Gene Robinson, a professor at the University of Illinois, has been named director of the UI's Institute for Genomic Biology, pending approval by trustees next week. Dr. Robinson has headed the institute on an interim basis since March 2011 and before that was leader of its research group on the genomics of neural and behavioral plasticity.

Richard "Dick" Rice of Kingsburg, Calif. passed away on Dec. 24, 2011, at the age of 74. Dr. Rice was an active member of the Entomological Society of America. He served as president of the Pacific Branch and secretary-treasurer for three years.

Dr. Rice was a UC Davis professor emeritus who worked at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center for 33 years.

Michael Ivie, a professor at Montana State University, along with Crystal Maier, a PhD student at the University of Kansas, and University of Idaho entomologist James B. Johnson, discovered a new species of beetle above an Idaho hot spring, which they have named after actor and director Robert Redford. Read the full article.

Walter Leal, a professor at the University of California, Davis, is a newly elected Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, joining the ranks of such imminent scientists as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. In addition, Leal just received the Second National Award of Chemical Ecology from his native Brazil. Click here for the full article.

Subramanyam "Subi" Bhadriraju, a professor of grain science at Kansas State University, has been appointed the first Donald A. Wilbur Endowed Professor in Stored-Product Protection at K-State. Dr. Bhadriraju will begin the three-year appointment on Jan. 1, 2012. Bhadriraju plans to use the annual $10,000 support associated with the professorship to encourage and recruit undergraduate students at K-State to conduct research in the area of stored-product protection.

Holly L. Menninger, formerly a senior extension associate and coordinator of the New York Invasive Species Research Institute at Cornell University, is now the Director of Public Science, and the Wild Life Team at North Carolina State University.

Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota researcher, was interviewed on The Promised Land radio show about her work with honey bees. Click here to listen to the interview.

Jaret Daniels, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Florida and assistant curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History, established the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, which is addressing declines in the endangered Miami blue butterfly. Recently, he was interviewed by the Gainesville Sun. Click here to read the interview.

David G. James, an associate professor of entomology at Washington State University, has coauthored a new book, Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies. The book describes and illustrates the immature stages of all but one of the butterfly species found in Washington, northern Oregon, southern British Columbia and the Idaho panhandle.

Paula Kleintjes Neff, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was recently interviewed by HigherEdJobs about her career as an entomologist and scientist at a state comprehensive university that strongly supports undergraduate research. Dr. Kleintjes Neff shares her views on how opportunities for women in science have changed, what can still be done to improve the face of women in science, and her thoughts on how women can successfully balance their personal lives while being accomplished scientists.