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Seminal Research at the Gill Tract,
see who forged the way in Integrated Pest Management.
Dr. Ray F. Smith
1919 - 1999
Dr. Robert Van Den Bosch
1922 - 1978
Dr. Kenneth Hagen
1919 - 1997
Dr. Smith served as Chair of the Department of Entomology and Parasitollogy from 1959 to 1973. He taught concepts of supervised control to a number of people that would later go on to be future leaders in ecological pest management. One of his early notable works was on developing a concept of supervised control which he practiced on key pests of alfalfa over a 10 year period. His concepts and teachings later evolved into the idea of integrated pest management.
Dr. Smith served as an associate project director of a National Science Foundation Projection called the International Biological Program's "Principles, Strategies and Tactics of Pest Population Regulation and Control in Major Crop Ecosystems," which was directed by Carl Huffaker. He also was director of the U.S. Agency for International Development and University of California project, Pest Management and Related Environmental Protection Project. Additionally, he served as executive director of the Consortium for International Crop Protection which led to many significant advances in ecological pest management.1
Dr. Van Den Bosch joined UC Berkeley as a researcher at the Division of Biological Control in 1963. As author of The Pesticide Conspiracy, he was a well known eco-activist who spoke out against the pesticide industry after observing the ecological, economic and social impacts of pesticides. He also consulted for many organizations including The United Farm Workers, a US farmworker union.
Dr. Van Den Bosch's life work focused on understanding and implementing biological controls as an alternative to pesticides. He searched for beneficial insects on overseas research expeditions throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. Throughout his career, he imported and colonized a range of natural enemies, most notably spotted alfalfa aphid, alfalfa weevil, walnut aphid, Oriental fruit fly, black scale and additional pests of ornamentals. Having published more than 150 scientific papers, he was undoubtedly a leader of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).2
After becoming a professor of Entomology at the Division of Biological Control in 1969, Dr. Hagen spent a significant amount of time throughout his career at the Gill Tract. He imported natural enemies that targeted a range of pests including blue and spotted alfalfa aphid, walnut aphid, pear psylla, acacia psyllid, plum aphid and pea aphid.
His most notable contributions to science occurred in insect nutrition and the augmentation of natural enemies. Dr. Hagen developed the first "artifical egg" to mass-rear Chrysoperla, and formulated artifical diets for coccinellids. He also linked the role of amino acids occurring in honeydew to protections against ant predation. His research on Coccinellidae explored the migratory behaviour of Hippodamia convergens, which was a featured article in a 1970 issue of National Geographic entitled, "Following the ladybug home".
Dr. Hagen was awarded the Distinguished Biological Control Science Award from UC Berkeley and regarded as a timeless researcher and generous humanbeing.3
sources:
Dr. Carl Huffaker
1914 - 1995
In 1945, Dr. Huffaker investigated biological control of Klamath weed for the Division of Biological Insect Investigations at the University of California in collaboration with the USDA. Dr. Huffaker, Jim Holloway and collaborators identified four key insects: a root-borer beetle Agrilus hyperici, leaf -eating beetles Chrysolina quadrigemina and C. hyperici and the gallfly Zeuxidiplosis giardi. This led to control of Klamath weed and recovery of many overtaken lands. By 1984, this project was evaluated as affording an estimated $79 million savings.4
1 "Ray Fred Smith", 2001, The National Academies Press, Biological Memoirs V80. Retrieved from: http://www.nap.edu/read/10269/chapter/17#294
2 John T. Trumble, April 1 1979, Robert van den Bosch 1922-1978, Journal of Economic Entomology. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jee/72.2.308
3 "Ecology of Aphidophaga", 2004, Kenneth Sverre Hagen (1919 - 1997). Retrieved from: http://www.aphidophaga.org/hagen.htm
4 Caltagirone, L. E., & Dahlsten, D. L. (1998). Carl Barton Huffaker 1914 - 1995. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/read/9649/chapter/9#143
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