Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife entomologist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Entomology, has been selected as a 2026 U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellow.
Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., has been selected as a 2026 USDA E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellow (Sam Craft/Texas A&M AgriLife)
Bernaola is one of 10 Science Fellows selected nationally this year as part of a cohort of 22 E. Kika De La Garza Fellows. The fellowship program recognizes faculty from Hispanic-serving institutions and provides opportunities to work directly with USDA research leaders and scientists. Science Fellows are selected to engage with USDA research programs, strengthen collaboration between federal scientists and their home institutions, and expand research and career opportunities for students.
Bernaola leads a Texas A&M AgriLife Research program at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at Beaumont, working closely with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on integrated pest management, IPM, in U.S. rice systems. Her work has become increasingly important with the emergence of rice delphacid, an invasive insect pest that has become a serious threat to rice production across the southern U.S.
“This fellowship provides a critical opportunity to further align my research with national priorities in sustainable agriculture, pest management and food security,” Bernaola said. “It also creates opportunities to strengthen collaborations that can translate research into solutions for producers, while opening new pathways for students interested in agricultural science.”
A closer connection to federal research
As a Science Fellow, Bernaola spent a week in Washington, D.C., meeting with USDA leadership and learning about federal agricultural research priorities and programs. She will also spend a week working alongside scientists at a USDA Agricultural Research Service, or USDA-ARS, facility aligned with her research interests.
Bernaola said she plans to use the fellowship to deepen collaboration with USDA-ARS scientists, by working with researchers at the USDA-ARS Rice Research Unit at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas. She also plans to build on an existing collaboration with USDA-ARS and University of California, Davis, scientists investigating how rice wax profiles influence plant defense responses to insect pests.
“These partnerships could help advance research on emerging pest threats while strengthening connections among federal researchers, university scientists and the rice industry in Texas and beyond,” she said.
Leading the response to an emerging pest
Bernaola’s program integrates field ecology, pest monitoring, host plant resistance and chemical ecology to better understand insect population dynamics in rice and translate those findings into practical management strategies for producers. When rice delphacid populations surged in Texas rice, she led rapid-response research and outreach efforts to generate information growers could use in real time.
Her research has directly supported multiple Section 18 emergency insecticide exemption requests, providing scientific data used in regulatory decisions aimed at helping rice producers respond to pest outbreaks. Her work is backed by more than $1.5 million in career funding, including a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA-NIFA, award supporting her rice pest management program.
Lina Bernaola’s research program in Beaumont seeks to better understand insect population dynamics in rice and practical management strategies for producers. (Chris Swann/Texas A&M AgriLife)
Bernaola has translated that research into action through more than 30 AgriLife Extension presentations to growers, consultants and industry stakeholders at field days, workshops and media outreach. She and her team have shared their findings with the broader scientific community through more than 50 invited and contributed presentations at national and international conferences.
Bernaola’s contributions extend beyond her research program and outreach. In 2025, she served as president of the Entomological Society of America, the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to the study of insects and their impact on society.
Mentoring the next generation
Bernaola is committed to expanding opportunities for students in agricultural research. She actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students, including first-generation college students and students from agricultural and rural communities. She will use her fellowship to help guide many of them toward USDA internships, fellowships and careers.
The E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellowship will also provide another avenue to deliver USDA opportunities back to students, colleagues and communities served by Texas A&M AgriLife.
“We will continue to take an integrated approach that combines research, outreach, mentoring and leadership within the entomological community,” Bernaola said, “Those efforts contribute to advancing agricultural systems that are productive and resilient, while fostering opportunities for the next generation of scientists in U.S. agriculture. The fellowship will allow us to bring new connections and perspectives back to Texas A&M AgriLife and to the students and producers we serve.”
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