Dr. Philip Koehler, ESA Fellows (2020)

Philip KoehlerDr. Philip Koehler, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Florida, was elected Fellow in 2020. Koehler was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in 1947. He received his B.S. in biology from Catawba College (1969) and his Ph.D. from the Cornell University in 1972. Upon graduating from Cornell, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant, Medical Entomologist, in the U.S. Navy's Medical Service Corps and was stationed at the Navy's Disease Vector Ecology and Control Center in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1972 to 1975.

He was appointed assistant professor and extension entomologist at the University of Florida in 1975 with 100% extension responsibilities for livestock, poultry, 4-H, and urban entomology. He was promoted to full professor in 1989 and was a visiting professor at the USDA's Insects Affecting Man and Animals Laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, from 1982 to 1995. From 1999 to 2020, he was the Margie and Dempsey Sapp Endowed Professor of Structural Pest Control and also the Florida Pest Management Association Endowed Professor of Urban Entomology.

Koehler's extension, research, and teaching interests involve the application of integrated pest management to the urban pest management industry. To this end, he has secured more than $10 million in funding from federal, corporate, and state agencies. His efforts have provided the foundation for establishing an internationally recognized program in urban pest management and environmental improvement in homes and schools. Over the course of his career, Koehler's scholarship has resulted in 181 published peer-reviewed articles, four books, seven book chapters, and over 752 Extension fact sheets and circulars. His work has resulted in 28 published patents, and he is a Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors. He has received four USDA superior and distinguished achievement awards, the University of Florida Distinguished Faculty Award, and University of Florida Graduate Teacher Advisor of the Year Award (two times), and was named to the CALS University of Florida Academy of Teaching Excellence. From the pest management industry, he was named to the Pest Management Hall of Fame and the PCT/Zeneca Leadership Award.

During his 45-year career at the University of Florida, Koehler has worked to promote the profession of urban entomology. His accomplishments include mentoring of 83 graduate students, seven postdocs, and nine international scholars who have gone on to careers in academia, government, and industry. He has participated on EPA advisory panels, international panels, and numerous university committees. He has served ESA by helping name the discipline of "urban entomology" and forming its own section, Fb Urban Entomology, where he served as the first section chair. Section Fb Urban Entomology was then restructured to be in the MUVE section.

Koehler has been married to Adele Koehler for 46 years. They have two children, Dr. Timothy Koehler who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and works for Sandia Labs as a staff mechanical engineer, and Dr. Andrew Koehler, who resides in Alexandria, Virginia, where he works for the Naval Research Laboratory as a staff electrical engineer.

(updated September 2020)