On October 14, an entomology graduate student from Niger with ties to Muniappan and the Innovation Lab won the BIFAD graduate student Award for Scientific Excellence at an event held in conjunction with the World Food Prize ceremonies in Des Moines, Iowa. Laoali Amadou, who spent six months at Virginia Tech in advanced training, earned recognition for his work with a consortium of other West African scientists to develop biological controls for the millet head miner. The pest can create an almost 85 percent reduction of millet yields. Amadou’s work focused on developing procedures to produce beneficial insects that help control the miner, an approach estimated to bring about a $200 million economic benefit annually.
IPM Researcher, VT Student Wins Major Award