- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Scott, internationally known for his work on the ecology and epidemiology of dengue, received the award "for his outstanding contributions to the study of mosquito ecology, evolution of mosquito-virus interactions, epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease and evaluation of novel products and strategies for mosquito control and disease prevention."
He focuses his work on contributing to improved public health in the United States and in the developing world, where resources are inadequate and help is desperately needed.
The coveted ASTMH award memorializes parasitologist-entomologist Harry Hoogstraal (1917-1986), a global authority on ticks and tick-borne diseases.
Scott, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1996, received his bachelor and master's degrees from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, and his doctorate in ecology in 1981 from Pennsylvania State University. He did postdoctoral research in epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine's Arbovirus Research Unit, part of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.
Scott served on the faculty of the Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, from 1983 to 1996 before joining the UC Davis entomology faculty as a professor of entomology and director of the Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory. He was acting director of the UC Davis Center for Vector-Borne Research from 1996 to 1999, and directed the UC Davis Arbovirus Research Unit from 2001 to 2003. He served as vice chair of the Department of Entomology from 2006 to 2008.
In 2014, Scott was selected a “distinguished professor,” an honorary title bestowed by the provost “to recognize outstanding faculty in the professional series who have achieved the highest level of scholarship.”
Highly honored by his peers, Scott is a fellow of three organizations: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2014), Entomological Society of America (2010), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008). In 2015, he won the Charles W. Woodworth Award, the highest honor awarded by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.
Scott is the fifth medical entomologist from UC Davis to receive the Harry Hoogstraal Award since it was first presented in 1987. Other UC Davis recipients:
- 2012: William Reisen, director of the Center for Vectorborne Diseases (CVEC)
- 2007: Bruce Eldridge, former director of the statewide UC Mosquito Research Program and emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis
- 2005: Robert Washino, emeritus professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology
- 2004: John Edman, former director of CVEC and emeritus professor of entomology
