RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — The Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside has been ranked No. 2 worldwide by the Center for World University Rankings, which were released today (April 3).
“This is a great honor and reflects the incredible work done by our faculty, staff, and students – graduate and undergraduate” said Rick Redak, chairman of the entomology department. “It really says a lot about our faculty and students and the incredible research they do.”
The top 10 entomology departmentsare as follows: University of Florida (1), Cornell University (3), Kansas State University (4), North Carolina State University (5), Michigan State University (6), University of California, Davis (7), University of Georgia (8), Nanjing Agricultural University in China (9), and University of São Paulo in Brazil (9).
The study of entomology in Riverside coincides with the development of the Citrus Experiment Station in the city in the early 1900s. In 1954, UC Riverside was born. Seven years later, undergraduate and graduate programs in Entomology were started.
Over the years, the department has become particularly well known for research in biological control, insect behavior and chemical ecology, integrated pest management, and the biology of insect disease vectors.
Biological control is an environmentally sound and effective means of reducing or mitigating pests and pest effects through the use of an insect’s own predators and parasites. Integrated pest management refers to a host of management and control approaches designed to minimize risks to the environment and human health while minimizing the cost and maximizing the benefit of such approaches.
UC Riverside is also known for pioneering the use of approaches that monitor and disrupt pest populations by altering an insect’s behavior and communication. The department also has world-renown strength in insect vector biology with cutting edge research designed to disrupt animals such as mosquitoes from transmitting deadly diseases.
The entomology department has more than 35 faculty members whose research specializations include: arthropod vectors of plant pathogens, biological control, insect behavior, chemical ecology, ecology, morphology, pathology, pest management, physiology, insect-plant interactions, systematics, toxicology, insecticide resistance, medical/veterinary entomology, molecular entomology, neuroscience, and urban entomology.