Carl Jones, professor and head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee and a former ESA Governing Board member, passed away Friday, February 1.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, February 18, at First United Methodist Church of Maryville, 804 Montvale Station Road, Maryville, Tennessee. Visitation will follow in the church fellowship hall.

Jon K. Gelhaus, an evolutionary biologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, recently received the Best Scientist in Nature and Environment Medal for his “significant contribution in Mongolian Environmental Science.” The award was issued by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism through the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Gelhaus is leading a multinational effort to improve water quality monitoring and standards in Mongolia.

Jody L. Gangloff-Kaufmann, a senior extension associate with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University, is the author of Wasp and Bee Management: A Common-Sense Approach. The 88-page, full-color book includes detailed identification information for wasp, hornet, yellow jacket, and bee species common in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes states and adjoining Canadian provinces. It is recommended for landscapers, homeowners, and pest management professionals.

Jessica L. Ware, an assistant professor at Rutgers University, has been selected to join an international team of more than 50 scientists embarking on a massive project to unravel the secrets of the evolutionary history of insects.

The 1KITE (1K Insect Transcriptome Evolution) project will unravel the secrets of the evolutionary history of insects using a molecular data set of unparalleled dimensions and quality.

Henry Fadamiro, Alumni Professor & Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Coordinator at Auburn University, has been named Auburn University’s Presidential Administrative Fellow for 2012. The Presidential Administrative Fellowship Program is designed to help individual faculty members gain senior administrative experience while applying his or her faculty experience to issues and programs that impact a broad segment of the university community.
 

Thomas Miller, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has joined a team of Rwandan researchers to examine why a sizable portion of their coffee crop is being compromised by a defect called "potato taste." There is growing evidence that the potato taste may be in part caused by the antestia, or "stink bug."

Click here to read or listen to the interview.

Stuart Mitchell, principal technical specialist at PestWest Environmental, will complete a PhD in Clinical Psychology in September of this year.

His other degrees include Doctor of Science Osteopathic Medicine, PhD in Complimentary and Alternative Health Care, PhD in Entomology, PhD in Zoology, PhD in Biology, and Master of Public Health.

Dr. Mitchell is the only board certified (BCE) physician working full-time in the pest management industry. He also serves as a part-time volunteer observing physician.

      Dr. Rogers Leonard (right)

Dr. B. Rogers Leonard of Louisiana State University was named the 2012 winner of the Insect Research and Control Conference Award for Excellence in Cotton Integrated Pest Management.

John Schneider, a professor of entomology at Mississippi State University, is studying the black soldier fly as a potential solution to dealing with large amounts of waste while also generating an animal feed product.

“Black soldier flies are 40 to 45 percent protein by dry weight,” he said. “Theoretically, one metric ton can be produced per day in the space of a medium-sized house, and used as a feed product.”

Greg Loeb, an entomology professor at Cornell University, and his colleague Serguei Triapitsyn found a fairfly wasp (Gonatocerus ovicenatus) along the roadside at the campus of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. The insect had not been collected in North America since 1915.

They also found another fairyfly species, Gonatocerus ater, which has never been recorded in the Western Hemisphere. Both are of European origin and were likely accidentally introduced to North America with Lombardy poplars long ago.