ACS Fellow Award

AGRO has sponsored nominations for ACS Fellow awards each year since 2014. The American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows Program was created by the ACS Board of Directors in December 2008 to recognize members of ACS for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society. More information on the ACS Fellow Program can be found on the ACS website.

2024 Awardee

John M. Clark is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and Director of the Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory (MPAL), University of MassachusettsAmherst (UMASS). His research focuses on modes of action and resistance mechanisms of insecticides and on mitigation strategies for pesticide trespass.

John received his B.S. (Zoology, 1972) and M.S. (Entomology, 1977) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. (Entomology/Pesticide Toxicology, 1981) from Michigan State University. Along the way, he was mentored by James Crow, Van Potter, and Fumio Matsumura, allowing him to publish his first scientific paper on the microbial degradation of toxaphene in Lake Mendota sediments. His Ph.D. was largely done at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA where he became infatuated with squids, neurotoxicology, and calcium regulation. John was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology/UMASS (1981), promoted to associate professor (1987), to professor (1994), and joined the VASCI Department (2003).

Since 1981, the Clark lab has pursued a range of scientific endeavors (insect/invertebrate and vertebrate/mammalian toxicology, and environmental chemistry), and collaborated with 200+ scientists publishing 250+ peer-reviewed papers. The expertise of these colleagues and friends enabled John to pursue a truly joyous scientific career. John has also taught 2000+ college students, in courses including Principles of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry and Insecticide Toxicology. As a Lilly Teaching Fellow (1990), John developed the curriculum that became the basis for the Interdepartmental Environmental Science Program. A very rewarding teaching experience was certainly the time he spent mentoring 18 Honors Thesis undergraduates.

As MPAL Director (1984-2023), John investigated mitigation strategies for pesticide residues and other pollutants including the use of adjuvants, boundary zones, vegetative filter strips, dosimetry, and biomonitoring practices. In highly collaborative efforts, John uses surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to detect residue on and in fresh produce and to agegrade mosquitoes vectoring diseases.

John serves on many committees and professional societies (IUPAC International Congress on Chemistry of Crop Protection, Entomological Society of America, International Congress of Entomology, etc.). As an ACS/AGRO member since 1977, John served for 17 years on the Executive Committee, on four Strategic Planning Panels, and as Vice-, Program- and DivisionChair for AGRO/ACS (2010-13). He has edited/co-edited 8 ACS Symposium Series Books and was Editor-in-Chief, Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology (2010-2023), Subject Editor, J. Medical Entomology (2005-10), and Associate Editor, Pest Management Science (2004-10). John has been a panel member on 7 national granting agencies (NIH, USDA, EPA), served on 15 symposia organizing/programming committees, and organized/co-organized 23 symposia.

John received the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals (2004, ACS-AGRO), was named Outstanding Research Faculty (CNRE/UMASS, 2005), and was elected as a Fellow of the AGRO Division (ACS-AGRO 2007) and the Entomological Society of America (2018).