The College of Science congratulates UNT alumnus Dr. Joe Louis, a former student of Dr. Jyoti Shah (who now serves as the chair of the UNT Biological Sciences Department), for receiving a major CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Louis is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; his research focuses on molecular plant-inspect interactions. He earned his PhD in 2011 at the University of North Texas. The NSF CAREER award included a $1.5M grant so Dr. Louis can continue to pursue his research investigating ways to help sorghum plants naturally resist sugarcane aphids.

"As a graduate student at UNT, Dr. Louis was a role model, a student we would all love to mentor, ever willing to take up the most difficult tasks and make it look simple," said Dr. Jyoti Shah, who has fond memories of mentoring Dr. Louis during his time at the University of North Texas. "He would think deep about a problem, to find the most appropriate solution. This personality is echoed in his high impact research on developing innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture."

Check out the recent article in The Scientist to learn more about how Dr. Louis is creating environmentally friendly tools to replace insecticides to control agricultural pests. More details about his work can also be found in Nebraska Today.

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