MSU Distinguished Professor Rich Merritt retires
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EmailThe Department of Entomology along with family and friends celebrated the career and success of Rich Merritt on Sept. 21, 2013, at the University Club near the MSU campus.
The Department of Entomology along with family and friends celebrated the career and success of Rich Merritt on Sept. 21, 2013, at the University Club near the MSU campus. As evidence of Merritt’s impact on the field of aquatic entomology, 25 of his former graduate students (more than 40 total) returned to MSU to join in honoring him.
Merritt is a former chair of the Department of Entomology. His major research interests focused on the feeding ecology, animal microbial interactions, population dynamics and influence of environmental factors on immature aquatic insects, especially the Diptera. His most recent research has concentrated on the ecology of a neglected emerging disease, Buruli Ulcer, in Africa involving insects as a potential reservoir, and biomonitoring of streams and rivers and the effects of pollutants on aquatic ecosystems. He also is involved in the field of Forensic Entomology and assists police departments with crime scene investigations involving insects. He has more than 20 years of experience in this field and has been Chairman of the American Board of Forensic Entomology.
He has co-edited four editions of a textbook titled, "An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America" and a book titled, "Black Flies: Ecology, Population Management and Annotated World List." He has served as Associate Editor for three journals, “The American Midland Naturalist Freshwater Invertebrate Biology” and the “Journal of Medical Entomology.” Merritt received an MSU Distinguished Faculty Award in 2004 and the title of University Distinguished Professor in 2010.
