News & Events In Common Newsletter Winter 2008-2009 Bug Eyed
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Volume 6 • Number 4 • Winter 2008-2009
Bug Eyed
Bob Childs with his Big Bug For Bob Childs, this is the Big One. To the untrained eye, the Asian longhorned beetle might be mistaken for just another exotic pest trying to make a dramatic fashion statement. But for Bob, a UMass Amherst entomologist and UMass Extension pest specialist who routinely deals with outlaw bugs, this critter is anything but routine. This one threatens to undermine New England’s very identity by threatening to destroy the heart and soul of its foliage and maple syrup production. “This is my Big Bug,” he says with a daunting intensity. “I’ve been lecturing about this one for 12 years now, keeping an eye on it. We all knew, on some level, that this was Public Enemy #1.” Wherever you find a new entomological outlaw, you are likely to find Bob Childs displaying the kind of curiosity that borders on true delight – even in a crisis. When news of the ALB infestation in Worcester began to heat up, Bob and his wife Debby jumped in their car, and made a dash to the epicenter from their home in Conway. Unfortunately, Bob didn’t have time to grab a bottle of lab alcohol for retrieving a specimen. Not one to be deterred, he prevailed on Debby to procure a bottle of high-octane vodka in a neighboring town. It did the trick. For the record, Debby Childs, a speech therapist, distinguished herself later that day by becoming about the only one among the assembled responders to climb to the top of a tree to retrieve specimens. Bob splits his time between teaching and field work for Extension. He sees the two as highly complementary. He often has the same students in several of his courses over the course of several semesters, and tends to form relationships that sometimes carry over into his work with Extension stakeholders. “My approach to teaching has a lot to do with applied knowledge and hands-on learning,” he says. “Lots of my students stay in the state and work in the field. They are my future clients, and as I tell them, this is a lifelong relationship.” Bob’s own entry into the world of plants and insects was gradual. He had a long interest in biology, but it wasn’t until he was a student at the Stockbridge School at UMass Amherst that he started to get excited about entomology. He went on to get B.S. and M.S. degrees in the field at UMass Amherst and – like so many of his students – settled nearby. Debby and Bob Childs’ own two sons – Andrew, a junior at Penn State majoring in landscape planning, and Taylor, a freshman at Syracuse majoring in management – have not yet been bitten by The Bug. But you never know. Credits:
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