Student Spotlight: Fallon Fowler

Fallon Fowler spawned from Lancaster, California, but completed her undergraduate degree in entomology (minor: chemistry) at the University of California, Riverside. As a sophomore, Fallon obtained a work-study job in Dr. Bradley Mullen’s lab, a medical and veterinary entomologist who specializes in arthropods on cattle and chicken pests. Fallon became interested in pests involved with cattle and cattle dung, so she applied for and received a Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship to study how an extreme southern latitude affects face fly diapause (loosely termed insect hibernation) behavior.

Fallon came to NC State in fall 2014 to work with Dr. Wes Watson, another expert in medical and veterinary entomology. Because of her passion for dung (yes, her passion!), her MS research currently revolves around where and why face fly maggots move through dung.  Although it is widely theorized, it is not yet proven nor has dung collection, creation, and reporting been validated. Fallon hopes that her research will improve current dung techniques and further answer why adult flies might select certain types of dung pats to oviposit in (lay eggs) as seen in her previous study (in print).

In her free time, Fallon enjoys creating funny comics, being outside in nature (hiking, backpacking, etc.), reading classic novels, and doing outreach.