Iowa State Entomologist Named DuPont Young Professor

AMES, Iowa — Aaron Gassmann, assistant professor of entomology at Iowa State University, is one of 18 scientists from around the world to receive a 2011 DuPont Young Professor Award. The DuPont Young Professor program began in 1967 to provide start-up assistance to promising young tenure-track research faculty working in areas of interest to the company. Gassmann will receive $75,000 over three years and will use the award for cross-disciplinary research aimed at countering the threat of pest resistance to transgenic corn. "This award will provide a wonderful opportunity for me to advance my research on the sustainable use of transgenic crops and to continue interacting with scientists from DuPont," Gassmann said. Gassmann joined the Department of Entomology at Iowa State in 2008, after completing postdoctoral appointments at the University of Arizona and the University of California-Riverside. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of St. Thomas in 1997 and a doctorate in ecology and evolution from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2003. The DuPont Young Professors program is sponsored by the DuPont Fellows Forum, which represents the top scientists from throughout the company. Research by the class of 2011 Young Professors centers on solar energy, biomolecular sciences, polymer science, nanotechnology, entomology, chemistry, chemical engineering, statistics, animal biology and life sciences, according to a company news release.