Dr. Maya Evenden

Dr. Evenden is a professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Biological Sciences. Graduating with a BSc in Co-op Biology from the University of Victoria in 1991, she started at Simon Fraser University in the Master of Pest Management (MPM) Program after a year at Université Laval for French language training. Her MPM research, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. John Borden, focused on the development of a pheromone-based monitoring system for an important forest defoliator, the western hemlock looper. Dr. Evenden continued in the Borden lab for her PhD with a focus on research of chemical communication in orchard-inhabiting moths. In 1998, she defended her PhD thesis and pursued postdoctoral studies at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Evenden conducted research in orchard agroecosystems and was introduced to teaching undergraduate students at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. In 2003, Dr. Evenden received an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) University Faculty Award that allowed her to join the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. In Alberta, Dr. Evenden and her graduate students research the chemical and behavioural ecology of insects considered to be pests of agriculture and forestry in western Canada. Dr. Evenden’s teaching responsibilities include Ent 220: Insect Biology, Ent 222: Insects in Managed Ecosystems, Ent 405: Advanced Topics in Arthropod Biology, and Biol 434: Chemical Ecology. Dr. Evenden also developed and launched the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Bugs 101: Insect-Human Interactions that is freely available to learners around the world, and as an online course Ent 101 to University of Alberta students. Dr. Evenden has served as the President of the Entomological Society of Alberta (2006), the Entomological Society of Canada (2010) and the International Branch of the Entomological Society of America (2018).