Erika Bueno, Plant and Soil Science Graduate Program
The University of Vermont Graduate College is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2020-2021 Dr. Roberto Fabri Fialho Research Award is Erika Bueno, a doctoral candidate in the Plant and Soil Science Program.
Erika is a PhD candidate at the University of Vermont working under the guidance of Dr. Yolanda Chen. As a member of Dr. Chen s research group, Erika combines empirical and theoretical approaches in evolutionary biology to study the molecular drivers of stress tolerance in the Colorado potato beetle (CPB). By using a multi-level approach that integrates phenotypic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic tools, she is characterizing how insecticide resistance influences cross-tolerance to subsequent heat stress in CPB. Her interests in evolutionary biology are driven by her natural curiosity for understanding how insects thrive under challenging environments associated with anthropogenic change. Her long-term goal is