Dr. John M. Clark, a professor in the Department of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (VASCI) and Director of the Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory (MPAL) at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Amherst, was elected as an ESA Fellow in 2018. He is internationally known for his research on the mode of action and resistance mechanisms of insecticides, most notably pyrethroids.
Clark was born in Michigan City, Indiana, in 1949. He received both his B.S. (1972) and M.S. (1977) degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in zoology and entomology, respectively, and his Ph.D. (1981) in entomology from Michigan State University. Clark accepted an assistant professor position in the Department of Entomology at UMass in 1981, was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and to professor in 1994, and then joined the VASCI Department in 2003.
Clark has maintained a well-funded (more than $18 million) and productive research program (214 peer-reviewed publications, h factor 34) since 1981 in the areas of insect/invertebrate toxicology (146), vertebrate/mammalian toxicology (34), and environmental chemistry (34), and he has had productive collaborations with more than 200 established scientists worldwide. Clark has made 161 scientific presentations, 115 of which were invited; 108 dealt with insect-related topics, and 40 were international. His insect-related work is concentrated on the biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology of resistance mechanisms and the monitoring and management of resistance with an emphasis on the Colorado potato beetle (34) and human head and body lice (64).
Clark received the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals in 2004 from the American Chemical Society (ACS), was named an Outstanding Research Faculty by UMass in 2005, and was elected as a Fellow of the AGRO Division, ACS, in 2007. Clark has served on numerous international, national, university, college, and departmental committees and professional societies, including the Entomological Society of America and the International Congress of Entomology. As Vice-, Program- and Division-Chair for AGRO/ACS (2010-13), he brought a strong presence of entomology-based science to the Division and has edited or co-edited eight ACS Symposium Series Books dealing with the control of insect pests and vectors. Clark has served for 17 years on the AGRO Executive Committee and has been a member of three Strategic Planning Panels, where he championed the inclusion of insect science, particularly that dealing with resistance and the control of vectors.
Clark is currently the editor-in-chief of Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology (2010-present), was a subject editor for the Journal of Medical Entomology from 2005-10 and associate editor for Pest Management Science from 2004-10, and has served on the editorial boards of another five journals. Clark has been a panel member on seven national granting agencies (NIH, USDA, EPA), many of which have dealt with the control of insect vectors and other insect pests. He has served on 15 national or international symposia organizing or programming committees and organized or co-organized 23 symposia, 15 of which were entomologically focused.
Clark's daughter Tristin is raising his granddaughter, Livvy, and his son Zakary is a systems administrator for Data Evolution LLC in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(updated August, 2018)