Not a lot of people will say they like bugs. But senior Max Ragozzino isn’t like a lot of people. And thanks to his affinity for almost everything with six legs, the state of Rhode Island has a leg up on a number of invasive pests.

As an intern at the URI Biocontrol Lab, Max is using a new strategy called bio-surveillance to determine if a damaging insect called the emerald ash borer has found its way to Rhode Island. But instead of searching for the beetle itself — because they’re extremely hard to find — Max and his fellow students are looking for the wasps that feed on the beetle. “It’s a really cool project surveying for a really bad invasive species, and we’re doing it in a clever way,” Max said.

Entomology Professor Richard Casagrande and Research Associate Lisa Tewksbury are always looking to recruit additional students interested in bugs and the use of biological control methods to fight pests instead of herbicides or pesticides.

But that’s not the only buggy thing Max is working on. He is also helping to raise 18,000 weevils native to the Far East to combat an aggressive invasive vine that has recently been discovered in the state. Mile-a-minute vine has taken up residence in several Rhode Island communities, and the mile-a-minute weevil is the best chance of keeping the plant under control.

Max and other URI students are also involved in independent research projects studying and raising a caterpillar that feeds on invasive swallow-wort, the little-known life cycle of the invasive wooly adelgid that is destroying our hemlock trees, and another weevil that eats invasive knapweed. These projects are all under the direction of Entomology Professor Richard Casagrande and Research Associate Lisa Tewksbury, who are always looking to recruit additional students interested in bugs and the use of biological control methods to fight pests instead of herbicides or pesticides.

If those projects don’t give you the heebie jeebies, then you might also consider working with Professor Tom Mather at the URI Tick Encounter Resource Center, where you could conduct surveillance of deer ticks throughout the state. Or study mosquito-borne diseases like Dengue fever at the URI Institute for Immunology and Informatics. Or investigate the predatory behaviors of the Chinese mantis with Associate Professor Evan Preisser. Or identify pest insects on plants with Research Associate Heather Faubert at the URI Plant Protection Clinic.

Fact is, if you aren’t bugged by a few creepy crawlies, then URI may be the place for you.

Pictured above: The Hypena opulenta caterpillar, which feeds on the invasive mile-a-minute vine