Max Helmberger Receives NCB Excellence in Early Career Education and Engagement Award
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EmailMax Helmberger has been awarded for his innovative, student-centered approach to teaching entomology.
Michigan State University entomology instructor Max Helmberger has been honored with the Entomological Society of America’s North Central Branch Excellence in Early Career Education and Engagement Award. The award recognizes his rapidly growing impact as an educator who designs hands-on, research-driven courses that help students build the scientific and communication skills needed for future careers.
Helmberger teaches five courses that span the full spectrum of entomological education, from general education for potentially non-science majors, to upper-level applied pest management. He developed or redesigned each course’s curriculum from the ground up, guided by teaching principles shaped through entomology and broader biology teaching experience, along with training programs such as MSU’s Certification in College Teaching and Boston University’s Inclusive Pedagogy Institute.
Each course takes a different shape depending on the needs of its audience, and Helmberger emphasizes the importance of flexibility and recognizing the confidence barriers students often face.
“My job is to teach the science of entomology in a variety of ways to a variety of students,” Helmberger said. “As I design, deliver, and refine my courses, I strive to hold students to high standards while taking the time to equip each student with the knowledge and skills they need to meet them.”
In Insects, Globalization and Sustainability, a general education course, students practice information literacy and scientific research skills by investigating the agricultural and environmental science behind a meal they enjoy. The class aims to make scientific thinking accessible while helping students connect global sustainability issues to everyday life.
For what he calls “early-instar entomology students”, Helmberger built a two-week Entomology Field Techniques course that trains students in data analysis and scientific communication in addition to insect sampling fundamentals. The MSU Department of Entomology plans to make this course a standard offering for first- and second-year students to help them build a foundation in field collecting and research skills.
His upper-division courses—Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Organic Pest Management (OPM)—hone students’ ability to read and interpret scientific research, a crucial skill as the scientific literature continues to grow in size and complexity. IPM students write a grant proposal for pest management research, while OPM students summarize peer-reviewed research for non-expert audiences. These writing-intensive courses prepare students to navigate scientific communications both within academia and in real-world decision-making. Students in IPM, for example, have used their research proposal projects to plan studies they later conducted.
Helmberger’s work highlights the department’s commitment to high‑quality, inclusive instruction that prepares students for the growing range of careers connected to entomology, agriculture and environmental science.
