,” explained her research on the Zika virus transmission and infection rate capacity.

During her presentation, she explained to the judges that her hometown is close to the Mexican border. Hernandez-Barron told them how there have been some cases of Zika just 30 minutes from where she lives.

“[This is] an international convention,” Hernandez-Barron said. “They didn’t know what role the Valley played.”

Many people asked Hernandez-Barron about the research.

“My research is important because [the Valley] could be an introductory route for this virus,” she said. “We have the species that transmits [the virus] in the Valley, as well as in the border of Mexico.”

Hernandez-Barron said she wants to train with the best in the field of entomology.

“I [want] to go the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston for training,” Hernandez-Barron said. “I’ll learn from them and come back and do everything better.”

The weeklong training at UTMB will prepare Hernandez-Barron for the final phase of the research, which involves a greater sample size of mosquitoes and the incorporation of another species of mosquito. Her main goal is to publish her work.

“I’m looking into the prep program for Ph.D. at UTMB,” Hernandez-Barron said. “If I publish, I have something to show and go directly into a Ph.D., instead of going through a master’s first.”

Hernandez-Barron participates in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) program, which provides grants and other support for science education.

Joanne Rampersad-Ammons, a chemistry associate professor and HHMI director at UTRGV, said, “It is fabulous [she won] because it gives students a benchmark that they can aspire to and it’s more inspirational than anything else.”

Ammons explained how HHMI would be proud of their grant recipient.

“As we are winding up this program, these are some of the things I’m going to want to let HHMI know, [the things] we have been able to accomplish with our students through the program,” she said.

Ammons said Hernandez-Barron has been in the program for several years.

“She gets very enthusiastic about building a community and she’s not afraid to go out and let people know about the program. She has been a very, very good part of our community,” Ammons said.

Viteck also spoke highly about the biology senior and her abilities.

“I’m not surprised she won; she is an incredibly gifted and talented student,” he said. “She puts in quality work. I expect her to go get her Ph.D., since that is her goal, and I look forward to calling her Doctor one day.”