The Entomological Society of America congratulates the winners of its 2021 awards. The awards recognize scientists, educators, and students who have distinguished themselves through their contributions to entomology. Winners will be honored during Entomology 2021, ESA's Annual Meeting, taking place in-person and online, October 31 – November 3, in Denver, Colorado.

To view the full list of winners of the 2021 ESA professional, early career professional, and student awards, visit the Entomological Society of America.

The following individuals are winners from UC Riverside:

Professional Awards
Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management
 

Thomas Perring, University of California, Riverside

This award, which is sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection, recognizes outstanding contributions that have a direct relation to integrated pest management (IPM).

Dr. Thomas Perring is a professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), where he has been on faculty since 1983. He received his B.S. in wildlife ecology from Oklahoma State University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Texas Tech and the University of Nebraska, respectively. Perring's research has developed management options for growers of 20 cropping systems involving 17 pests and five pathosystems. His lab has provided information on three predatory insects, four predatory mites, 12 parasitoids, and two entomopathogenic fungi in support of biological control. This research has resulted in 154 reviewed articles and chapters and five edited books.

Notable areas with an integrated pest management (IPM) focus include creating a multistate partnership to develop IPM strategies for the stink bug, Bagrada hilaris; spearheading a classical BC program against the mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus, and describing a new parasitoid, Anagyrus callidus (Triapitsyn, Andreason, and Perring); conducting studies that launched a worldwide investigation into whether Bemisia tabaci consists of biotypes or species (currently at least 40 species are recognized); and implementing biocontrol of date mite and mating disruption of carob moth in dates.

Perring teaches various courses and has received awards on the UCR campus and in the Pacific Branch. He served on the Pacific Branch in operations, programs, Student Paper Competition, and Linnaean Games (chair), and on national committees (Nominations Committee of Section C), and he was chair of Subsection Cc and Section C. He co-founded the ESA band, the Stridulators, which performed at national meetings in 2008 and 2010. Perring is past editor of Journal of Economic Entomology and Journal of Acarology and current editor for the Annals of Applied Biology and Insects. At UCR, Perring has been associate dean, associate vice provost, and director of university honors, and he has served for many years as the entomology undergraduate and graduate advisor. He also is the current vice chair of the department.

ESA Student Awards
John Henry Comstock Award

Kadie Britt, University of California, Riverside
Kadie Britt is a postdoctoral scholar working in entomology with Dr. Houston Wilson, University of California, Riverside, at the Kearney Agricultural Research Extension Center in Parlier, California. Currently, her research focuses on arthropod pest management in hemp and cannabis, management of navel orangeworm in almonds and pistachios, and monitoring and management of black fig fly in figs, with an ultimate goal of improving the sustainability of pest management in these agricultural systems. Prior to arriving in California, Britt earned her Ph.D. working with Dr. Thomas Kuhar in the Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, where her doctorate research focused on arthropod pest management in hemp. Britt has worked with growers and extension personnel in California, Virginia, and beyond to learn about and help alleviate issues faced by those growing hemp in field and indoor settings. Her passion within entomology is extension and the opportunity to work with growers.

Caleb Hubbard, University of California, Riverside
Dr. Caleb Hubbard is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), in the lab of Dr. Amy Murillo. His exposure to entomology began at an early age, as he spent time collecting insects with his father, who was working on his master's thesis in entomology. Hubbard remembers "helping" his father collect fig beetles (Cotinus mutibilus) from local fruit trees that his father would later use in his experiments. This early exposure to entomology inspired Hubbard to pursue a career in science, though he initially was unsure of the scientific field he would enter. Before his graduate training in veterinary entomology, he worked in multiple research labs with a wide range of research disciplines. Hubbard obtained his Ph.D. in March 2021 from UCR, where he worked with Dr. Alec Gerry. His doctoral research focused on untangling the complex nature of behavioral resistance to the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid in the house fly. Caleb enjoys teaching and regularly seeks opportunities to share his research through extension publications, podcasts, and outreach to diverse audiences. In winter 2021, he had the privilege of teaching an upper-division entomology course independently, which was the first time his department had hired a graduate student to serve as the sole instructor for a course. He hopes in the future to build an independent research program where he can train the next generation of scientists to have a passion for addressing complex problems in the field of veterinary entomology.

Read the Original ESA Announcement