COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Department of Entomology at Texas A&M is proud to announce Dr. Ian Kaplan as the 2013 Perry Adkisson Distinguished Seminar Speaker during its fall semester seminar series on Thursday, September 26.
As an assistant professor of entomology at Purdue University, Kaplan’s research focuses on ecological approaches to pest management for vegetable crops. His lab works on various projects ranging from basic to applied research and represents various topics such as specific emphases on biological control, plant-insect interactions and chemical ecology.
Kaplan recently was one of 96 researchers in the United States who received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama in 2012. The award is the highest governmental honor that is bestowed on scientists and engineers.
Kaplan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Davidson College, his Master of Science in Entomology from Auburn, and his Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Maryland.
Ph.D. student and EGSO member Paul Lenhart said that Dr. Kaplan was a good fit for this award because he is an exceptional up-and-coming star in the field of plant-insect interactions.
“He is incredibly productive and has found many interesting biological interactions among common crop pests in agroecosystems,” Lenhart said. “He is definitely a model for all entomology graduate students.”
Given every fall, the Perry Adkisson Distinguished Seminar Speaker Award recognizes outstanding researchers in the field of entomology and gives graduate students and the community the opportunity to hear the latest research from leading scientists.
The award is named for Dr. Perry Adkisson, former head of the Department and of the Texas A&M University Chancellor. During his career, Adkisson was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the first ever recipient of all three of the world’s major prizes in agriculture, the Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Wolf Prize, and the World Food Prize. Along with Dr. Ray Smith, he developed what is now known as IPM or Integrated Pest Management.
For more information about the award, visit the Perry Adkisson Distinguished Seminar Speaker Award page on the Entomology Graduate Student Organization’s website at http://egso.tamu.edu/awards/
adkissonaward/index.php