- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They are:
- Nilsa A. Bosque-Pérez, professor, Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences at the University of Idaho. She received two degrees from UC Davis: her master's degree in 1981 and Ph.D. in 1985.
- Gary Felton, professor and head of the Department of Entomology at Penn State University. He received his doctorate from UC Davis in 1988. In 2010, he delivered the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Lecture at UC Davis
- Murray B. Isman, professor of entomology and toxicology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. He received his doctorate from UC Davis in 1981. In 2012, he delivered the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Lecture at UC Davis
The ESA governing board announced its selections today (July 30). The election as a Fellow acknowledges outstanding contributions to entomology in one or more of the following: research, teaching, extension, or administration.
The Fellows will be recognized at the ESA's 62nd annual meeting, to be held Nov. 16-14 in Portland, Ore. President of the organization is integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis.
Information provided by the Fellows for the ESA news release:
Bosque-Pérez is internationally known for her research on insect-host plant interactions, insect vectors of plant viruses, and host plant resistance to insects and pathogens. She is additionally recognized for her distinguished contributions to interdisciplinary graduate education.
Born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico in 1957, she spent her early years living at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Agricultural Experiment Station in Adjuntas, where her father served as agronomist and director. Following in her father's footsteps, she obtained a B.S. in agricultural sciences from UPR Mayagüez (1979). She then attended UC Davis, where she received her M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1985) in entomology. In 1985, she joined the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, where she worked for 11 years as a member of a multidisciplinary team of scientists working to increase food production, productivity, and sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. Bosque-Pérez joined the UI faculty in 1997 and attained the rank of full professor in 2006. She served as interim dean of the UI College of Graduate Studies from 2010 to 2011.
Bosque-Pérez has contributed to fundamental discoveries in the field of host plant-virus-vector interactions, including demonstrating that transgenic virus resistance can influence vector life history and production of plant volatiles to which vectors respond. Additionally, her lab group was the first to demonstrate that plant viruses can directly alter host plant selection behavior by vectors, indicating that plant viruses can manipulate vectors to enhance their spread. These findings open new doors for the study of host plant-virus-vector interactions as well as disease and vector management. Her research group also studies the impact of management practices and landscape elements on arthropod biodiversity in temperate and tropical regions. She has published more than 155 scientific papers and book chapters. A devoted student mentor, she has guided 14 graduate students as a major professor and 37 as a graduate committee member. She has served as project director and student mentor of two NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) projects that created unique educational and research infrastructures to facilitate interdisciplinary team research by doctoral students.
Bosque-Pérez has been an invited speaker at conferences and scientific venues around the world, and has authored or co-authored 110 invited and more than 260 contributed presentations. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and her many awards include the ESA Recognition Award in Entomology (2006), the University of Idaho Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary or Collaborative Efforts (2011), and the ESA Pacific Branch Award for Distinction in Student Mentoring (2012). She has served ESA as a member of the Journal of Medical Entomology Editorial Board (1999-2003), as a subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology (2010-2011), and as a member of the International Affairs Committee (2000-2002) and the Pacific Branch Executive Committee (2007-2009). She also served as guest editor of Virus Research (2011, 2013-2014). She is the proud aunt of 13 nephews and nieces and two grandnieces, and she enjoys traveling and birdwatching.
Felton is internationally recognized for his research on insect-plant interactions, and in particular for his research which focuses on the role of herbivore saliva in evading plant defenses.
Born in Norfolk, Va., in 1953, but raised in California, Felton completed his B.S. in biology in 1975 at UC Irvine, where he was inspired to study insect physiology by the late Howard Schneiderman. After taking several years off from his education to start a family, Felton completed his M.S. in entomology in 1983 at the University of Kentucky, where he studied under Douglas Dahlman. He then moved to UC Davis, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1988 with Sean Duffey (now deceased). Felton completed a short postdoctoral study with Duffey, and then in 1990 he accepted the position of assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arkansas. He attained the rank of full professor in 1998 and then accepted the position as professor and head of Entomology at Penn State University in 2000.
Felton's research focuses on mechanisms of plant defense and the adaptations that herbivorous insects use to avoid them. This research has uncovered unique ways in which insect herbivores use salivary secretions to suppress the induced responses of their host plants and has been published in journals such as Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. He has published more than 100 refereed papers, including numerous review articles for book chapters and journals such as Plant Physiology, Current Opinion in Plant Biology, and Annual Plant Reviews.
Felton has been an invited speaker for numerous national and international professional meetings. He is a recipient of distinguished alumni awards from the Departments of Entomology at UC Davis and the University of Kentucky.
In his role as head of Entomology at Penn State, Felton has seen the department grow to a staff of more than 170, including 24 tenure-track faculty, more than 50 graduate students, and more than 40 additional Ph.D. level scientists. The department is known for its strengths in chemical ecology, pollinator health, vectors of infectious disease, and pest management and ecology.
Felton has served the ESA and his profession in numerous roles, including as subject editor for Environmental Entomology, Arthropod Plant Interactions, and the Archives of Insect Physiology, and Biochemistry. He has organized multiple symposia and conferences for ESA annual meetings. In addition to service as a panel member for USDA and NSF programs, he has served twice as panel manager for the USDA NRI/AFRI program. He has two children, Derek and Jessica, and is married to Dawn Luthe. He loves to travel, to sample new foods, to listen to music (blues is the best), and to experience art of all styles.
Isman is internationally recognized for his research on the discovery and development of botanical insecticides and antifeedants, and in the areas of insect-plant chemical interactions and insect chemical ecology.
Born in Vancouver, Canada on June 14, 1953, he attended the University of British Columbia, receiving his B.S. degree in 1975 and his M.S. degree in 1977. He then enrolled at UC Davis, earning a Ph.D. in entomology in 1981, followed by a postdoctoral position in insect toxicology at UC Irvine. In 1983 he accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Plant Science at UBC, attaining the rank of professor in 1994. He later served as dean of the faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC from 2005 to 2014.
Early in his career he became known for his thorough studies on neem insecticides and azadirachtin, helping to bring some clarity to a field of investigation that had been characterized by research of variable quality, dubious claims, and highly redundant work. More recently he worked with a team of investigators that provided the R&D support for EcoSMART Technologies Inc., propelling the company to become the world leader in pesticides based on plant essential oils. Along the way, Isman became an authority on the development of pesticides based on these natural products, but he has always maintained some basic research on insects, leading to some fascinating observations on insect feeding and oviposition behavior, insect memory, and the metabolism of plant toxins by insects.
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He has presided over the International Society of Chemical Ecology (2002), the Phytochemical Society of North America (1993; he remains the only entomologist to have done so), and the Entomological Society of British Columbia twice (1988 and 1999). He also organized and chaired two conferences in Vancouver -- the 14th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (1997) and the Fourth World Neem Conference (1999).
Isman and his wife Susie, have a daughter, Carly, and son, Adam. He list his hobbies as ice hockey (he and Adam are both goaltenders), motorsports, contemporary and native art, and fine wine.
Others selected:
- Phillip G. Lawyer recently retired as core staff scientist/medical entomologist at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH, from which he also served the Division of Entomology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR)
- Tong-Xian Liu, known as “T.-X.,” is a national distinguished professor of entomology at Northwest A&F University (Yangling, Shaanxi, China)
- Nancy A. Moran is a professor at the University of Texas. She is internationally recognized for her research on symbiosis between insects and bacteria.
- Subba Reddy Palli, a professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky, is internationally recognized for his research on hormonal regulation of molting, metamorphosis and reproduction, development of ecdysone receptor-based gene switches, and RNAi-based pest management methods.
- Hari C. Sharma is a principal scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Telangana, India
- Myron (pronounced Meron) P. Zalucki, a professor at the University of Queensland, is internationally recognized for his research on basic and applied aspects of insect-plant interactions, primarily in the Lepidoptera, and particularly on monarch butterflies and pest heliothines.
- Kun Yan Zhu, a professor of entomology at Kansas State University, is internationally recognized for his research on insect molecular toxicology
The Entomological Society of America, founded in 1889, is the world's largest organization serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Its nearly 7,000 members are affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists.
(Editor's Note: Richard Levine of ESA provided much of the information for this news story)