Donald W. Roberts was an insect pathologist and one of the originators of that field. He was especially known for research into

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

by ''

Metarhizium ''Metarhizium'' is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Clavicipitaceae family. With the advent of genetic profiling, placing these fungi in proper taxa has now become possible. Most turn out to be the asexual forms (anamorphs) of fungi in ...

'' but also ''

Beauveria bassiana ''Beauveria bassiana'' is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and acts as a parasite on various arthropod species, causing white muscardine disease; it thus belongs to the entomopathogenic fungi. It is used as a biological ...

''. He was a Research Professor Emeritus in the Biology Department of Utah State University.

Early life and education

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, US, in 1933. Baccalaureate in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, minoring in

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

in 1957. Master's degree in

Entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

, minor in

Mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

, from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in 1959. Doctorate in 1964 from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

on the then-named ''Metarhizium anisopliae'' (now '' M. robertsii'', see below) and its application as a biological control of Lepidoptera.

Postdoctoral career

April 1965, hired as an Assistant Rank Insect Pathologist by the Boyce Thompson Plant Research Institute. ''

Helicoverpa armigera ''Helicoverpa armigera'' is a species of Lepidoptera in the family Noctuidae. It is known as the cotton bollworm, corn earworm, Old World (African) bollworm, or scarce bordered straw (the lattermost in the UK, where it is a migrant). The larvae f ...

'' was spreading and invading several countries around the world in 1976, when he was sponsored by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

and the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

(NSF) to test a nuclear polyhedrosis virus in India. When that was completed in 1978 he then traveled to work for the

Brazilian government The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative or ...

on fungal controls of pasture

spittlebug The Aphrophoridae or spittlebugs are a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. There are at least 160 genera and 990 described species in Aphrophoridae. European genera * ''Aphrophora'' Germar 1821 * ''Lepyronia'' Amyot & Serville ...

s. That lasted until 1981. In 1980 Roberts founded the Insect Pathology Resources Center at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Roberts then went back to work for Boyce when the IPRC became part of Boyce. Roberts collected fungal pathogens of ''

Nilaparvata lugens The brown planthopper (BPH), ''Nilaparvata lugens'' (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is a planthopper species that feeds on rice plants (''Oryza sativa'' L.). These insects are among the most important pests of rice, which is the major staple cro ...

'' in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1984. Roberts has been a longtime frequent collaborator of Raymond J. St. Leger, who was also chosen to give the Society for Invertebrate Pathology's ''Founders Lecture'' in his honor in 2009.

Awards and honors

1978 US

US/India Exchange Scientist 1985 Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, Australia :: University of Sydney Thomas Lawrence Pawlett Scholarship 19861988 The Society for Invertebrate Pathology Vice President :: Entomological Society of America, Eastern Branch CIBA-GEICY Recognition Award 19881990 The Society for Invertebrate Pathology President 1989 ESA-EB L.O. Howard Distinguished Achievement Award 1996 Boyce Thompson Institute made Roy A. Young Scientist Emeritus :: Entomological Society of Brazil (Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia) honorary membership and recognition award 1996 Society for Invertebrate Pathology Founders' Lecturer on

Agostino Bassi Agostino Bassi, sometimes called de Lodi (25 September 1773 – 8 February 1856), was an Italian entomologist. He preceded Louis Pasteur in the discovery that microorganisms can be the cause of disease (the germ theory of disease). He discovered ...

who had been retired for some time 2009 Society for Invertebrate Pathology Founders' Honoree award, and Founders' Lecture on his career given by his friend and longtime collaborator R. St. Leger

Patronymic taxa

The species he has become associated with more than any other the former ''M. anisopliae'' was renamed ''

Metarhizium robertsii ''Metarhizium robertsii'' formerly known as ''M. anisopliae'', and even earlier as ''Entomophthora anisopliae'' (basionym) is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a paras ...

'' in recognition of his vast contributions.

Selected bibliography

* Ph.D. dissertation, 1964: :* :* * * *

AGRIS AGRIS (International System for Agricultural Science and Technology) is a global public domain database with more than 12 million structured bibliographical records on agricultural science and technology. It became operational in 1975 and the data ...

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INIST The Institut de l'information scientifique et technique, or INIST ( en, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information) is the CNRS centre of documentation located in France. It has as mission to collect, treat and diffuse results of scientific ...

PASCAL Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...

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References