The Department of Entomology recently invited Dr. Doug Landis this year’s Dr. Perry Adkisson Distinguished Lecturer for 2018. The lecture was held at 4 pm in the Minnie Belle Heep Center during our regular departmental seminar on Thursday April 5.
Landis is a Professor of Insect Ecology and Biological Control in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University where his research focuses on understanding the factors that influence biodiversity in arthropods and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. He is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles, 25 book chapters, and more than 50 Extension bulletins.
Landis has won numerous awards for his work including the Entomological Society of America’s Recognition Award in Entomology for outstanding contributions in agriculture, and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the North Carolina State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He also received the MSU Beal Distinguished Faculty Award in 2013 and was named a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 2016.
In his Extension program, Landis focuses on the use of ecological restoration to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, with a special focus on the ecology and management of invasive organisms. His current areas of outreach include the biodiversity implications of various bioenergy landscapes, prairie fen and oak savanna restoration, the use of native plants to enhance ecosystem services, monarch butterfly conservation, and biological control of the invasive spotted knapweed.
The Perry Adkisson Distinguished Lecturer is the premier award in the area of Integrated Pest Management named after Dr. Perry Adkisson, former head of the Department and Chancellor the Texas A&M System. During his career, Adkisson was elected to 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 at the University of California, they co-developed what is now known as IPM or Integrated Pest Management. His legacy is alive and well in Texas and in most states where IPM Coordinators help organize Extension faculty and other professionals to implement IPM practices in agriculture in their respective states.