Carl Barton Huffaker (September 30, 1914 in

Monticello, Kentucky Monticello is a city in Wayne County, Kentucky, United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. Its population was 5,753 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Monticello claims to be "the Houseboat Capital of the World", as nu ...

– October 10, 1995 in

Lafayette, California Lafayette (formerly La Fayette) is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 25,391. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary ...

) was an American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, ecologist and agricultural

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. Huffaker graduated from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

(1938 B.S., 1939 M.S.) then gaining a PhD from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1942. Huffaker was one of the first entomologists to study the use of

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

to control mosquito populations. After working as a medical entomologist in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

he was recruited by

Harry Scott Smith Harry Scott Smith (November 29, 1883 – November 28, 1957), an entomologist and professor at University of California, Riverside (UCR), was a pioneer in the field of biological pest control. United States Department of Agriculture Smith grew ...

in 1946 to work as an assistant entomologist for the Division of

Biological Control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. Huffaker's first assignment was the control of

Klamath weed ''Hypericum perforatum'', commonly known as St. John's wort (sometimes perforate St. John's wort or common St. John's wort), is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is a hairless, Perennial, perennial herb with woody Root, roots, y ...

, particularly the use of ''

Chrysolina quadrigemina ''Chrysolina quadrigemina'' is a species of beetle of the family Chrysomelidae. The species was described by Christian Wilhelm Ludwig Eduard Suffrian in 1851. It is native to Europe and North Africa. It feeds on ''Hypericum perforatum'' and ot ...

''. He remained at Berkeley until his retirement in 1984. He published more than 200 scientific papers and edited and contributed to books "citation classics" in

population ecology Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment (biophysical), environment, such as birth rate, birth and death rates, and by immigration an ...

, biological control, and

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideratio ...

. Examples are ''Theory and Practice of Biological Control'' (1976) and ''Ecological Entomology'' (1984). He also conducted a notable

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

on predator–prey population dynamics in mites in 1958. Huffaker was a Fellow of the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

served as its President and was an honorary Fellow of the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

. He was awarded the Louis E. Levy Medal in 1976. In 1994 he was awarded the

Wolf Prize in Agriculture The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is awarded annually since 1978 by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes, alongside those for Wolf Prize in Chemistry, chemistry, Wolf Prize in Mathematics, mathematics, Wolf Prize in Medicine, ...

along with Perry L. Adkisson “for their contributions to the development and implementation of environmentally beneficial integrated pest management systems for the protection of agricultural crops”.

References

External links

Biography at National Academy Press
Includes biography.

Citation Classic
Center for Biological ControlLeopoldo E. Caltagirone and Donald L. Dahlsten, "Carl Barton Huffaker", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1998)
American entomologists 1914 births 1995 deaths Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates People from Monticello, Kentucky University of Tennessee alumni Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences alumni 20th-century American zoologists Presidents of the Entomological Society of America {{US-entomologist-stub