- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He had served as an Extension specialist at UC Riverside since September 1994, specializing in pesticide exposure assessment and worker health and safety. He also was an adjunct clinical professor for the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Loma Linda University, southern California.
During his 1971-80 academic appointment at UC Davis, Dr. Krieger worked on insect research and received a major campus teaching award. Among his former students: toxicologist (now retired) Shirley Gee of the Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Colleague James Seiber, then chair of the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology and now emeritus professor, UC Davis Food Science and Technology, described him "as a one-of-a-kind person and scientist...His contributions to pesticide science and toxicology are so significant. He was the fitting recipient of the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals several years ago."
Born Nov. 23, 1943, Dr. Krieger received his bachelor's degree in chemistry/biology in 1967 from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., and his doctorate from Cornell University in 1970, where he was a student in the Department of Entomology and a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Trainee in Environmental Toxicology.
In 1986 he became a staff toxicologist and later branch chief, Worker Health and Safety, California Department of Food and Agriculture (now California Environmental Protection Agency). He served two major Washington D.C., consulting firms (1991-94) in exposure and risk assessment before returning to the University of California, as an extension toxicologist at UC Riverside. He taught toxicology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research concerned the fate and effects of pesticides in humans, risk assessments, and risk communication. His latest studies concerned methods and techniques for determining the availability of chemical residues on surfaces, exposure biomonitoring of urban and agricultural populations that are exposed to pesticides and other chemicals.
A noted toxicologist and teacher, he received the 2006 Distinguished Award in Extension from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America; and in 2005, received both the Society of Toxicology's Public Communication Award and the American Chemical Society's International Award for Research in Agrochemicals. In 2006, the Society of Toxicology presented him with its Education Award.
Shirley Gee recalled many fond memories of Dr. Krieger and noted that he was a great teacher. In the late 1970s he taught an introductory course in toxicology. He as well-known for his 'multi-media' slide shows. We would have 100's of photos turned into slides by Reprographics and he would run as many as three slide projectors at a time on multiple screens and music. I think this technique was really appealing to the students and as a result, his class had, I'm sure hundreds of students. The students that were his teacher assistants had their hands full carting the slide projectors around and making sure there were no glitches during the lecture. But of course, it wasn't just the multi-media, it was his delivery of the material. Succinct, relevant to the student and with charm."
"Another thing, is that he loved fire," Gee recalled. "We had fantastic campfires both when the lab group went camping and in his backyard. The lab's favorite activity was the annual camping trip to Mendocino. Salmon cooked on the campfire was the best!"
"From a personal standpoint, he was the one that encouraged me to get a master's degree and taught me what research was all about," Gee said. "It was also his introduction of me to Bruce (Hammock) that set me off on a long term research career. I could not have asked for a better mentor."
For his biosketch, see http://faculty.ucr.edu/~krieger/KriegerCV.pdf