In recognition of his contributions to pest control in U.S. agriculture, Bruce Hammock, a professor of entomology and environmental toxicology at the University of California, Davis, will receive the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Award on Monday, May 8. Hammock's seminar on the use of recombinant "baculoviruses" in agricultural pest control and the accompanying award ceremony will be held on campus at 4 p.m. in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. The Alexander von Humboldt Award, named after the 19th-century German naturalist and geographer, has been presented annually since 1975. The award is given to an individual believed to have made the most significant contribution to U.S. agriculture in the previous five years. Hammock, the 21st award recipient, will be presented with a $15,000 prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Hammock's research career focuses on three areas in agricultural pest control and pesticides. In developing new methods of pest control, Hammock looks at natural agents, such as viruses, that can act as pesticides. He details the effects of these agents on insect biology and follows their fate in the environment. Hammock continues to refine his pioneering work using "immunochemical" methods to detect pesticides in urine and blood. Immunochemical detection is easier and less expensive than other detection techniques and therefore can be used more readily to determine exposure. Hammock also investigates the regulation of "xenobiotic" metabolism -- gaining knowledge of how harmful molecules metabolize in different cell and tissue types -- to see how potentially hazardous agricultural substances are regulated in the body. Hammock earned his doctorate in entomology/toxicology at UC Berkeley in 1973, and was a Rockefeller Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University. After working at UC Riverside for six years, Hammock joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980. Since that time he has kept a balance between mentoring his many students, working with visiting scholars and maintaining a vigorous research program. Hammock is also the program director for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/UC Davis Superfund Basic Research Program, which recently received the highest score in the nation upon competitive renewal.