DR. PEDRO BARBOSA
Pedro Barbosa was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico, arrived on the U. S. mainland at the age of three, and was raised in Spanish Harlem, in New York City. He received his B.S. in biology from the City College of New York in 1966 and continued his education in the Department of Entomology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass) where he received his M.S. (1969) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees. He immediately took a position as assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Economic Zoology at Rutgers University., New Brunswick, NJ. Later he held positions as an assistant (1973–1978) and an associate professor (1978–1979) in the Department of Entomology at UMass, and as an associate professor (1979–1982) in the Department of Entomology at UMD where he currently holds a position as an emeritus full professor. He was also a visiting professor at Zhejiang Agricultural University (1984-1987) and professor ad honorium at the University of Puerto Rico (1984).
Dr. Pedro Barbosa, an emeritus professor at University of Maryland (UMD), was elected as a Fellow in 1997.
Barbosa's research interests are in theoretical and applied ecology of plant-insect interactions with an emphasis on tri-trophic interactions. He is also regarded as an expert in conservation biological control. In his recent work, he has explored factors that explain species abundance and parasitoid-host interactions in caterpillars that occur on two tree species of northeastern riparian forests. He is especially interested in the relative impacts of parasitism and predation vs. plant defenses and host quality on herbivore abundance. He is also researching how visual, chemical, and physical cues affect the behavioral ecology of natural enemy-prey/host interactions. Another research area in his lab is the use of molecular population genetics markers to measure gene flow, and the extent of genetic divergence within and among macrolepidoptera of riparian forests.
His research has greatly contributed to understanding how plants affect natural enemies, how this in turn affects target herbivores, and how these complex exchanges could be incorporated into IPM strategies. He has authored or coauthored numerous refereed publications, and written or edited 13 books and 20 book chapters.
Barbosa has served as a President of the Eastern Branch of the ESA (1987) and as the President of the Association for Puerto Ricans in Science and Engineering (1987–1989). He was a Ford Foundation Fellow (1984), a University of Maryland Distinguished Research Faculty Fellowship (awarded in 1991), was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (in 1991), a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 1997, and an Honorary Member of the ESA in 2006. He has twice been awarded a Bussart Memorial Award for Excellence in Research (1986 and 1987), a Science Award from the Institute of Puerto Rico of New York (1989), and he received a Ciba-Geigy Recognition Award from the ESA Eastern Branch (1993).
Dr. Barbosa’s hobbies include playing racketball, as well as carving wax sculpture and then casting them in bronze. In addition, he also collects masks from all over the world.
Pedro Barbosa was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico, arrived on the U. S. mainland at the age of three, and was raised in Spanish Harlem, in New York City. He received his B.S. in biology from the City College of New York in 1966 and continued his education in the Department of Entomology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass) where he received his M.S. (1969) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees. He immediately took a position as assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Economic Zoology at Rutgers University., New Brunswick, NJ. Later he held positions as an assistant (1973–1978) and an associate professor (1978–1979) in the Department of Entomology at UMass, and as an associate professor (1979–1982) in the Department of Entomology at UMD where he currently holds a position as an emeritus full professor. He was also a visiting professor at Zhejiang Agricultural University (1984-1987) and professor ad honorium at the University of Puerto Rico (1984).
Dr. Pedro Barbosa, an emeritus professor at University of Maryland (UMD), was elected as a Fellow in 1997.
Barbosa's research interests are in theoretical and applied ecology of plant-insect interactions with an emphasis on tri-trophic interactions. He is also regarded as an expert in conservation biological control. In his recent work, he has explored factors that explain species abundance and parasitoid-host interactions in caterpillars that occur on two tree species of northeastern riparian forests. He is especially interested in the relative impacts of parasitism and predation vs. plant defenses and host quality on herbivore abundance. He is also researching how visual, chemical, and physical cues affect the behavioral ecology of natural enemy-prey/host interactions. Another research area in his lab is the use of molecular population genetics markers to measure gene flow, and the extent of genetic divergence within and among macrolepidoptera of riparian forests.
His research has greatly contributed to understanding how plants affect natural enemies, how this in turn affects target herbivores, and how these complex exchanges could be incorporated into IPM strategies. He has authored or coauthored numerous refereed publications, and written or edited 13 books and 20 book chapters.
Barbosa has served as a President of the Eastern Branch of the ESA (1987) and as the President of the Association for Puerto Ricans in Science and Engineering (1987–1989). He was a Ford Foundation Fellow (1984), a University of Maryland Distinguished Research Faculty Fellowship (awarded in 1991), was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (in 1991), a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 1997, and an Honorary Member of the ESA in 2006. He has twice been awarded a Bussart Memorial Award for Excellence in Research (1986 and 1987), a Science Award from the Institute of Puerto Rico of New York (1989), and he received a Ciba-Geigy Recognition Award from the ESA Eastern Branch (1993).
Dr. Barbosa’s hobbies include playing racketball, as well as carving wax sculpture and then casting them in bronze. In addition, he also collects masks from all over the world.
