Alaine Hippee, a PhD student in the Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Program, received a 3-year, $156,022, Predoctoral Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for her research on "Uncovering Impacts of Historical North American Crop Domestication on the Origin of Pest Insects." With this grant, Hippee will study the evolutionary history of the Sunflower Maggot Fly and the agricultural history of its plant hosts, the Common Sunflower and the Jerusalem Artichoke, to determine how agricultural practices may influence the origin of new specialist insect species." Hippee is a member of the Dr. Andrew Forbes' lab in the Department of Biology. The NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship supports graduate education in agricultural-related disciplines and aims to cultivate future industry, government, or academic leaders who can solve emerging agricultural challenges of the 21st century.