Entomological Society of America honors Stouthamer, Paine

Riverside, Ca –

The 2013 awards will be presented at the society’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in November.

Richard Stouthamer, a professor of entomology, was honored with the Recognition Award in Entomology, which recognizes entomologists who are making significant contributions to agriculture. The award is sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection.

Stouthamer is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and fifteen book chapters. During his PhD studies at UCR, he discovered the involvement of Wolbachia bacteria in causing complete parthenogenesis in parasitoid wasps. The study of the interaction between Wolbachia and parasitoid wasps has been a mainstay of his research since that time. He has also been involved in the study of several insect-transmitted bacterial diseases such as Xylella fastidiosa (Pierce’s Disease), Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurous (Zebra Chip) and most recently with tree branch-dieback caused by the ambrosia beetle Euwallacea fornicatus in trees in Southern California. In addition, much of the work in his lab involves the application of molecular genetic tools to easily distinguish cryptic species and determine the area of origin of invasive species.

Timothy Paine, a professor of entomology, is the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching, presented annually to the member of the Entomological Society of America deemed to be the most outstanding teacher of the year.

Paine is a distinguished teaching professor in the Department of Entomology. His research contributions on insect herbivores of woody plants in urban landscapes and forest systems were recognized with both the Entomological Foundation’s Recognition Award in Urban Entomology and the Entomological Society of America’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Horticultural Entomology. He has taught large introductory biology classes, a breadth science class for humanities and social science students, upper division classes for entomology and biology majors, and a class in the entomology graduate core. He took the lead in developing a new class intended for graduate students interested in pursuing academic careers. The class explores the challenge of designing new life science courses and provides opportunities to implement approaches for active learning. His efforts in teaching innovation and developing new materials and methods have been recognized with all of the UC Riverside campus teaching awards. He was selected for membership in the UCR Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2013. He was recognized as a National Academies Education Fellow in the life sciences in 2008-09. Paine is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the Entomological Society of America.

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