Bumpers College's Kariyat Receives Entomology National Teaching Award

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Rupesh Kariyat teaches insect pest management, chemical ecology and insect behavior, insect morphology and graduate seminar classes.

U of A faculty member Rupesh Kariyat has been named winner of the 2024 Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from the Entomological Society of America.

Kariyat is associate professor of insect-plant interactions and chemical ecology in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. He is a faculty member in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and a researcher and scientist with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

He teaches insect pest management, chemical ecology and insect behavior, insect morphology and graduate seminar classes. Kariyat works with undergraduates, graduate students and honors students, and he's also part of U of A's cell and molecular biology and the environmental dynamics graduate programs.

The award is presented annually to the member regarded as ESA's most outstanding teacher of the year.

"I want to express sincere gratitude to all the students who have taken my classes over the years and my advisers who gave me opportunities to teach during graduate and post-graduate studies, and to my mother — who was a school teacher for more than 30 years," Kariyat said. "She has always been my role model in teaching."

Kariyat has graduated 14 M.S. students and currently advises four Ph.D., three M.S. and one honors student in entomology.

"I can't think of a more deserving educator for this award," said Ken Korth, head of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. "Dr. Kariyat is simply fantastic at sharing his excitement for learning and entomology. He excels in all areas of teaching, whether in the classroom, the field or in the laboratory. He is an outstanding mentor of young scientists, and the high-level performance of his graduate students is a powerful testimony of his success."

Kariyat has published more than 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts and brought in more than $3.2 million in grant funding as a principal investigator/co-principal investigator.

"I believe this to be the most significant of all ESA's awards," said Daniel Potter, entomology professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky and a previous winner of the award. "I am happy that you have received this well-deserved recognition. Well done!"

The Kariyat Lab at U of A and Division of Agriculture is focused on understanding how plants defend against insect herbivores and the mechanisms underlying multitrophic interactions.

He has previously received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from both the Southeastern and Southwestern branches of ESA.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.