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.

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