Waseem Akbar, a Ph.D. candidate working under Gene Reagan, professor in the Department of Entomology at the LSU AgCenter, has been selected to receive the 2009 John Henry Comstock Award for the Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America. This is the highest honor given to graduate students by this society. His dissertation research focuses on resistance to the sugarcane aphid, including feeding behavior and identification of free amino acids with differential susceptibility among sugarcane cultivars. Akbar has 13 peer-reviewed publications, including seven as senior author. Additional studies have involved tebufenozide resistance in the sugarcane borer, biological control of the sugarcane aphid, cultural practices and invasive species, and stored grain insects IPM. Previous awards include the Department of Entomology L.D. Newsom Outstanding Ph.D. Student, ESA President’s Prize (2nd place in oral session), and the R.H. Painter M.S. Student at Kansas State University.