NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
August 19, 1999
Laurence Chandler has been named director of the Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service facility located in Fargo. He replaces Don Zimmerman who retired in September 1998.
"Dr. Chandler brings a strong background of science and leadership to his new position. His past record indicates that he will continue to engage our research center with universities and commodity groups in setting agricultural research priorities." says Brady Vick, who has served as the center's interim director since Zimmerman's retirement.
The Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center includes the Northern Crop Science Laboratory, the Biosciences Research Laboratory, and the Wheat Quality Laboratory, all located on the campus of North Dakota State University. Scientists at the center conduct research on food quality and safety, environmentally safe methods of control of weeds and insects, and on commodities such as sugarbeets, potatoes, sunflowers, and cereal grains.
A native of Texas, Chandler earned his undergraduate degree and his master's in entomology from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and his Ph.D. in entomology from Texas A&M University in College Station. He joined the USDA-ARS as a research entomologist in 1979 at Weslaco, Texas, and transferred to Tifton, Ga., in 1989. In 1994 Chandler was named research leader of the Northern Grain Insects Research Laboratory in Brookings, S.D., where he also served as the ARS technical coordinator for a national corn rootworm management program.
Chandler's research has focused on the use of chemical signals as insecticide baits for broad-scale management of northern and western corn rootworms. His research has brought recognition from national and international organizations and has resulted in partnerships with eight regional universities and in cooperative projects with several agricultural industries.
Chandler is an author of more than 135 publications and is a member of the Entomological Society of America, the Southwest Entomological Society, the Georgia Entomological Society, the Chemigation Division and the Irrigation Association.
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Source: Brady Vick (701) 239-1322
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136