Congratulations to Ph.D. student and County Extension Agent John Gordy for receiving the Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology.
Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the award recognizes Dr. Larry Larson’s role as a leader and pioneer in insect management and carries that legacy to the next generation of leaders in applied entomology.
Gordy received his Bachelor of Science in both agronomy and entomology at Texas A&M University and received his Master of Science in entomology from Louisiana State Unversity where he worked with Drs. Michael Stout and Rogers Leonard in the rice and cotton labs. Gordy focused his thesis on induced defenses in cotton, rice, corn and soybeans.
Gordy is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Drs. Michael Brewer and Mo Way and is doing his dissertation research on threshold development and management of sugarcane aphid in grain sorghum. In addition to his Ph.D., Gordy works full time in Rosenberg for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a County Extension Agent in Fort Bend County.
Gordy is passionate about agriculture and enjoys being able to interact with producers on a daily basis to better understand their challenges and to help them find solutions. He loves working closely with growers to conduct on-farm research in the Upper Gulf Coast Region of Texas. Being a former teacher, he also enjoys teaching youth and providing mentorship to undergraduate and high school students interested in agriculture.
Gordy hopes to be able to work cooperatively with growers, researchers, industry and other Extension personnel to evaluate existing and to propose new methods for scouting crops and making management decisions for pests in Texas and the southern United States.
“I was honored just to be considered as a nominee by the department and I am grateful to have been selected and included among previous recipients,” Gordy said. “I gather that, from those that knew him, Dr. Larson was an inspirational leader within ESA, was instrumental in developing new and innovative pest management strategies and technologies, and was passionate about youth science (and specifically entomology) education –those are all admirable accomplishments and goals to work toward as both a graduate student and a professional.”