Four entomologists with University of California connections are among the 10 newly announced fellows of the 6,000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA), the world's largest organization serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. The 10 will be recognized Nov. 11, 2012 at the ESA's annual meeting in Knoxville, Tenn.

They are Joseph Morse, professor at UC Riverside since 1981, and three UC Davis-affiliated entomologists: Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, who received his doctorate from UC Davis in 1981; Henry Hagedorn, who received his doctorate in entomology in from UC Davis in 1970; and R. Michael Roe, who trained at the UC Davis Department of Entomology from 1981 to 1984 as a National Institutes of Health fellow in cellular and molecular biology.

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.

Page, who studies the evolution of complex social behavior in honey bees, from genes to societies, retired from UC Davis in 2004 to be the founding director of the new School of Life Sciences. Arizona State University, where he built a Social Insect Research Group that is now recognized worldwide. He has held his current position of vice provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since July 2011. Page, a member of the UC Davis faculty from 1989-2004, chaired the Department of Entomology from 1999 to 2004.

Hagedorn, a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, Tucson, is internationally recognized for his research on the physiology of reproduction in mosquitoes, and as founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Insect Science.

Roe is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Entomology and the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. He is internationally recognized for his research in insect and acarine physiology, biochemistry, genomics and toxicology, and the use of fundamental research in chemistry, nuclear science, and biology to solve practical problems and develop new commercial technologies.

About the fellows


Joseph Morse


Morse received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and then enrolled at Michigan State University where he received his master's degree in entomology and systems science and his doctorate in entomology. He joined the UC Riverside faculty in 1981 and now teaches biology, entomology, evolution and ecology, and the natural history of insects. He has published 322 papers or book chapters, including more than 145 peer-reviewed articles. Serving in several UC administrative positions, he was the associate director of the UC IPM Program, charged with oversight of the statewide competitive grants program. In 1994, during the height of the Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak, he worked with local and system-wide administration to help found the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research (CISR) and served as associate director and director of the center. CISR, along with UC IPM, oversaw the Exotic Pest and Disease Research Program, which awarded more than $10.3 million in grants.

When the UC Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources reorganized in 1999, Morse was asked to serve for six years (1999-2005) as one of four new statewide program leaders charged with overseeing system-wide activities in pest management and agricultural policy. Highly recognized for his work, he has received the ESA Recognition Award in Entomology, the Citrus Research Board Award of Excellence, the Art Schroeder Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Avocado Research, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Award of Honor from the California Avocado Society, and the Entomological Foundation Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Morse 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.

Robert E. Page Jr.


Page, who received his bachelor's degree in entomology from San Jose State University and his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, completed postdoctoral training at the USDA Honey Bee Research Laboratory in Madison, Wis. He was then appointed assistant professor of entomology at Ohio State University in 1986. He joined the UC Davis faculty in 1989, serving as chair from 1999-2004. He moved to Arizona State University in 2004 to be the founding director of the new School of Life Sciences, where he built a Social Insect Research Group that is now recognized worldwide. He has held his current position of vice provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since July 2011. Page was trained as an entomologist, evolutionary population geneticist, classical animal breeder, and mechanistic behaviorist. This training has defined his research approach of looking at the genetics and evolution of complex social behavior. He has taken a vertical approach to understanding the mechanisms of honey bee social foraging and how it evolves. His work is contained in more than 225 research articles. Page has also co-edited three books and authored or co-authored two. Page is a highly cited ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) author in plant and animal science. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Science, and the Brazilian Academy of Science. In 1995 he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize by the government of Germany.

Henry H. Hagedorn

Hagedorn received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his doctorate in 1970 from UC Davis. He joined the entomology faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then at Cornell University before moving to the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1988. Now a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, he is internationally recognized for his research on the physiology of reproduction in mosquitoes, and as founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Insect Science. His honors include a Von Humboldt Senior Science Fellowship in Tübingen, Germany, and fellow of the AAAS. Research in Hagedorn's laboratory focused on egg development in the mosquito Aedes aegypti and made significant discoveries. At the University of Arizona, Hagedorn directed the Center of Insect Science for five years. He led a group of students and teachers that produced materials for primary school teachers (Using Live Insects in Elementary Classrooms for Early Lessons in Life). Working with Emory and Marlene Sekaquaptewa, Hagedorn also produced a video, "Hopi Corn: The Mother of Life." In 2001 Hagedorn launched the Journal of Insect Science, an open-access, online journal to provide an alternative to commercial journals. Hagedorn retired in 2005 and moved back to Wisconsin, where he is a member of the Department of Entomology at UW-Madison.

R. Michael Roe


Roe obtained three degrees from Louisiana State University, including his master's degree in physiology with a minor in biochemistry, and his doctorate in entomology and a minor in nuclear science. He moved to the UC Davis Department of Entomology from 1981-84, serving as a National Institutes of Health fellow in cellular and molecular biology. He joined the North Carolina State University (NCSU) entomology faculty in 1984. Roe's laboratory focuses on understanding how insect and acarine systems function at the molecular level, the use of synthetic organic chemistry to understand structure-activity, and applications in bioassay, chemistry, molecular biology, and physics to solve practical pest problems in the context of integrated pest management. His lab is especially active in technology transfer and product development. Some of his greatest successes include a U.S. EPA-registered, insect-tick repellent more effective than DEET and a fast-acting, natural, broad-spectrum herbicide. He is the author of more than 250 published papers, seven books, 36 patents and 10 licensed technologies. He is the president of InTox Biotech in Middlesex, N.C., and serves on a number of advisory boards for several U.S. companies and non-profit organizations. Roe is also a founding member of the interdepartmental biotechnology program at NCSU and has developed new courses in physiology, insect morphology, molecular entomology, toxicology, and professional development. Although the recipient of numerous awards, he considers his greatest professional successes and greatest joy in the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers he has trained.

(Editor’s note: Communications officers Iqbal Pittalwala of UC Riverside and Richard Levine of ESA contributed to this news story.)