Raymond C. Bushland
Raymond Cecil Bushland (* 5. October 1910 in Minnesota ; † 29. January 1995 in Kerrville , Texas ) was an American entomologist , noted for the development of the sterile insect technique for pest control (Sterile Insect Technique, SIT) with Edward F. Knipling .
life and work
Bushland grew up in South Dakota and studied zoology and entomology at the University of South Dakota with a master's degree in 1934. He then worked as an entomologist in the research department of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Dallas and from 1937 in Menard, Texas , where he met Knipling and did research with him on the New World screw worm fly ( Cochliomyia hominivorax ). Their larvae parasitize in cattle and cause great losses in US agriculture.
The team developed the sterile insect technology after World War II. They tested their method on Sanibel Island and were able to almost exterminate the New World screwworm fly there through the SIT. The method was also successfully tested on Curacao in 1954 and controlled the parasite in parts of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1958 the fly was wiped out in Florida and in the entire southwest of the USA by the early 1960s. In the 1980s, the technique was successfully used in Central America, with a barrier being built in Panama against new infections from South America. It was later used successfully with other flies, such as the tsetse flies . Bushland also did research in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II on how to control the lice that spread typhus.
Bushland was the director of the Kerrville, Texas Screw Worm Laboratory. In 1974 he retired.
Honors
For his work on typhus, Bushland received the US Typhus Commission Award in 1949. In 1967 he received the USDA's Distinguished Service Award for his work on sterile insect technology. In 1992 he was awarded the World Food Prize with Knipling .
In 1999, the Knipling-Bushland Southwest Animal Research Foundation was established at Texas A&M University.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bushland, Raymond C. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bushland, Raymond Cecil |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American entomologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 5, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Minnesota |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 29, 1995 |
| Place of death | Kerrville |