UC Riverside faculty member elected fellow of Entomological Society of America

August 1st, 2012
Joseph Morse is a professor of entomology at University of California - Riverside. Credit: UCR Strategic Communications.
For his outstanding contributions to entomology, Joseph Morse, a professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside, has been elected a fellow of the prestigious Entomological Society of America (ESA), the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines.

This year, Morse and only nine others were elected to this honor. They will be recognized on Nov. 11, 2012, at the annual meeting of the ESA in Knoxville, Tenn.

"I am delighted to see Dr. Morse's tremendous hard work and dedication to entomology and pest management recognized in this way by the Entomological Society of America," said Rick Redak, the chair of the Department of Entomology. "Dr. Morse is an internationally recognized leader in the science and application of citrus and avocado integrated pest management. The Department of Entomology is very pleased and proud that he has received this tremendous honor."

Over the past 20 years, Morse's laboratory has focused on applied and fundamental research dealing with the management of arthropod pests of citrus and avocados in California. Morse has specialized in the areas of integrated pest management, invasive species research, applied biological control, parasitoid behavior and ecology, insectary rearing of natural enemies, the acute and sub-lethal impact of pesticides on both target pests and non-target organisms, modeling and computer simulation, and pesticide resistance.

He also has an interest in international agriculture and has been involved in citrus and avocado pest management and/or cooperative projects with researchers and industry personnel in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and Spain, and in a 1996 FAO-sponsored analysis of citrus integrated pest management in 13 countries of the Near East.

"It is an honor to be recognized by my peers as a fellow of the Entomological Society of America," Morse said. "I share this award with the many students, staff, and colleagues with whom I collaborated over the years and who contributed substantially to what we collectively have been able to accomplish."

Morse's previous honors include the ESA Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management; the ESA Recognition Award in Entomology; the Award of Honor and the Art Schroeder Memorial Award from the California Avocado Society; and being named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has authored or coauthored more than 120 scientific refereed journal articles; 8 edited books/ proceedings; 49 invited chapters, monographs/ proceedings articles; and more than 125 semi-technical publications/ popular articles.

Morse joins 16 current or former researchers at UCR who are fellows of the ESA: Robert L. Metcalf, 1951; Herman T. Spieth, 1952; George P. Georghiou, 1989; Martin M. Barnes, 1991; Vernon M. Stern, 1992; Mir S. Mulla, 1995; Nick C. Toscano, 1997; Ring T. Carde and John T. Trumble, 1998; Michael Rust, 2001; Marshall W. Johnson and Timothy D. Paine, 2006; Brian Federici and Alexander Raikhel, 2009; Thomas A. Miller, 2010; and Bradley A. Mullens, 2011.

Provided by University of California - Riverside

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