| NATIONAL PROGRAM LEADER
ANNOUNCED ABJ - July, 2001 |
| I am announcing
the appointment of Dr. Kevin J. Hackett to the position of National
Program Leader for Biological Control on the National Program
Staff (NPS). Dr. Hackett's responsibilities will include oversight
of the Agency's bee research program. Dr. Hackett comes to NPS
from the Beltsville Area where he was an insect virologist in
the Insect Biocontrol Laboratory. His research focused on designing,
producing, and evaluating recombinant baculoviruses for biocontrol
of lepidopteran pests, e.g., boll-worms. Prior to his assignment
on viruses, he had worked with spiroplasms (helical, cell wall-less
bacteria), primarily their cultivation, ecology, and use in biocontrol. Prior to joining the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1985, Dr. Hackett was coordinator of the eastern program for the John Muir Institute of Environmental Studies and, in that capacity, was responsible for developing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs for the National Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Health and Human Services (HHS), and New York Central Park, as well as designing curricula for schools in the District of Columbia, and Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hackett holds B.S. and MS. degrees in entomology from Rutgers University (conducting foreign exploration on biocontrol of the gypsy moth for his thesis), and a Ph. D. in insect pathology from the University of California, Berkeley (with thesis research on control of leafcutting bee diseases). Dr. Hackett's interest in bees developed even earlier. Growing up in New Jersey, he worked as a beekeeper helping his father with the family's pollination business on cranberries and blueberries. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Hackett to the National Program Staff. He can be reached on 301-504-4680, by fax: 301-504-6191, and by email kjh@ars.usda.gov. (Judith B. St. John, Associate Deputy Administrator USDA) |