| DR. ERICKSON, TUCSON BEE LAB DIRECTOR, RETIRES |
| Dr. Eric H. Erickson
Jr., director of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson,
AZ., has decided to retire Jan. 3, 2002 after nearly 34 years
of Federal service. Eric grew up on a poultry farm in Lakewood,
CO, where he developed a lifelong interest in agriculture and
biology. These interests grew after he began working at a local
farm supply and feed store in 1955. This employment permitted
him to earn a B.S. degree in Entomology at Colorado State University
in 1963. He remained enrolled there and received a M.S. degree
in Entomology in 1965. Thereafter, Eric served for two years
as a commissioned officer in The United States Army, first as
an instructor at the Army Medical Field Service School, Fort
Sam Houston, Texas, and then as a Medical Entomologist in Vietnam,
where he directed the first military fixed wing aerial spray
program for malaria control. Following his discharge from the
Army in 1967 he obtained his PhD. from the University of Arizona
in 1970. Dr. Erickson joined ARS in April, 1970 as a Research
Entomologist at the North Central States Bee Research Unit, Madison,
WI. He served as the Research Leader at Madison from 1978 until
the program was terminated in 1986. He has served as Research
Leader and Laboratory Director at Tucson since his reassignment
in 1986. During his career, Dr. Erickson has conducted research
on honey bee biology/ecology, crop pollination, aspects of floral
development and anatomy, the production and quality of floral
aroma and floral nectar, honey bee foraging, the effects of pesticides
and parasitic mites on honey bees, and Africanized honey bees.
Dr. Erickson also held positions as Adjunct Professor in the
Departments of Entomology at The University of Wisconsin and
The University of Arizona, where he taught the Honey Bee Biology
and Pollination Course. Dr. Erickson is the recipient of the U.S. Army Commendation Medal for Outstanding Service in the Republic of Vietnam (1967), the James I. Hambleton Award for Outstanding Research presented by the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America (1986), the Western Apicultural Society Award for Outstanding Service to Beekeeping (1995), the USDA Award for Public Service (1996), The Pacific West Area EEO award, and 9 USDA Certificates of Merit. He was named Outstanding Senior Scientist of the Year for 1998 by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. He is a member of the International Bee Research Association, International Commission for Bee Botany - Pollination Section, and Gamma Sigma Delta and Sigma Xi honorary societies. He is cited in Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology, First Edition, 1984; Biography International, 1988; American Men and Women of Science, 1995; and Who's Who, 1999 - present. Dr. Erickson's research career has resulted in authorship/co-authorship of over 170 technical publications including one book, 3 invited book chapters, 14 review articles, 2 videos, 2 patents and 7 abstracts. He served as co-editor of The Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Africanized Bees and Bee Mites (2000), presented 26 papers at scientific meetings, given more than 200 invited presentations to industry and community groups, presented 12 university seminars and participated in 11 symposia. He has served as major professor/research advisor for eight M.S./Ph.D. candidates and 3 Post Doctoral appointees in the University of Wisconsin, Department of Entomology from 1979 to 1986 and University of Arizona. He has also participated in numerous programs for young scholars. Following retirement Eric plans to spend long hours creating in his woodworking shop, restoring his 1924 Model T truck, fishing, and being Mr. Fixit for his family and extended family. Because of his lifelong fascination with insects (as a child he thought bugs were toys for kids), he will likely continue studying insects and publishing his observations. |