Ned Walker receives MSU’s Beal Outstanding Faculty Award
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EmailNed Walker accepted a 2015 William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award from MSU President Lou Anna Simon at a Feb. 11, 2015, awards ceremony.
Edward “Ned” Walker accepted a 2015 William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award from MSU President Lou Anna Simon at a Feb. 11, 2015, awards ceremony. Ned is internationally known in the field of insect vector-borne diseases, particularly pathogens transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks. He has conducted field research in the United States, Honduras, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Kenya and Malawi. His basic research emphasizes insect/microbe interactions and microbial mediation of decomposition of organic matter in the aquatic habitats of larval mosquitoes, leading to the production of the adult stages. In this vein, Walker’s research involves molecular analyses of microbial communities in these mosquito larval habitats, stable isotope assessments to determine larval food sources, biotechnological applications to engineer bacteria expressing toxins inimical to larval mosquitoes and mosquito-bacterial commensal associations.
In the field of vector-borne diseases, Walker’s most significant research has been developing analytical and predictive models of endemic and epidemic behavior of these phenomena in space and time, analysis of resiliency of the malaria transmission system when placed under strong interventions, interactions of landscape with insect and tick populations, and relationships between agriculture, irrigation and malaria risk in resource-poor tropical settings. Read more about Walker’s work at MSU Today.
Congratulations, Ned!
