3rd Annual Edward and Nancy Dodge Lecture
April 4, 2001

ECOLOGY OF EMERGING DISEASE:
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND POPULATION GROWTH

David Pimentel, PhD
Professor, Insect Ecology and Agricultural Science
Department of Entomology, Cornell University College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
President, The Rachel Carson Council, Inc.

David Pimentel takes a multidisciplinary approach in his research at the Cornell University College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. His recent research focuses on improved strategies in biological control based on a "new association" approach using parasites and predators that attack related species.

Dr. Pimentel is studying the ecological effects of pesticides on natural ecosystems and human health in order to improve pesticide effectiveness while reducing the hazards of these agricultural chemicals. The goal is to develop ecological techniques to insure sound management of soil, water, energy, and biological resources so vital to a sustainable food system.

As an agricultural ecologist, Dr. Pimentel also investigates energy flows in the agriculture and food systems. This research has focused on the more efficient use of fossil energy in agricultural production to make agriculture sustainable.

For further details on Dr. Pimentel’s professional background please see his faculty biography at Cornell University or Radcliffe’s Integrated Pest Management World Textbook, for which Dr. Pimentel is a contributing author.

The following articles by Dr. Pimentel have been published on the internet:

Population Growth and the Environment: Planetary Stewardship
Electronic Green Journal, December 1998

Ecology of Increasing Disease: Population growth and environmental degradation (’98)
Bioscience, Vol. 48, No. 10, October, 1998

U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists.
Cornell News, Aug. 7, 1997