August 19, 2024
Entomology postdoc fellow awarded USDA-NIFA postdoctoral fellowship
Submitted by Kun Yan Zhu and Rob Morrison
Hannah Quellhorst, postdoctoral fellow in the Kansas State University entomology department and employee at the USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, was awarded a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship of $220,346 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or USDA-NIFA.
The fellowship covers a two-year stipend to accomplish proposed research, plus research supplies and travel for attending scientific conferences.
Quellhorst will use the fellowship to study the invasion pathway of one of the world's top 100 most dangerous pests, the khapra beetle. She also plans to improve identification of major invasive stored product pests on a global level, with updated images and keys as well as data about the morphological characteristics of individual strains around the world for the khapra beetle and larger grain borer.
Quellhorst plans to create a dedicated museum collection of the khapra beetle and larger grain borer along with other stored product insects at K-State, which can be used in the future by other researchers. Not only will there be a physical specimen collection but also a molecular database. The project will provide a better understanding of key invasive stored grain pests and their spread under climate change and trade, which threatens our grain supply here at home in Kansas and abroad while providing possible solutions for mitigating invasion.
USDA-NIFA is a federal funding agency to support food and agricultural research through various programs. Quellhorst's fellowship was funded through the USDA-NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative — Education and Workforce Development program, which focuses on developing the next generation of innovative agricultural and food leaders in research, education and extension.
Invasive insects are a major cause of agricultural crop losses in the U.S. and the world. These insect pest species are a threat to global food security. Invasive insect pests of food crops cause an estimated $13 billion dollars each year in crop losses. Invasive and quarantine stored product insects are one of the research focuses of the Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research Unit at the USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research and K-State.
Quellhorst received her bachelor's and master's degrees in entomology from Purdue University in 2015 and 2018, respectively. She recently finished her doctorate at K-State in spring 2023. She has published 14 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and presented 70 talks at national and international conferences. She has also served on many committees and professional organizations and engaged in numerous outreach activities. She has received many awards and scholarships, including a NIFA predoctoral fellowship in 2021 and the J.H. Comstock Award from the Entomological Society of America in 2023.
Quellhorst is mentored by Kun Yan Zhu, university distinguished professor of entomology; Rob Morrison, adjunct professor of entomology and research entomologist at the USDA Agriculture Research Service, Manhattan; and Christos G. Athanassiou, professor of entomology at the University of Thessaly, Greece.