I am so happy to announce that zayedlab alum Dr. Brock Harpur won the 2017 George C. Eickwort award from the North American Section of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects… wow! this is a huge deal.

The late and great Dr. George C. Eickwort was a giant in the field – please read more about his illustrious life here. My PhD supervisor (Dr. Laurence Packer) was a colleague of Dr. Eickwort, and it was always fun listening to Laurence speak about George and the Eickwortian Legends! [my favourite story is the one where Laurence, George and I think Dr. Bill Wcislo were digging up sweat bee nests in the desert and broke the water lines to the Biosphere2]

The Eickwort award is annually given to a PhD student or recent graduate that “shows the most distinguished record of research and scholarly activity in the area of social insect biology.” Needless to say, given the amazing amount of talented social insect biologists in North America, this award is super competitive.  Brock Harpur did his MSc and his PhD in the lab, and we are all just super thrilled to seem him win this award.

Congrats Brock! Amazing achievement!