“King of Sting” Justin Schmidt presents seminar as 2017 Gary Simmons Memorial Lecturer

Entomological celebrity Justin Schmidt was selected as the 2017 Gary Simmons Memorial Lecturer, which took place Monday, April 3, and was hosted by the members of the MSU Graduate and Undergraduate Entomological Student Society (GUESS).

Justin Schmidt (middle) with students from the Entomology Department.

Justin Schmidt, entomologist at the Southwestern Biological Institute in Tucson, Arizona, was selected as the 2017 Gary Simmons Memorial Lecturer, which took place Monday, April 3, and was hosted by the members of the MSU Graduate and Undergraduate Entomological Student Society (GUESS). Schmidt spoke on “Decision making in honey bees: A time to live, or a time to die,” followed by book signing later that evening at Schuler Books.

Schmidt, also known as the “King of Sting,” is an entomological celebrity. His book, “The Sting of the Wild,” details his adventures with insects and the pain scale he created by being stung by 83 different insects. He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, NPR Science Friday and Weekend Edition, BBC Earth, and National Geographic.

Gary Simmons was a forest entomologist and biostatistician in the MSU Department of Entomology. When Gary passed away at the age of 47 in 1991, the Department established the Gary Simmons Distinguished Lecturer Series as a memorial, with a special fund to cover all expenses for a speaker to be selected by the students in the Department.

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