Entomological Society of Canada – Fellows

Entomological Society of Canada Fellowships are bestowed by the Entomological Society of Canada to recognize members of the Society for their major contributions to entomology via research, teaching, application, and (or) Administration. Dr. Gerhard Gries has been elected to Fellow in 2019.

Gerhard Gries is an award-winning Professor in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University (SFU). He is the world’s leading researcher in the study of multimodal communication in insects. He is particularly well known for combining GC-EAD, inferential analytical chemistry, chemical synthesis and behavioral bioassays to identify vanishingly small amounts of pheromones produced by geometrid moths and gall midges. These pheromones are typically present in quantities below the detection threshold of GCs and the analytical capability of spectroscopic instruments. His research team recently identified the bed bug aggregation pheromone, the first discovery of a message mediated by both volatile and non-volatile pheromone components.

During Dr. Gries’ extremely productive career, he and his lab have elucidated communication signals and foraging cues in a wide variety of arthropods. They have identified pheromones from 83 species of insects and three spiders. Other breakthroughs revealed the role of sound, light and magnetic fields in arthropod communication. For example, his lab has recently shown “how flies are flirting on fly” in that some fly families use light flashes reflected off their wings in sexual communication, which was previously entirely unknown. In total, the Gries-lab has published more than 273 articles in refereed journals, has been granted some 15 patents, and has received > 11 million dollars in funding. Currently, the lab is studying the mediation of insect behaviour by microorganisms which either produce volatile semiochemicals or provide contact stimuli. Dr. Gries has supervised 69 graduate students with 12 current students.

Dr. Gries’ research accomplishments have been recognized by the entomological community including the prestigious Entomological Society of America (ESA) Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology (2016), and the Entomological Society of Canada Gold Medal (2017). As well as being a superlative researcher, Dr. Gries is also a passionate teacher and his teaching of entomology and ecology courses has been recognized with an SFU Excellence in Teaching Award. As well, Dr. Gries has mentored many undergraduate research assistants and has co-authored peer reviewed papers with >50 of them. This year, he has received the ESA (Pacific Branch) Distinction in Student Mentoring Award.