Western Biology professor Jeremy McNeil has been named the recipient of the Science Ambassador Award, presented as part of the 2014 Partners In Research National Awards.
Partners In Research, a registered Canadian charity since 1988, recognizes exceptional Canadian research as well as the communication of that research to the general public. Through its educational programs, the organization shares discoveries with Canadian elementary and secondary students.
McNeil, recently named to a Distinguished University Professorship at Western, focuses his research on physiology and chemical ecology. He has published nearly 200 papers and his work on pheromone production in true armyworm populations in North America is the most detailed and comprehensive study of any migrant lepidopteran species.
“In my view, no other Canadian researcher so amply fulfils the criteria of promoting the field of science to the general public and furthering its understanding,” wrote one nominator. “Dr. McNeil is an ambassador par excellence.”
“Dr. McNeil is most deserving of this distinction,” wrote another. “He consistently demonstrates excellence in his research and in outreach.”
At Western since 2004, McNeil details a complex communication network between plants and insects and, more broadly, between hosts and parasites, and was revolutionary in this field, leading to practical applications to pest management and crop production in Canada.
A member of the Royal Society of Canada, McNeil served as scientific director at Western’s Biotron as well as regularly serving on numerous committees at the departmental, faculty and university level. He was a member of the Ministry of Health Advisory Board on pesticides, served as president of the Entomology Society of Canada and president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, and currently serves on the executive for the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences and the board of the Canadian Council of Academies.
The Science Ambassador Award will be presented during the Partners In Research National Awards ceremony held May 23, in Ottawa.
