COLLEGE STATION, Texas—The Department recognized the outstanding accomplishments of a few staff and faculty members during its annual awards meeting held on February 14, 2014.
The first award given out was the Lifetime Achievement recognition, which was given to Professor Emeritus Dr. Larry Keeley. Keeley jo ined the Department of Entomology as Assistant Professor in 1966, became Professor in 1976 and Professor Emeritus 2004 following retirement in 2003. Keeley taught Insect Physiology to undergraduate and graduate students, and received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Keeley’s computer animations of complex physiological and biochemical processes and a tutorial on insecticide actions have been widely sought and applied to university and public education programs in the United States and abroad. He also was major advisor to 9 Master of Science and 12 Doctoral students.
Keeley’s research focus was insect neuroendocrinology. In his research, he investigated the role of the corpora cardiaca in regulating insect blood sugar and basal metabolism and organized the Laboratories for Invertebrate Neuroendocrine Research. This led to isolation, identification and mode of action of the hypertrehalosemic hormone, isolation and sequencing of insect neurohormone genes, and approaches to hormone-mediated insect control.
His work was extended to neurohormone regulation of reproduction in both insects and crustaceans. He contributed nearly 100 peer-reviewed technical articles, invited reviews and book chapters.
Keeley also served on the editorial board for Insect Biochemistry, provided peer review for 21 journals, and 10 different grant programs. His leadership and service was recognized by several organizations, including the Entomological Society of America, American Society of Zoology, National Science Foundation, and International Conferences on Insect Neurochemistry and Neurophysiology.
The Department also awarded Pete Krauter the Department of Entomology Staff Meritorious Service Award. Since his more than 31 years as a research support staff member, he has been widely recognized for his expertise in biological control programs of greenhouse plants. Krauter’s talents include expertise in experimental design, statistical analyses, statistical analyses, crop production and biological control of agricultural pests.
Krauter has been an ambassador to the University, the Texas A&M AgriLife program, Texas Department of Agriculture, and various other state, national, and international researchers in allowing them to continue their research programs. He has also been instrumental in providing valuable advice and expertise on areas ranging from IPM to statistics to systematics and host plant interactions to graduate students.
Pete handles several high-priority duties including the main security officer, handling the Department’s keyless lock systems and serves as a liaison to the Department Head and Committee on Utilization and Assignment of Physical Space, keeping the Department Head informed on critical space matters. He also serves as the point person in providing necessary information and/or recommendations in assessing renovations, repairs, and space assignments.
“Pete Krauter is an important resource person, he is generous with his time and expertise, he unselfishly contributes to student projects and is an excellent role model to them, and he is a real pleasure to have as a colleague,” a nominator said.
Three IPM agents also were recognized for receiving awards during the annual meeting of the Texas Pest Management Association in early February.
Blayne Reed received the Excellence in IPM Programming for agents with 6 or less years of service, the award for Excellence in IPM Programming for agents with 7 or more years of service was presented to Kerry Siders. Scott Russell also received the Outstanding IPM Agent Award for 2013.
“Congratulations to these hard-working agents for their strong, innovative IPM programs which have been recognized by growers as having made a difference,” Dr. David Ragsdale said.
The Department also recognized Dr. Pete Teel for his 35 years of service and announced the winners of the Image Salon. There were many excellent and entertaining entries for the 2014 Arthropods Image Salon, and judges had a hard time naming only one entry as the overall best. Participants submitted more than 24 entries into four categories, with the best overall winner going to Paul Lenhart for his photo titled “Camo Hopper” The category winners are:
- Artistic: ” Le Maitre du sous-bois” by Paul Lenhart
- Arthropods In Action: “Cannibalism” by Shawn Hanrahan
- Traditional Macro: “Camo hopper” by Paul Lenhart
- Photo Microscopy: “What the parasitoid larva does inside” by Erfan Vafaie
To see all the images, visit http://arthropodimagesalon.tamu.edu.