Cornell University -- August 5-9, 2002
Speaker Profiles
Michael Burgett, Professor
of Entomology/Apiculture, Oregon State University.
I have spent the past 28 years at OSU, since arriving here from Cornell in April of 1974. My position is split between formal teaching, extension, and research. My research program, since 1986 has concentrated in the area of honey bee acarine parasites (Varroa & Acarapis). Another area of research has been in the arena of applied honey bee pollination. The "pollination requirement" in the Pacific Northwest is very large and I have given assistance in extension and research to many different cropping systems throughout the years. My program has graduated 18 students at either the M.S. or Ph.D. level. Starting in 1981 I began international work and over the past 20 years have carried out either extension or research programs in 12 countries, with a concentration in Southeast Asia. As a graduate student at Cornell from 1969 to 1973, Roger Morse offered numerous suggestions for success in an academic career with honey bees. Perhaps the best having been "Burgett, someone is always willing to provide you an airplane ticket to see honey bees in other areas of the world. Take advantage of it." Thanks Roger, I have.
Dr. Nicholas Calderone, PhD. Assistant Professor of Entomology, Cornell University (SYMP)
I received my MS degree in entomology in 1985 from The Ohio State University where I worked with Professor Walter C. Rothenbuhler on the behavioral genetics of honey bee foraging behavior. I received my PhD in 1988 from the same institution working with Professor Robert E. Page, Jr. on the evolutionary genetics of division of labor in honey bees. After leaving Ohio State, I worked for 6 years with the USDA-ARS Bee Research Lab in Beltsville, MD with Dr. Hachiro Shimanuki, concentrating on the biology of Varroa jacobsoni and IPM approaches for control of parasitic mites. In 1996, I accepted a position with the Department of Entomology at Cornell University, where I have responsibilities in research, teaching and extension. I continue to work on mite biology and IPM for parasitic mites, and developed a Master Beekeeper Program serving beekeepers throughout the northeastern US. More information about me is available from the Cornell web site
Dr. Dewey Caron, PhD.,
Professor of Entomology & Applied Ecology, Univesity of Delaware
I learned beekeeping as a PhD student of Dr. Roger Morse at Cornell.
I filled in for Roger as a teacher of his popular introductory beekeeping
course and helped insure completion of the Dyce Honey Bee Lab when Roger
went on sabbatical to the Philippines during my four years in Ithaca and
was the last speaker at EAS in 1969, the last time EAS was in NY.
Following Ithaca, I was apiculturist at the University of Maryland (1970-1981)
before moving to the University of Delaware as Department Chair. I have
remained at Delaware as Professor and Extension Entomologist with a three-way
split of extension (apiculture and ornamental plant pests), teaching (large,
popular introductory courses in entomology, and wildlife biology + 2 courses
on beekeeping) and research (cucurbit pollination, bee mites, bee pests
and queen replacement /swarming). I helped EAS initiate the Master Beekeeper
program (in 1981), revived the short course preceding the conference (1979),
was president (1986), and Chairman of the Board (1990-1998). I currently
head the EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research, the sites committee and
was the organizer for the 2001 Short Courses. I also have a page on the University of Deleware's web site.
Susan Cobey, Staff Apiarist at Ohio State
University
Sue runs the New World Carniolan Closed Breeding Population Program to provide breeder stock to the industry. A major focus of this is selection for mechanisms of resistance to parasitic mites and diseases. She instructs classes, presents seminars, workshops, presentations, and a consulting service on instrumental insemination, bee breeding, queen rearing and related topics to state, national and international beekeeping organizations. Her background includes commercial beekeeping in several states.
Dr. David De JongProfessor of Genetics and Evolution, Medical Faculty, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP, BRAZIL
After starting out as a hobby beekeeper on my father's dairy farm on Long Island, I went to Cornell and learned about beekeeping biology in Roger Morse's undergraduate course. During summers I worked as a New York State bee inspector, and then went on to grad school in Entomology, as a student of Dr. Morse. That was both a great education and a terrific personal experience. In 1980, right after grad school, I spent 6 months at the University of Maryland as a temporary replacement for Dewey Caron. Then I went to Brazil to study Varroa, on what was planned to be a 22-month research project in collaboration with Roger, and turned into a 22-year stay. During the interim I have been a consultant for FAO in Apiculture Development in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, British Guyana, Chile and South Korea, and an ad-hoc consultant for several other agencies. My main areas of expertise are honey bee pathology and Africanized bee management, genetics and biology. Here in Brazil I have had graduate students from all over Latin America, as well as the USA and Europe. Our campus has what is probably the largest concentration of bee professors in the world (16). Curiously, none of us actually teach apiculture at the university (though we do so in extension courses), rather we use and study bees in research on genetics, taxonomy, behavior, etc. There are over 250 species of social bees in Brazil, so this is a great place to study bees. I presently teach Genetics, Evolution and Scientific Writing. I am also technical editor of an online scientific journal called Genetics and Molecular Research.
Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree,
Associate Professor, Dept. of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph
Dr. Scott-Dupree received her Master of Pest Management (1983) and her
Ph.D. (1986) from the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Cynthia's M.P.M. research dealt with the use of pheromones for the monitoring
and control of moth pests in apicultural situations. Her Ph.D. research,
with Dr. Mark Winston, focused on the pollination activities of honey
bees and native bee pollinators in orchard systems in the Okanagan Valley
of British Columbia.
She became a faculty member at the University of Guelph in 1986 and is
involved in teaching and research. Her research interests include integrated
management of insect crops pests using environmentally compatible control
methods, resistance management, and the impact of agro-ecosystems on non-target
organisms, including beneficial insects such as honey bees, bumble bees,
native bees and natural enemies of insect pests. Dr. Scott-Dupree is also
interested in alternative control methods for honey bee disease and pests.
Born and raised in western Canada, Cynthia became acquainted with apiculture
and agriculture through family beekeeping and farming operations. She
is keenly aware of the importance of apiculture and agriculture to the
Canada economy and endeavors to relay this to others through her research,
teaching and extension activities. Dr. Scott-Dupree is actively involved
with the Entomological Societies of Ontario and Canada and is Past President
of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists.
Cynthia, and her husband Rob Dupree, live in Fergus, Ontario with their
two sons - Cody and Dustin.
Marion Ellis, Associate
Professor of entomology, University of Nebraska
Marion Ellis received his B.S. in biology and M.S. in agricultural biology
from University of Tennessee in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Upon completing
his M.S., he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru and El Salvador
working as a teacher and extension specialist. He then spent four years
at the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station working on cage
pollination of plant germplasm collections and 15 years as the Nebraska
State Apiculturist. After 21 years of applied apiculture work, he returned
to school and completed a Ph.D. in entomology in 1994. Currently, he is
an Associate Professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska. His
research interests are investigating novel strategies for managing varroa
mites and reducing bee injury from pesticides applied to crops. He teaches
classes in bee biology and beekeeping and directs an annual master beekeeping
training program that draws participants from across the U.S.
Dr. Ellis is also involved in youth outreach education and directs the
entomology department's "Bug Bash" program. He also has funding from the
Nebraska Lottery's Education Innovation Fund to direct a science education
outreach program called "Bumble Boosters" that engages high school science
classes as partners to conduct research on bumble bees. You can learn
more about his programs on the World Wide Web at:
http//bumbleboosters.unl.edu
http://entomology.unl.edu/beekpg/beekpg.htm
Dr. Patti Elzen, Research Entomologist, USDA Weslaco Honeybee Lab, Texas
She received her B.S. from the University of Florida, her M.S. from Texas A&M, and her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, all in Entomology. Her current research focus is on integrated pest management approaches for control of honey bee pests and diseases, with additional emphasis on toxicology.
Mark F. Feldlaufer,
Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland
Received his bachelor's and master's degree from Rutgers and Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis. After completing postdoctoral research at the N.Y. State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, he joined the ARS' Insect Physiology Laboratory in 1982. His research involved sterol metabolism in insects, and he isolated an identified a unique molting hormone from the honey bee. He was transferred to the Bee Research Laboratory in 1995 and was appointed Research Leader in October of 1998. His research has focused on the control of parasites and pa.thogens of honey bees.
Dr. Rick Fell, Professor of Entomology, Virginia Tech
Rick is a professor of Entomology at where he teaches courses in apiculture, general entomology, and insect behavior. He received hisgraduate degrees from Cornell under Roger Morse, and has worked in the areas of natural queen production, miticide effects on bee reproduction, and pollination. Last spring he was a visiting professor at the University of the Free State in South Africa.
Maryann Frazier, Senior Extension Associate, Department of Entomology,
Penn State
Maryann Frazier received a bachelor of science in agriculture education from Penn State University in 1980. In 1983, she completed a master of agriculture in entomology at Penn State, specializing in Apiculture. She has worked on beekeeping projects in several countries including Sudan, Uganda, and Panama. Currently she is a Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Entomology at Penn State. She is responsible for apiculture extension in Pennsylvania and coordinates the Entomology Department's public science education effort. In addition, Maryann teaches beginning courses in apiculture and general entomology.
Tom Glenn, Glenn Apiaries
Tom Glenn began beekeeping in his backyard in southern California at age 15. Later he worked for several commercial beekeepers, learning many aspects of the bee industry, from honey production and pollination, to queen rearing and long haul trucking. He began his own queen raising business in 1977. He and his wife Suki, have been working together ever since. Since 1999 when the Africanized bees arrived in the area, he has focused on breeding disease resistant bees, utilizing artificial insemination to keep the bees pure. He has teamed up with several bee researchers to provide the industry with state of the art disease resistant stock.
Dr. John Harbo, PhD., U.S. Department of Agriculture Bee Lab, Baton
Rouge, LA.
John Harbo is a native of Minnesota who earned his PhD in entomology at Cornell under the direction of Roger Morse. He has worked on honey bee breeding since 1971 at the USDA Bee Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His most recent work has involved breeding for resistance to varroa by selecting bees for a trait that suppresses mite reproduction (SMR).
Mike Hood, Extension/Research Apiculturist, Clemson University
Mike Hood - Mike began work at Clemson University, South Carolina in 1988 as State Apiarist and Extension Apiculturist. In 1995, he accepted a newly created Extension/Research Apiculture position at Clemson. His work now includes teaching an undergraduate beekeeping course at the university. He came to work in the beekeeping industry at a time when tracheal mites were a major pest which were followed soon by other introduced pests, the varroa mite and the small hive beetle. Most of his research has been dedicated to the area of applied control of these three pests. Mike is the executive secretary of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association which has 400 members. He is co-administrator of the South Carolina Master Beekeeper Program which was initiated in 1996 and is the editor of the "News for South Carolina Beekeepers" which was begun in 1990.
Zachary Huang, Michigan State University
I perform extension, teaching and research related to honey bees and beekeeping. I am the webmaster of a popular web site on bees, http://www.cyberbee.net and teach two courses (insect physiology, and apiculture and pollination). Current research topics include: cloning the sodium channel genes of the Varroa mite to determine if mutation of this gene is responsible for mite resistance to Apistan, effect of Nosema apis on worker behavior and physiology, effect of transgenic pollen on health of honey bees and as possible agents for pest control, and the role of melatonin in regulating social behavior in honey bee workers. I have invented a new device for varroa mite control and information is available at http://www.mitezapper.com. A database (http://beebase.cyberbee.net) is also started recently to link beekeepers and growers together so that they can find each other easier.
Diana Sammataro, Research Entomologist, Carl Hayden Bee Research
Lab, Tucson, AZ.
Diana is a graduate of the U of Mich. with degrees in Landscape Architecture and Urban Forestry. During this time she began to develop an adult education class in Beekeeping (Ann Arbor MI). The notes from her classes became the first edition of the Beekeeper's Handbook, which she co-authored with Al Avitabile, a beekeeper from CT, who started her in bees. As a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, she taught beekeeping and modified her book to incorporate beekeeping in developing countries. When she returned, she worked at the Wisconsin Bee Lab, (Madison), then at a beekeeping company (sales manager) until she returned to Ohio State for her Ph.D. in Entomology, working on tracheal mites of honey bees. Diana did some time at Penn State University as a Research Assistant, working on developing and Integrated Pest Management program to manage bee mites and reduce chemical use in bee hives. Currently, she is a Research Entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Lab in Tucson, AZ.
Thomas D. Seeley, Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell
University
Grew up in Ithaca, New York. As a high school student, fell in love with
the bees and began working as a flunky at Dyce Lab at Cornell. Studied
biology and chemistry in college, then focussed on the biology of bees
in graduate school. Since 1980, has been teaching animal behavior and
researching the bees. Check out his research interests at:
http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/seeley/seeley.html
Steve
Sheppard is currently the Thurber Chair of Apiculture at Washington
State University.
After a youth spent playing in the marshes of South Carolina, he attended the University of Georgia (BSc Zoology) and the University of Illinois (MSc, PhD Entomology). Research interests initiated in graduate school on genetic diversity and evolutionary history of honey bees and the population genetic consequences of introduction have continued through the ensuing years. Current research at WSU includes investigation of the genetic basis for population differentiation, phylogeography of honey bee subspecies, evolutionary relationships within the genus, and source identification of introduced insects. Extension related projects include the recent establishment of a collaborative IPM-honey bee breeding program between WSU, Cornell and USDA-ARS.
Dr. James Tew, Ohio State University
Dr. James Tew is responsible for bee extension and research at The Ohio
State University, Wooster, Ohio. Jim has been at OSU since 1978 and has
taught classes, written articles, fact sheets, written a book and produced
a video tape series. His primary research interest is honey be foraging
behavior. Along with Ms. Connie Britton, Jim maintains a web link for
the USDA National Agriculture Library at:
http://www2.oardc.ohio-state.edu/agnic/bee/default.htm
Also, Jim's bee laboratory can be toured at: http://www2.oardc.ohio-state.edu/beelab/links.htm