UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In a move expected to cement Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences as an international leader in chemical ecology research, two renowned entomologists will join the college as Mumma Professors, effective July 1.
Tom Baker, former chairman of the department of entomology at Iowa State University, and Jim Tumlinson, research leader with the USDA's Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Fla., will fill positions created by an endowment that honors Ralph Mumma, distinguished professor emeritus of environmental quality.
Chemical ecology research -- described by Dean Robert Steele as among the most exciting and important work being done in the College of Agricultural Sciences -- may lead to advances in early warning for terrorist or military attacks from chemical or biological weapons, and improved methods to deal with pests and other environmental stresses in agricultural production.
"The field of chemical ecology holds great promise for understanding how plants and other organisms interact with each other and with their environments," says Steele. "The research already being done in our college could keep us safer from terrorist or military attacks at home and abroad, as well as help to improve the efficiency and profitability of our agriculture. The addition of these two renowned scientists will open new avenues for research and interdisciplinary collaboration within the college, across the university and beyond."
Baker and Tumlinson are accomplished researchers. Baker's work involves developing sex pheromones, host volatiles and other attractants for use against insect pests in agricultural and urban situations. Part of his research focuses on "neuroethological" studies of insects to understand fundamental processes of olfaction and orientation to odors.
Baker, who is president of the International Chemical Ecology Society and a recipient of the society's 2002 Award for Outstanding Research, also has applied basic knowledge about odor-mediated behavior to create improved controlled-release odor delivery systems for use in applications such as sex pheromone mating disruption, oviposition disruption and manipulation of beneficial predatory insects.
Tumlinson, who is one of just a handful of entomologists in the National Academy of Sciences, specializes in insect chemical communication -- which is the defining of chemical communication systems, including pheromones and other semioichemicals that mediate insect-to-insect and plant-insect interactions. The emphasis of his research is on developing fundamental knowledge and principals that can be applied in environmentally safe pest-management programs.
He has identified volatile compounds emitted by plants in response to infections by pathogens of various types, including bacteria and fungi, and discovered mechanisms by which plants can detect and report pathogens. Tumlinson discovered an attractant for boll weevils in the 1960s that has led to the eradication of these pests in key cotton growing areas of the south.
The Mumma Professorship in Entomology was created in 1997 with an endowment from Penn State graduate and State College businessman Michael Arjmand and his wife, Mitra, who contributed $500,000 to the college in recognition of the work and friendship of Ralph Mumma. Arjmand, who earned both master's and doctoral degrees in entomology from Penn State, founded Center Analytical Laboratories, a business which performed chemical analyses for a variety of environmental concerns and helped create environmentally friendly pesticides.
Gary Felton, professor and head of entomology, is pleased by the addition of Baker and Tumlinson. "Both of these individuals bring not only a strong, basic research component to the College of Agricultural Sciences, but also a proven ability to apply basic research to agricultural problems, which is especially valuable at a land grant research institution such as Penn State," he says. "Both men are exceptionally well-known in their field."
Baker and Tumlinson join an entomology department that already has been recognized several times recently for chemical ecology research.
Consuelo De Moraes, assistant professor of entomology, earned a 2002 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering for her research on the chemical relationships between plants and insects. She is the first entomologist -- and the first faculty member in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences -- to win the prestigious honor.
De Moraes will receive a personal research grant of $625,000 from the Packard Foundation, to be allocated over a five-year period. Each year, the foundation selects up to 20 of the nation's most promising university professors to receive the award.
Also, under a three-year, $3.5 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a team led by Jack Schultz, professor of entomology, is laying the groundwork for genetically engineering plants that can detect and signal the presence of many harmful chemical or biological agents, research that has potential military, homeland security and agricultural applications.
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EDITORS: Contact Gary Felton at 814-863-7789 or e-mail gwf10@psu.edu.
Contact:
Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-863-9877 fax #136