FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Richard Leschen, a researcher specializing in beetles at Landcare Research in New Zealand, has been selected to receive the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the department of entomology in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

Leschen, who classifies microorganisms into broader categories based on shared features, earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Southwest Missouri State University in 1984, his master’s degree in entomology from the University of Arkansas in 1988 and his doctorate from the University of Kansas in 1995.

He is being recognized in a ceremony at University House on campus from 5-7 p.m. on Oct. 25. He will also make a presentation that day at 11:50 a.m. in Agriculture Building Room 332 as part of the department’s seminar series.

“We are pleased to recognize Dr. Richard Leschen as our 2013 Distinguished Alumnus,” said Robert Wiedenmann, entomology department head. “Dr. Leschen’s extensive contributions to the field of insect taxonomy have been acknowledged worldwide, and it is an honor for us to confer our department’s award on him.”

Leschen, who focuses on research of beetle systematics, evolution and natural history, is a researcher with the New Zealand Arthropods Collection in Auckland. He is also a research associate at Canterbury and Victoria universities in New Zealand, and at the Snow Entomological Museum at the University of Kansas.

Landcare Research is one of seven Crown Research Institutes formed in 1992. Its mission is to drive innovation in New Zealand’s management of terrestrial biodiversity and land resources to protect and enhance the environment.

Leschen is a native of Newport, Ark., and has authored 105 journal articles, nine books and 54 book chapters. He was co-winner of the Best Paper of the Year by the Entomological Society of Japan in 2011, and Outstanding Paper of the Year in 2004 and Best Dissertation in 1997 by the Coleopterists Society. The Coleopterists Society is an international organization devoted to the study of all aspects and biology of beetles.

Leschen has conducted workshops in Canada, China, Costa Rica, New Zealand and the United States. His research has received more than $2.3 million in grants.