Distinguished Service Award to the
Certification Program
The purpose of this
award is to encourage, recognize, and reward outstanding contributions to the
ESA Certification Program and the professionalism of entomology.
Dr. Rebecca Baldwin is an associate
professor and is the undergraduate coordinator for the University of Florida
(UF) Entomology and Nematology Department. She became interested in entomology
as a child through the 4-H club in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, and shares her
love of entomology and education by directing the UF Entomology Education and
Outreach Program (The Bug Club), by mentoring and advising students, by
volunteering for the Entomological Foundation, and by teaching general
education and introductory entomology courses to undergraduates. Her research
program focuses on entomology education and integrated pest management tools
for crawling insect control. Outside of the classroom, Rebecca provides CEU and
recertification training for educators, pest control operators, and mosquito
managers, as well as for pest management associations. Rebecca is a
Board-Certified Entomologist, serves on the ESA Education and Outreach Committee,
and is on the Board of Directors for the Entomological Foundation. Rebecca
regularly provides workshops for pest managers who aspire to become Associate
Certified Entomologists.
Rebecca holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida, where
her research focused on people’s perceptions of pest management and integrated
pest management of cockroaches using fatty acid salts. She received her B.A.
and M.S. degrees in biology from the University of Louisiana Monroe. She lives
in North Central Florida, where she and her husband Richard are active members
of Westside Baptist Church.
Ace Professional Award
The purpose of the
award is to recognize superior contributions of an ACE in the field of
structural pest management.
Alan Feuer, ACE, is currently the technical
director and lead ACE for Preventive Pest Control (PPC), Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
Alan began his career in pest management in 1989 following a
tour in the U.S. Marine Corps. Alan’s current duties include training and
development for technical/sales/customer service support personnel for PPC as
well as designing service protocols and SOP in support of pest management
operations.
Alan serves as the PPC liaison to the Greater Albuquerque
Association of Realtors (GAAR), where he currently is serving as the Affiliates
Committee chairman, and is a certified instructor for the New Mexico Real
Estate Commission (NMREC). He is also the current secretary/treasurer and
training coordinator for the New Mexico Pest Management Association (NMPMA) and
is the 2017-2018 chair of the Wood Destroying Organism (WDO) Committee of the
National Pest Management Association (NPMA).
Outbound training is one of Alan’s passions, and he is
blessed to be able to spend about 20% of his time instructing or preparing
classes for GAAR, NMREC, NMPMA, or other local groups. His latest investment is
to partner with property managers and elder care providers in the realm of
better understanding how to best avoid or mitigate bed bugs in the homes of the
most financially/physically/resource-challenged members of our community.
Alan wants to thank all of his mentors from NMPMA for their
wisdom, counsel, and encouragement, and also the industry instructors, vendors,
and manufacturers who invested in providing training and education to the pest
management industry in New Mexico.
Student Certification Award
This award recognizes
and encourages outstanding entomology graduate students with interest in the
mission of the ESA certification program.
Lina Bernaola was born in Lima, Peru.
She received her B.S. in biological sciences and a minor in molecular biology
from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru. Her professional
experience, as well as her passion in the world of plants, began when she
joined the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima to perform her
undergraduate thesis. Based on this experience, Lina joined Louisiana State
University (LSU) to pursue her M.S. in agronomy and crop sciences. Currently,
she is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Entomology at LSU under the
supervision of Dr. Michael Stout. Her research interests include plant-insect
and plant-pathogen interactions as well as host plant resistance. Her project
involves investigations of the mechanistic basis of plant resistance against
above-ground and below-ground organisms in rice. Primarily, she studies the
effects of mycorrhizal fungi, a symbiotic soil-borne organism, on rice
resistance to insect herbivores. The ultimate goal of Lina’s research is to
provide a better understanding of plant-insect-mycorrhizae interactions in rice
pests of Louisiana, which will help to develop more effective pest management
programs in rice. Lina has been actively involved in the Entomological Society
of America since 2013. She has presented her research at several national and
Southeastern Branch meetings. She also enjoys conducting educational outreach
about insects to kids with the Entomology Club at LSU.
