For Beverly Catchot, collecting insects has always been a family affair.

“When my husband was studying entomology at Mississippi State in the 1990s, we made collecting insects a family activity. We’d all get out there with our black lights and go find specimens,” said the MSU research associate and master’s student.

Catchot’s husband is Extension Professor Angus Catchot; the couple’s oldest son, Angus Catchot III, earned a bachelor’s in agronomy with an integrated pest management concentration at MSU and is currently pursuing a master’s in entomology. Their youngest son, Ty, is a sophomore at EMCC with plans to transfer to MSU. He started bee keeping at age 15, and the family still has hives.

“We’re a bug family,” she said with a laugh. “My husband covers insects in row-crops; I work in insect rearing and am studying tarnished plant bugs, the most economically important pest in cotton, while our eldest son studies pollinators.” 

The Catchots also are a Bulldog family through and through. In addition to her immediate family’s ties to MSU, Catchot’s grandfather received a Ph.D. in horticulture from the land-grant university in 1952. Multiple family members are MSU alumni, with one niece currently working on a master’s in agronomy.

Catchot studied social work at the University of Southern Mississippi, graduating in 1993. The family moved to Starkville so her husband could study entomology. He went through undergraduate and graduate programs while Catchot worked as a social worker.

Life took the Catchots to the Mississippi Delta, Arkansas and Georgia, but they returned 15 years ago when her husband joined the MSU Extension Service. Catchot became certified to teach elementary education and spent several years teaching fifth and sixth grades at Starkville Academy.

“I think during my entire time there I taught all subjects with the exception of science,” she said.

An opportunity in MSU’s insect rearing center led her to shift career paths and pursue science fulltime. In her research associate position, Catchot is part of a team that oversees six growth chambers for rearing insects, plus a freestanding building designed to house adult moths and serve as additional rearing space.

The team can rear as many as 100,000 larvae per week for departmental research, and supports MSU graduate student research in several departments across campus. They also provide specimens for collaborations with universities across the U.S. and rear insects for the annual International Insect Rearing Workshop held on campus each fall. Catchot’s job inspired her to begin her own journey back to the classroom in pursuit of a master’s degree in entomology.

“At first, I took a couple of undergraduate courses in entomology for professional development,” she explained. “I found I really enjoyed it.”

Catchot began working on her master’s in spring 2016, and said the process has been enlightening with several friendly faces along the way.

“I’ve even had some classes alongside students I once taught at Starkville Academy,” she said.

Catchot hopes to complete her master’s program in another year. She said the department, which feels like an extended family, has been extremely supportive of her endeavor.

“This job and degree program have taught me that you can make a difference in even the most unlikely of places, like entomology. Farming is a big part of our state’s identity and economy, and our research provides information that’s beneficial to these farmers,” Catchot said.

“As a school teacher, I always said, ‘You never stop learning,’ and this degree has proven me right. I am a wife, mother, employee and now a nontraditional graduate student. It’s possible for others, regardless of where they are in life, to learn something new,” she said.