"But are we gaining professional entomologists?"

[Mike Quinn]

>Mike Quinn wrote:
>>
>> Hi Chris, I would agrue that we are finally quickly gaining amateur
>> entomologists.

Paul Cherubini wrote:
>But are we gaining professional entomologists Mike? It's been my
>impression that the number of students majoring in entomology at our ag
>colleges peaked in the 1970's and has been on the decline ever since. What
>has been the situation at your school?
>
>Paul Cherubini

Hi Paul, I'm fairly certain that the enrollment in Texas A&M's ENTO Dept.
hasn't dropped off. I've been here a long time but not (thank God) since
the 1970's. I'll have to ask about the long term trend. When last I
checked, we had about 20 undergrads and 70 graduate students. A high
percentage of the grad students were foreign students. Our morphologist
just retired, his spot will be filled with a molecular systematist. Then
there's the question of how many graduate students actually get jobs ... in
entomology. Judging by the stagnant growth rate of the Lep. Soc., the
obvious conclusion is that we are not gaining professional lepidopterists.
The supply of professional lepidopterists will always exceed the demand.

However, I don't think you can ever have too many amateur entomologists.

On Tuesday (June 22) I spoke to a group of 15 kids (8-10 yr olds) in
Hidalgo, TX. This town of 6,000 was established 250 years ago and since
1909 operated the pump house that provided all the irrigation water for the
Rio Grande Valley. Just before the original pump house closed in 1983, it
had the capacity to pump 350 million gallons per minute!!! This pump house
which was originally powered by steam engines, was of such historical
significance that a partnership was formed with the Smithsonian Institution
to restore it. So, there I was in this world class Smithsonian-inspired
visitors' center asking these kids to name any insects they knew the name
of. They could barely come up with 5 insect names that were more specific
than the ordinal level. I asked them, "what about the orange and black
butterfly?" Blank stares. I ask them if any of them knew the "monarch
butterfly." More blank stares and fidgeting. Not a single one of them knew
the monarch or apparently the name of any other butterfly.

Afterwards, as I drove away, I noticed the problem. I was running a little
late coming in and was focused only on getting there, but leaving was more
leisurely. Immediately outside the gates of the pump house, what did I see?
Substandard housing. One would have thought in 72 years of operation,
surely this historically significant pump house would have provided the
proverbial "tide that raises all ships." After all, these pumps supplied
every drop of irrigation water, the very life blood of Rio Grande Valley.

No, I don't think we need many more professional lepidopterists, but we do
need vastly more amateurs. Mike Quinn, Donna, TX