UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BROWN MARMORATED STINK BUG, HALYOMORPHA HALYS (STÅL), AND ITS SYMBIONT, PANTOEA CARBEKII, WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR STINK BUG MANAGEMENT

Symbiotic relationships between insects and beneficial microbes are very common in nature, especially within the Hemiptera. The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys Stål, harbors a symbiont, Pantoea carbekii, within the fourth region of the midgut in specialized crypts. In this dissertation, I explored this insect- microbe relationship. I determined that the brown marmorated stink bug is heavily reliant on its symbiont, and that experimental removal of the symbiont from the egg mass surface prior to nymphal acquisition led to lower survival, longer development, lower fecundity, and aberrant nymphal behavior. Additionally, I determined that even when the symbiont is acquired and housed in the midgut crypts, it is susceptible to stressors. Stink bugs reared at a higher temperature showed lower survival, longer development, and a cease in egg mass production, and when bugs were screened for their symbiont, fewer had successfully retained it while under heat stress. Finally, with the knowledge that the stink bug suffers decreases in fitness when its symbiont is missing or stressed, I wanted to determine if targeting the symbiont was a possible management technique for the stink bug. I tested the efficacy of a number of different insecticidal and antimicrobial products to determine whether prevention of symbiont acquisition from the egg mass was possible, and results indicated that transmission of the symbiont from the egg mass to the newly hatched nymph was negatively impacted when certain products were applied (namely surfactants or products containing surfactants). Additionally, direct effects on hatch rate and survival were reported for certain products, namely the insect growth regulator azadirachtin, which suggests that nymphs can pick up residues from the egg mass surface while probing for the symbiont. I conclude that P. carbekii plays a critically important role in the survival of its host, the brown marmorated stink bug, and its presence on the egg mass surface before nymphal hatch makes it targetable as a potential management technique.

The Ballad of Ravolo Soto

Set in 2008 Puerto Rico, this novel aims to explore the relationship between constructed masks of personal identity, the increasingly interconnected nature of community, and their confluence in the worlds of politics, media, social activism, and business through a narrative examination of the ways in which three primary characters affect the lives of those around them. Jaime, a meditative young man with a penchant for planes, comes home to find the power shut off and his drug-addict mother gone. His best friend, Yarique, a disaffected stoner with a false sense of machismo, becomes an overnight sensation after an escalating series of violent run-ins with his abuelo’s neighbor. Ravolo Soto, a reclusive pitorro distiller, drinks to keep The Other in check, but takes off into the jungles of Lares, hiding out in his father’s mountain shack, after a violent encounter with the police leaves one officer dead.

Landscape and Architecture: A Balance for Fellowship and Contemplation at Dumbarton Oaks

This thesis will explore ideas relating to the engagement of man and nature by promoting the experiences of contemplation and fellowship. The focus will be an urban academic retreat facility to provide an escape from distraction of typical modern urban life. Set within the historic Washington D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks is an active academic research institution The Institute is holistically designed; architecture integrated with its surrounding landscape The Institute selects diverse scholars to think, live, and commune within the facility and landscape for up to two years. This thesis will use the existing site, themes, and history of Dumbarton Oaks as a launching point to explore the relationship between architecture, man, and landscape. A proposal to relocate the Fellow’s residences and reorganize the western edge of the site will help reactivate this forgotten piece of the site realize its potential.

The Indistinct Edge: Reconnecting Experience in Nature and Architecture

This thesis explores how architectures sense of place is rooted in the natural environment. The built environment has been constructed to protect and sustain human culture from the weathering of nature. Separating experience from the natural environment removes a sense of place and belonging in the natural and reinforces architectural dominance. This separation distinguishes the natural world as an article of spectacle and gives the human experience an unnatural voyeurship to natural changes. By examining the fusion of architectural and natural edges this thesis analyzes how the human experience can reconnect with a naturalistic sense of place through architecture, blending the finite edge where architecture maintains nature, and adapting buildings to the cycles of the environment. Removing dominance of man-made spaces and replacing them with the cohabitation of the edge between built and natural forms.

Place in Time: The Role of Architecture in Establishing an Emotional Connection between Man and Time

This thesis explores the role of architecture as a means of reconnecting humans to the passage of time. A neglect of the temporal in our built environment obscures understanding of the human condition in all of its sensory aspects. The exploration and design of a series of ritual engagements, both culturally, and architecturally, begin to offer a venue through which designers can engage human senses. Rituals act as a means of demarcating the passage of time. It is through the engagement with these moments that people can begin to gain a richer understanding of the ephemeral nature of their own existence. The Pritzker Architecture Prize serves as the selected ritual of exploration because of its celebration of humanity and the art of architecture. However, the notion of ritual is explored down to the level of detail of engagement with handrails and door handles.