MAY BERENBAUM
Professor and Head of Entomology, Swanlund Chair, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and editor-in-chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Plenary Speaker
November 15, 2019
Biography
May Berenbaum, described in a 1997 article in The New York Times as “the most relentless creative insect advocate in the world,” has been a member of the faculty of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serving as head of the department since 1992 and as Swanlund Chair of Entomology since 1996. She is also the editor-in-chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS).
Berenbaum is known for her contributions to the field of chemical ecology, particularly in elucidating the chemical mediation of interactions between plant-feeding insects and their host plants, including detoxification of natural and synthetic chemicals. She is interested in the practical application of ecological and evolutionary principles toward developing sustainable management practices for natural and managed ecosystems. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, she has chaired the National Research Council Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as two NRC committees, including the Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America and has testified before Congress on issues relating to honey bee health and pollinator decline.
In 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Science, cited for “pioneering studies on chemical coevolution and the genetic basis of insect-plant interactions, and for enthusiastic commitment to public engagement that inspires others about the wonders of science.” In 2015, she received Sigma Xi's John P. McGovern Science and Society Award.