If We Don’t Support the Future of Urban Entomology, There Won’t Be One

During the past few years, our staff has kept a watchful eye on the retirements of some of the industry’s most high-profile university entomologists. A partial list of recent retirees reads like a “Who’s Who” of urban entomology.

OK, that’s not unusual. Certainly all industries go through workforce ebbs and flows. But what’s troublesome about this round of retirements is that few of these positions are being replaced by people who are experts in urban entomology, and specifically, those who prioritize 1) working in the field side by side with PMPs and 2) serving the public via extension.

In this month’s cover story, “The Case of the Disappearing Urban Entomologists” by Publisher Emeritus Dan Moreland, PCT digs deep into the history and market ramifications of these personnel losses. Featured on this month’s cover is Dr. Phil Koehler from the University of Florida. Perhaps one of the most well-known speakers on the industry circuit, for years Koehler regaled conference attendees with pest management tips and tricks (and his dislike of cats). He also serves as a wonderful example of the importance of university and industry collaboration, which of course so many other individuals and departments do so well too.

Although educating PMPs at meetings has been one part of Koehler’s industry success, the real impact of Koehler’s legacy is his students. Where have his students landed over the years? Everywhere. He’s the pest management industry’s version of “six degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Everywhere you look, Koehler’s former students are influencing the industry. Some work in academia, some with chemical manufacturers, others in pest management businesses.

I recently talked with soon-to-be Rollins Inc. CEO Jerry Gahlhoff Jr., who was an entomology student of Koehler’s in the 1990s. I asked him to comment on how someone like Koehler influences students, and thus the future of the industry. “He was a great teacher because he invested so much time in you. If you hung around too much, Koehler would overwhelm you with the time he invested in you,” he said. “The discussions, discourse and processes he put students through was highly developmental for the student.”

But here’s why these efforts promote the education of an entire industry: “If you expressed even the slightest interest, Koehler put you out in the industry as fast as he could,” Gahlhoff added. “You’d be giving CEU classes, working a booth at a tradeshow or attending a meeting with the association. It was hard to sit on the sidelines as you would get ‘volun-told,’ or forcibly signed up, for these types of things. These activities allowed you to network with future employers, honed presentation skills and allowed you to practice your storytelling skills.”

We asked Koehler about this urban entomology “brain drain” and he said the future of indus-try/academia partnerships won’t look the same as today: “Ten years from now, the relationship between university urban entomologists and the pest management industry will be different.”

(Just what will that future look like? In the second part of this series, PCT will talk to the next generation of urban entomologists about their goals and the challenges they face.)

Virginia Tech’s Dr. Dini Miller told PCT that while she understands the need for laboratory-based genetic research that generates overhead funding, working side by side with PMPs in the field is vital to achieving practical advances in pest management. “Working on the genomics of the bed bug is important, but if we’re going to develop new chemistries and treatment protocols that work, we also need to get out there into the apartment complexes where these pests live and do the hands-on research so vital to success.”

Turn to page 53 for what you can do to buoy the development of urban entomology resources.

But I’ll cut to the chase: If the industry does not take matters into its own hands by funding endowed chairs at universities with strings attached to require positions to be dedicated at least in part to practical pest management work, urban pest management research and training as we know it will disappear. The industry itself will endure, but at what cost? Fewer speakers at events? Fewer articles in trade journals that PMPs read? Less time for hands-on work testing products in the field or extension service training for the industry and the public?

Your professional future — and mine — hangs in the balance.

The author is publisher of PCT.