Four Entomologists Honored as 2024 Fellows of ESA

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —The Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) has elected four new Fellows of the Society for 2024. Election as a Fellow of ESA acknowledges outstanding contributions to entomology via research, teaching, extension, administration, military service, or public engagement and science policy.The entomologists named 2024 Fellows of the Entomological Society of America are:

• Elizabeth H. (Betsy) Beers, Washington State University
• Henry Y. Fadamiro, Texas A&M University
• Chow-Yang Lee, BCE, University of California, Riverside
• Tracy C. Leskey, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service

This year's honorees will be recognized during Entomology 2024, November 10-13, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Elizabeth H. (Betsy) Beers, Ph.D., professor and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at Washington State University (WSU), was elected as Fellow in 2024. She is best known for her work in tree fruit IPM, focused in the area of integrated biological control.

Beers was born in Traverse City, Michigan, in 1955, a region famous for tart cherries; this was an undoubted influence on her career choice. She graduated in plant protection at Cornell in 1979, working during the summers as an orchard scout in northwestern Michigan and an IPM trainee in western New York. After graduating from Cornell, she worked for several years at the USDA Fruit Research Laboratory in Kearneysville, West Virigina, coalescing her interest in both research and extension. While working as a technician, she was recruited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to attend graduate school to increase the number of women Ph.D.s in USDA. She applied to Dr. Larry Hull of Penn State on the strength of his tree fruit IPM program, graduating in May of 1985. On July 1 of that year, she assumed her first (and only) position as a faculty member with WSU, located at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee.

She has had a research and extension appointment throughout her career, working on a wide variety of pest systems in all tree crops. In the early years, she focused on maintaining the integrated mite management program pioneered by Stan Hoyt. She also worked on biological and chemical control of other indirect pests of tree fruits, including aphids, leafminers, and leafhoppers. In 2010, her focus shifted to invasive species, working on distribution, sampling, chemical, and cultural control. Highlights include detection of adventive populations of three Asian parasitoids in Washington state, followed by redistribution of these candidate classical biological agents. Regardless of the pest or crop, her focus has been grower-centric: solving grower pest problems, communicating the results of her own and colleagues' research, and facilitating the adoption of IPM practices.

Her program has been funded (as a PI and co-PI) in excess of $49 million. She was part of the teams that worked on the first USDA areawide programs that focused on codling moth mating disruption, and multiple SCRI, OREI, and SCBG grants. She has mentored M.S., Ph.D., and postdoctoral researchers; co-authored more than 200 refereed/technical articles, 13 book chapters, and one edited book; and presented her work more than 670 times to peers and stakeholders.

Beers has been fortunate to receive multiple awards from her university, industry, and ESA; the latter include awards in extension and IPM as well as the C. W. Woodworth Award. She has proudly served ESA in various capacities, including PB-ESA president in 2020 and Arthropod Management Tests Section A editor since 1994.

She lives in Wenatchee with her husband of 32 years, retired soil scientist Frank Peryea. In her spare time, Beers enjoys reading, darkroom and digital photography, and woodworking, as well as family time with daughters Amy (ER doctor) and Allison (lawyer), grandchildren Charlie and Sylvie, and her Michigan family.

Henry Y. Fadamiro, Ph.D., professor of entomology and associate vice president for research and strategic initiatives at Texas A&M University, was elected Fellow in 2024. He is internationally known for his research on insect behavior, chemical ecology, and integrated pest management (IPM). Fadamiro was born in Ondo, Nigeria. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology from the Federal University of Technology Akure in Nigeria and taught at the same institution from 1990 to 1992. In 1992, he was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University, UK, where he received his Ph.D. degree in entomology in 1995. Since then, he has worked at several institutions in the United States, including Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Auburn University, and Texas A&M University.

Fadamiro's research program spans the continuum from basic to translational and field applications. His research uses a multidisciplinary approach to address fundamental questions in mechanisms of olfaction and plant-insect interactions. The translational aspect of his research involves development and implementation of odor-based tools, biological control, and other IPM tactics for pest management in row and specialty crops. Fadamiro has received more than $20 million in research grants and published over 130 scientific publications and 100 extension-related articles. His publications have been cited widely, and his research has resulted in several patents. He has developed courses in entomology and mentored more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. He continues to promote entomological research and mentor early-career scientists in his current position at Texas A&M University.

Fadamiro's academic accomplishments have been recognized with various awards. He was recognized in 2011 by the ESA-Southeastern Branch with an Award for Excellence in IPM and was named the recipient of the 2023 Excellence in Leadership Award by the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors and the APLU Experiment Station Section. Fadamiro is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science.

Fadamiro has served his professional community in various roles, including as IPM coordinator for Alabama (2004-2018), chair of the Southern Region IPM Coordinators Group, chair of the Southern Small Farms Working Group, member of the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors Multistate Research Committee, and chair of the National Experiment Station Section Diversity Catalyst Committee. He served as associate director for the Southern IPM Center from 2012 to 2020 and as editor for Physiological Entomology from 2010 to 2019. In 2000, Fadamiro co-founded the International Association of Black Entomologists and served as the founding president from 2000 to 2007. Fadamiro has also served in many leadership roles, including as associate dean for research for Auburn University College of Agriculture (2017–2021) and as associate dean for research and chief scientific officer for Texas A&M AgriLife Research (2021–2022). He is a Fellow of the Leadership for the 21st Century (LEAD 21) program and a Fellow of the Food Systems Leadership Institute.

Chow-Yang Lee, Ph.D., BCE, professor and Endowed Presidential Chair in Urban Entomology at the University of California (UC), Riverside, was elected as a Fellow in 2024. He is internationally known for his research on the behavioral, ecological, and physiological adaptations of urban insect pests, such as cockroaches, bed bugs, termites, and pest ants. Lee's work aims to understand how these adaptations help pests thrive in urban environments and their biological trade-offs. Utilizing these research findings, Lee and his students design, evaluate, and integrate various management tactics to develop a comprehensive approach to urban pest management.

Born in Malacca, Malaysia, in 1969, Lee received his bachelor of science degree (First Class Honors) in zoology/entomology in 1993. He then pursued graduate studies under the mentorship of Dr. Han-Heng Yap, focusing on insecticide resistance in the German cockroach. Part of his research was completed in the laboratory of Dr. Janet Hemingway at Cardiff University, UK. Lee received his Ph.D. in insect toxicology from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1996. Following his Ph.D., he joined Universiti Sains Malaysia as a lecturer, becoming an associate professor in 2002 and a full professor in 2006. In July 2019, Lee relocated to California with his family to take up his current position at UC Riverside's Department of Entomology. He has been a Board Certified Entomologist (Urban & Industrial) with ESA since 1997.

Lee has published more than 290 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and books. He co-edited three textbooks on urban insect pests: Advances in the Biology and Management of Modern Bed Bugs (2018), Biology and Management of the German Cockroach (2021), and Biology and Management of the Formosan Subterranean Termite and Related Species (2023). To date, Lee has mentored five postdoctoral researchers, 17 Ph.D. students, and 32 M.S. students, many of whom now serve as faculty members or senior researchers or hold leadership roles with chemical manufacturers and pest management industry in Asia and the United States. He is currently mentoring five graduate students.

Since 1996, Lee has been invited to deliver more than 240 presentations as a keynote, memorial, plenary, or invited speaker in more than 20 countries. He serves as a subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology and the Bulletin of Entomological Research. Additionally, he is on the editorial board of Taiwania, Tropical Life Science Research, and Tropical Biomedicine, and has guest edited special issues for Current Opinion in Insect Science, Insects, and the Journal of Economic Entomology. Lee is presently an Executive Committee member of the International Conference on Urban Pests (2021–present) and the Pacific-Rim Termite Research Group (2016–present), where he also served as president for two terms (2012–2016).

Lee has received numerous awards, including the Recognition Award in Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (2022) from the Entomological Society of America, the Mallis Distinguished Achievement Award in Urban Entomology (2022) from the National Conference on Urban Entomology (USA), the Top Research Scientists Award (2012) from the Academy of Science Malaysia, Fulbright Scholarship (2002) from the U.S. Department of State, and National Young Scientist Award (2000) from Ministry of Science and Technology, Malaysia. He has also served as a visiting professor at Kyoto University (2007, 2011) and National Taiwan University (2015) and as a visiting scientist at Purdue University (1997, 2002) and the University of Florida (1999).

Tracy C. Leskey, Ph.D., research leader/station director and research entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Appalachian Fruit Research Station, in Kearneysville, West Virginia, was elected Fellow in 2024. She is internationally known for her research on behavioral ecology of invasive and persistent native pests of temperate fruit crops and development of sustainable tools for their management.

Leskey grew up in rural western Pennsylvania, where she developed an early fascination for insects. Her mother supported this interest by encouraging her to collect and rear insects in her various "bug zoos" and by providing her every science book that she ever wanted to read. Leskey's first kindergarten show-and-tell presentation was on the lifecycle of monarch butterflies. Leskey graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in biology from Wilson College (1990). Following a short stint in the private sector, she pursued a M.S. degree in ecology (1995) through the Entomology Department at Penn State University under the guidance of Dr. E. Alan Cameron. Her work focused on how sugar maple flowering enhanced survivorship and fecundity of pear thrips. Leskey then moved to the University of Massachusetts to pursue a Ph.D. (2000) under the guidance of Dr. Ronald J. Prokopy, where she identified olfactory and visual cues guiding plum curculio to host plants. Leskey then joined USDA-ARS as a research entomologist in 2000 and became station director in 2015.

Leskey's research has resulted in the development of several effective management tools for temperate fruit pests. She and colleagues identified the pheromone of and developed mating disruption tools for dogwood borer. She led development of a multi-life-stage management strategy for plum curculio, incorporating both attract-and-kill and entomopathogenic nematodes. Leskey led the effort to manage the invasive brown marmorated stink bug following its devastating outbreak in the mid-Atlantic in 2010. She and her ARS colleagues identified the pheromone of this pest and, with university partners, developed behaviorally compatible trap designs and sensitive pheromone lures. Recently, Leskey and her team have tackled quantifying host use patterns as well as natural and human-assisted dispersal of the invasive spotted lanternfly. Leskey and colleagues are currently developing an areawide management program for spotted lanternfly and its favored host, tree of heaven.

Leskey has published 194 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 book chapters, and several patents, and she received more than $21 million in competitive extramural support. She has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with many talented and caring postdoctoral scholars, students, and colleagues throughout her career. Leskey was awarded the ESA Founders' Memorial Award, USDA-ARS Early Career and Senior Scientist of the Year Awards, Outstanding Researcher Award from the International Fruit Tree Association, L.O. Howard Award Distinguished Achievement Award from the Eastern Branch, and Volunteer of the Year from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Eastern Panhandle. Leskey has appeared on NPR's Science Friday and C-SPAN and has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Leskey is a former subject editor for Environmental Entomology, ESA Governing Board member, and Eastern Branch president and current Board of Trustees member for Wilson College.

Source: ESA Press Release