INSSECT NET Careers Symposium

Mario Padilla is an entomologist from Alamosa, Colorado. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Adams State University, he attended Pennsylvania State University to pursue a master’s degree in Entomology under Dr. Christina Grozinger. His thesis explored how queen bumble bees regulate worker reproduction using pheromone signaling and aggressive behavior. In 2015 Mario was hired as the entomologist at Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, CO, and in 2019 was promoted to Director of Animal Collections. His job duties included; managing honey bee colonies, teaching beekeeping courses, overseeing multiple research and conservation projects all over the world, and managing all animal care. His work has taken him to Mongolia, Tanzania and Nepal. In 2021 Mario has decided to pursue his passion of public education and transition to The STEAD School where he works as the Director of Culture. Mario has been married to his amazing wife Halie since 2015 and in 2019 they welcomed a baby boy named Gus. His hobbies include traveling, spending time with his family, building LEGO, watching movies, and reading.

I currently serve as a Sr. Ecotoxicologist at BASF Agricultural Solutions, where I perform safety testing and ecological risk assessments for chemical and biological pesticides. With more than 10 years of experience in the agrochemicals industry, I specialize in pesticide risk assessments for pollinators.

Growing up in a farming family in rural India, I became interested in insects at an early age. After completing my bachelor’s and master’s programs from Punjab Agricultural University in India, I joined the department of Entomology at Penn State University. I graduated from Penn State in 2011 with a Ph.D. degree and research focused on Ecology and Epidemiology of RNA viruses in the pollinator community.

I am highly enthusiastic about agriculture, gardening, pollinators, and the environment, and use my scientific training for promoting agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. My current position enables me to blend my passion for agriculture and the environment, and provide opportunities to interact with the regulatory agencies, scientists, farmers, and beekeepers, and collaborate on global projects. When I am not in the office, I love to spend time in my backyard garden or on the baseball field helping my son practice baseball.

Flor Acevedo is an Assistant Professor of Entomology at the Pennsylvania State University Behrend campus. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Agronomy at the University of Caldas (Colombia), and her PhD at Penn State University in 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Gary Felton. Her dissertation research focused on the study of adaptive mechanisms used by polyphagous insects to exploit different host plants. After graduating from Penn State, she returned to Colombia and worked for the coffee industry for three years. She re-joined Penn State in 2019 as an Assistant professor with a split appointment in research, extension, and teaching.

Jermaine Hinds serves as Technical Review Specialist for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program based at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to his career with SARE, Jermaine attended the University of Maryland, College Park where he received B.S in General Biology in 2009 and an M.S in 2012, led by Dr. Cerruti Hooks. Continuing his education, Jermaine competed a Ph.D in Entomology under the direction of Dr. Mary Barbercheck where their work focused on recruitment and enhancement of natural enemies using insectary cover crops. At SARE Jermaine lends his expertise to research and develop national outreach publications.

Gabriel is an entrepreneurial and curious mechanistic scientist with over 17 years of experience in investigating the molecular and physiological basis of complex traits and behaviors across a variety of animal and plant biological systems. He obtained his B.S. in Entomology from Cornell and his Ph.D. in Entomology from Penn State, under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Christina Grozinger. His academic background is highly interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of genetics, sensory biology, chemical ecology, conservation, animal behavior, infectious diseases, immunology, public health, agronomy, and more. As an AgTech industry professional at Upward Farms, a vertical farming tech startup, Gabriel directed technical teams, departments, and programs at a national scale. His current work centers around delivering operational excellence and driving impactful business growth outcomes in arenas that include new product development, product and process improvement, innovation, analytics, risk management, strategic planning, and Quality Assurance.