NC State entomologist
wins prestigious Humboldt Award

An NC State entomologist will receive the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award during a ceremony Monday (Sept. 27) at the university.

College of Agriculture & Life Sciences File Photo

Dr. Fred Gould has won the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award, presented annually to the person judged to have made the most significant contribution to American agriculture during the previous five years.

Dr. Fred Gould, whose work has played a pivotal role in determining how best to use emerging, transgenic pest management technology, is the 2004 recipient of the Humboldt Award, which is presented annually to the person judged to have made the most significant contribution to American agriculture during the previous five years. With the award comes a $15,000 cash prize, which Gould will donate to the NCSU Libraries and the Department of Entomology.

In addition, a student at the recipient’s institution is chosen to receive a $5,000 Alfred Toepfer scholarship to be used to study agriculture in Germany. Melanie Bateman, a doctoral student from Weaverville, N.C., studying entomology-behavioral biology, will receive this scholarship. She plans to use it to study plant defense chemicals at the Max Plank Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Gould, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Entomology, was recognized for groundbreaking work on the development by insects of resistance to so-called Bt crops. He and colleagues also developed strategies to help ensure that insects do not develop resistance.

Bt crops are among the most successful of transgenic, or genetically altered, crops. Such crops contain genes from Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium. The genes produce a toxin that kills caterpillars that feed on crops such as corn and cotton.

Gould was among the first to show that insects could develop resistance to transgenic crops; he and colleagues then developed strategies to prevent insects from developing resistance.

Gould also helped inform national policy toward biotechnology by serving on several committees of the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council that dealt with biotechnology issues. He also served on an Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory
Subcommittee on Resistance Management and briefed the U.S. State Department’s Undersecretary for Global Affairs on the risks associated with genetically engineered crops.

Gould joined the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty at NC State in 1978 as a research associate. He was named a William Neal Reynolds Professor in 1993. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the City University of New York and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation was established in 1959 by Dr. Alfred Toepfer, a German grain merchant and philanthropist. The foundation and the award are named for a 19th century geographer and natural scientist.

Posted September 27, 2004

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