- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Noted integrated pest management specialist (IPM) Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, recently received the Perry Adkisson Distinguished Speaker Award from Texas A&M University, College Station, and presented a seminar on “Invasive Species, Integrated Pest Management, and One Perspective from the West Coast.”
Zalom said it was a great honor to receive the award. "Perry Lee Adkisson is among the icons of integrated pest management (IPM)," he said, "and one of the people that I have most looked up to since starting my career in entomology."
Adkisson, chancellor emeritus of the Texas A&M University System and a distinguished professor, now emeritus, at Texas A&M, was the first-ever recipient of all three of the world's major prizes in agriculture: the Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Wolf Prize, and the World Food Prize. He and colleague Ray Smith are credited with developing integrated pest management (IPM).
Both Zalom and Adkisson are past presidents of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and both are fellows.
Zalom, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980 as the Extension IPM coordinator for the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) and then served as the UC IPM director for 16 years before returning to the Department of Entomology in 2002.
Known nationally and globally for his IPM leadership, Zalom co-chaired the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities' National IPM Committee (NIPMCC) from 1999-2015. He also has served as an IPM representative to the Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) Science and Technology Committee since 2003, USDA Western Region IPM Competitive Grants program manager for 10 years, and on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Board of Directors for the IPM CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Programs) from 2001-2005.
Zalom organized and co-chaired--with presidents of four other entomological societies--the first ever International Entomology Leadership Summit, spanning two days within the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting in September in Orlando, Fla.
Highly honored by his peers, Zalom is an elected fellow of four scientific organizations: ESA, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Entomological Society (London) and the California Academy of Sciences. He is a past president of the Pacific Branch of ESA. He continues to serve as a member of the Entomological Foundation's Board of Directors and the ESA's Science Policy Committee.
Some of his most recent honors: the Entomological Foundation IPM Team Award, the Entomological Foundation Excellence in IPM Award, and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research. He served as the department's vice chair from 2005-08.
Zalom has authored more than 335 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and has served as major professor for 12 Ph.D. students and seven master's students.