Recent Awards

2024

Sam Meraj, Entomological Society of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Claire Gooding accepts her Student Scholarship at the 2024 National Conference on Urban Entomology

Claire Gooding, National Conference on Urban Entomology Student Scholarship, National Conference on Urban Entomology

Gerhard Gries accepts his Distinguished Academic Award at the 2024 National Conference on Urban Entomology.

Gerhard Gries, Distinguished Academic Award, National Conference on Urban Entomology

Gerhard Gries, Thelma Finlayson Lifetime Achievement Award, Professional Pest Management Association of British Columbia

2023

Emmanuel Hung, Faculty of Science Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

Emmanuel Hung, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

Kendal Singleton, Entomological Society of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Kendal Singleton, Entomological Society of Canada John H. Borden Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Asim Renyard, Graduate Student Showcase Participant, Entomological Society of Canada for "Decision-making and coordination of foraging and defence in ants"

Saif Nayani, Graduate Student Showcase Participant, Entomological Society of Canada for "Bovine mastitis, Staphylococcus aureus and stable flies: Evidence for a (not so positive) positive feedback loop"

Claire Gooding and Emmanuel Hung accept their President's Prize awards at the 2023 Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Societies of Canada and Ontario.

Claire Gooding, President’s Prize: Behaviour, Entomological Society of Canada for "Ticks utilize a saprophytic fungus to identify suitable resting sites"

Emmanuel Hung, President’s Prize: Behaviour, Entomological Society of Canada for "The presence of flies increases the attractiveness of objects to host-seeking stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans"

Sophie Hennig, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Charlotte Pinard, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Saif Nayani, Dexter Johnson Award, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Sam Meraj, Best PhD Presentation, Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Functional insights into Prolixicin: Its expression and efficacy as an antimicrobial peptide in bed bugs"

Claire Gooding, Best Masters Presentation, Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Ticks utilize a saprophytic fungus to identify suitable resting sites"

Saif Nayani, Best Masters Presentation, Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Bovine mastitis, Staphylococcus aureus and stable flies: Evidence for a (not so positive) positive feedback loop"

Charlotte Pinard, Best Undergraduate Presentation, Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, reduce predation risk by eavesdropping on ant alarm communication"

Saif Nayani delivering his award winning 3MT presentation at the University of Saskatchewan.

Saif Nayani, First Place and People's Choice, (Faculty of Science, SFU), First Place and People's Choice, (SFU), First Place, (Western Canada - Regional Competition), Second Place, (Canada - National Competition), Three Minute Thesis (CAGS) for "How Moolissa got her groove back: Using microbes to solve a pesky pest problem"

Charlotte Pinard, Nick Rice, Layla Gould, Calla Pickett, Augustus Negraeff, Miele McGowan & Melissa van Veen, Undergraduate Student Research Awards, NSERC

Emmanuel Hung, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral Program, NSERC

Sam Meraj, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral Program, NSERC

Saif Nayani, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

Claire Gooding, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

2022

Group photo of the Gries lab at the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Societies of America, Canada and British Columbia. Gries lab members delivered 16 talks, 6 of which were awarded President's Prizes!

Asim Renyard, President’s Prize (Graduate); Plant-Insect Ecosystem: Behavior and Chemical Ecology, Entomological Society of America for "Do the locomotion: Bimodal alarm signals of Western carpenter ants alter locomotory responses of nestmates"

Claire Gooding, President’s Prize (Graduate); Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology & Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology: Behavior and Ecology, Entomological Society of America for "Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, sense and avoid ant-frequented areas."

Emmanuel Hung, President’s Prize (Graduate); Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology, Entomological Society of America for "Sexually dimorphic flicker fusion and wing flash frequencies in stable flies and horn flies: A potential basis for augmenting light traps."

Eve Meyer, President’s Prize (Undergraduate); Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology: Behavior and Ecology, Entomological Society of America for "Conductive and convective heat, but not infrared radiation, mediate stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, and horn fly, Haematobia irritans, alighting and probing responses on thermally different targets."

Miele McGowan, President’s Prize (Undergraduate) Runner-up; Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology: Behavior and Ecology, Entomological Society of America for "Characterizing the multi-modal host cue complex that attracts stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans."

Jenelle Breen, President’s Prize (Undergraduate); Plant-Insect Ecosystem: Behavior and Ecology, Entomological Society of America for "Do surface semiochemicals mediate object recognition and ensuing behavioral decisions by ants?"

Jaime Chalissery, John H. Borden Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Asim Renyard, Dexter Johnson Award, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Emmanuel Hung, Graduate Student Scholarship, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Jaime Chalissery, Claire Gooding & Kendal Singleton, Faculty of Science Excellence in Course Team Award Simon Fraser University

Keiran Maskell, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Justin Wong, Kelvin Lau & Jenelle Breen, Undergraduate Student Research Awards, NSERC

Sam Meraj delivering her winning 3MT presentation.

Sam Meraj, Runner Up, (Faculty of Science, SFU), First Place, (SFU), Three Minute Thesis (CAGS) for "Bed bugs, enemies or medicine?"

Kendal Singleton delivering her award winning 3MT presentation.

Kendal Singleton, First Place, (Faculty of Science, SFU), Three Minute Thesis (CAGS) for "Last call for click beetle pests."

Emmanuel Hung, Best Student Presentation, Professional Pest Management Association of BC for "Sexually dimorphic flicker fusion and wing flash frequencies in biting flies: A potential basis for augmenting light traps."

Kendal Singleton, Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

Elana Varner, Faculty of Science Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award, Simon Fraser University

2021

Group photo of award winners at the 2021 Entomological Society of Canada meeting including Andreas Fischer (middle left) and Emmanuel Hung (top center).

Andreas Fischer, President’s Prize: Ecology and Evolution, Entomological Society of Canada for "Intrasexual conflict - female false black widow spiders sense, and behaviorally and physically respond to, female conspecific sex pheromones"

Emmanuel Hung, President’s Prize: Pest Management II, Entomological Society of Canada for "Conductive and convective heat, but not infrared radiation, mediates stable fly alighting and probing response on thermally different targets"

Emily Lemke with her certificates for the Postgraduate and the John H. Borden Scholarships from the Entomological Society of Canada.

Emily Lemke, Entomological Society of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Emily Lemke, Entomological Society of Canada John H. Borden Scholarship, Entomological Society of Canada

Elana Varner delivering her winning 3MT presentation.

Elana Varner, People's Choice Winner (2020-2021 National 3MT Showcase), Three Minute Thesis (CAGS) for "A bumblebee nest-site roadmap: The saving grace of mouse pee?"

President Prize announcements for Kendal Singleton and Emmanuel Hung, during the 2021 ESA virtual meeting

Kendal Singleton, President’s Prize (Graduate), P-IE: Behavior and Ecology Entomological Society of America for "Identification of sex pheromone components of two Nearctic Agriotes species (Coleoptera: Elateridae)"

Emmanuel Hung, President’s Prize (Graduate), MUVE: Diptera Biology and Control Entomological Society of America for "Fast and sexually dimorphic photoreceptors – sensory tools for mate recognition systems in horn flies and stable flies?"

Group photo of award winners at the 2021 ESBC virtual meeting. (moving left to right) Asim Renyard, Sam Meraj, Jaime Chalissery, Emily Lemke, Kenza Zobaidi, Elton Ko, and Andreas Fischer

Asim Renyard, Best Student Presentation (PhD), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Bimodal distress signals of western carpenter ants upturn alarm responses of nestmates."

Andreas Fischer, Best Student Presentation, Runner Up (PhD), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Sexual conflict in false black widow spiders – aging females manipulate mate choice by males"

Jaime Chalissery, Best Student Presentation (Masters), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Identification of the trail pheromone of the pavement Aat Tetramorium immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)."

Elton Ko, Best Student Presentation, Runner Up (Masters), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Long- and short-range bimodal signals mediate mate location and recognition in yellow fever mosquitoes."

Kenza Zobaidi, Best Student Presentation, Runner Up (Undergraduate), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Strength in numbers: Do European fire ants communicate and forage better in groups than on their own?"

Jaime Chalissery & Emily Lemke, Dan Johnson Award in Insect Ecology, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Asim Renyard & Sam Meraj, Graduate Student Scholarship, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Gerhard Gries delivering his Silver Medal presentation at the 2021 meeting of the Internation Society of Chemical Ecology.

Gerhard Gries, Silver Medal Award, International Society of Chemical Ecology

Andreas Fischer, Best Student Oral Presentation, International Society of Chemical Ecology for "Sexual signalling in a widow spider – Unravelling contact and airborne pheromone components and the role of an enzyme in their dissemination"

Andreas Fischer, Runner Up Best Student Presentation, European Society of Arachnology for "Sexual conflict in false black widow spiders – Aging females manipulate mate choice by males"

Megan Macgregor, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Emily Lemke, The William & Ada Isabelle Steel Memorial Scholarship, Simon Fraser University

Emily Lemke, BC Council of Garden Clubs Mildred Wells Graduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University

Nelson Lee, Ranjot Bhandal, Kinzah Zobaidi & James Qian (left to right) all 2021 NSERC USRA recipients - Credit: Adam Blake

Ranjot Bhandal, Nelson Lee, James Qian & Kinzah Zobaidi, Undergraduate Student Research Awards, NSERC

Andreas Fischer, Biological Sciences Outreach Award, Simon Fraser University

Emily Lemke, 1st Place, M.S. Student Ten Minute Paper Competition, Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America for "Limoniic acid as a sex attractant of Limonius spp. (Coleoptera: Elateridae) pests across North America"

Emmanuel Hung, Clements Biological Sciences Independent Study Award, Simon Fraser University

Claire Gooding and Hanna Jackson, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Emily Lemke, Best Student Presentation, Professional Pest Management Association of BC for "Limoniic acid as a sex attractant of Limonius spp. (Coleoptera: Elateridae) pests across North America"

2020

Asim Renyard, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral Program, NSERC

Andreas Fischer, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral Program, NSERC

Jaime Chalissery, BC Council of Garden Clubs Mildred Wells Graduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University

President Prize announcements for Asim Reynard, Warren Wong, Kendal Singleton, and Claire Gooding, during the 2020 ESA virtual meeting

Asim Renyard, President’s Prize (Graduate): MUVE, Hymenoptera, Spiders, Entomological Society of America for "To the beat of their own drum: The role of vibratory communication in Western carpenter ants"

Warren Wong, President’s Prize (Graduate): P-IE, Chemical Ecology 1, Entomological Society of America for "Bitter & sweet: Attraction of brown marmorated stink bugs to odorants from blooming sunflowers"

Kendal Singleton, President’s Prize Runner-Up (Graduate): P-IE, Molecular and Novel Tools, Entomological Society of America for "Spectral sensitivity of North American pest click beetle species (Coleoptera: Elateridae)"

Claire Gooding, President’s Prize Runner-Up (Undergraduate): PBT, General, Entomological Society of America for "Western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc, are attracted to floral odorants"

Adam Blake, Graduate Student Research Prize, Canadian Council of University Biology Chairs for "Polarization of foliar reflectance: novel host plant cue for insect herbivores"

Jaime Chalissery, Undergraduate Paper Award, Canadian Council of University Biology Chairs for "Ants sense, and follow, trail pheromones of ant community members"

Adam Blake (with cameo from Giselle), Kendal Singleton, Elana Varner, Asim Renyard, and Jaime Chalissery, accepting awards during the 2020 ESBC virtual meeting - Credit: Dan Peach

Elana Varner, Best Student Presentation (PhD), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "Do spring queen bumble bees sense, and behaviorally respond to house mouse odorants as nest site location cues?"

Asim Renyard, Best Student Presentation, Runner Up (PhD), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "To the beat of their own drum: The role of vibratory communication in Western carpenter ants"

Jaime Chalissery, Best Student Presentation, Runner Up (Masters), Entomological Society of British Columbia for "We go together! – Groups of European fire ants, Myrmica rubra, distinguish between pheromone blends, and follow pheromone trails for longer distances than individual ants."

Kendal Singleton, Graduate Student Scholarship, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Adam Blake, Dan Johnson Award in Insect Ecology, Entomological Society of British Columbia

Emily Lemke, First Place Award for an MSc Student Oral Presentation in Entomology, Entomological Society of Alberta

Negin Ketabchi, Megan MacGregor, James Pickett, Jonathan Petrov, Andrea Romanto, Aubrie Verleur, & Tia Young, Undergraduate Student Research Awards, NSERC

Jaime Chalissery, Department of Biological Sciences Teaching Assistant Award, Simon Fraser University

Jaime Chalissery, Dr. H.R. MacCarthy Graduate Bursary, Simon Fraser University

Andreas Fischer, Arachnological Research Fund, American Arachnological Society

Andreas Fischer, Oscar and Jan Francke ISA Student Research Fund, International Society of Arachnology

Elana Varner delivering her winning 3MT presentation.

Elana Varner, First Place and People's Choice Winner, (Faculty of Science, SFU), First Place, (SFU), First Place and People's Choice Winner, (Western Canada), Three Minute Thesis (CAGS) for "A bumblebee nest-site roadmap: The saving grace of mouse pee?"

Yonathan Uriel, Omics Data Science Initiative 2020 Graduate Scholarship, Simon Fraser University

Kendal Singleton, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Award, Simon Fraser University

Emmanuel Hung, Undergraduate Student Research Awards, NSERC

Emily Lemke, Thelma Finlayson Graduate Entrance Scholarship, Simon Fraser University