The Instructor, Dr J. Howard Frank

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Howard Frank, organizer of the course and tour guide for the laboratory in Venezuela, received his formal education in England to the level of DPhil in entomology (a.k.a. PhD at U.S. universities). He was taught not only entomology and English, but also (among languages) some French, Latin, German, and Russian, and taught himself a bit of Italian. He accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in western Canada. After a little more than two years in Canada, he accepted a job as entomologist to the Jamaican sugar industry --and, during more than three years there, was thoroughly smitten by tropical entomology. He visited Trinidad, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Antigua of the (formerly British) West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique of the French West Indies, and Haiti. With ambitions to visit more Spanish speaking countries, and Brazil, he realized he would have to learn more languages!

Since arriving in Florida in 1972 and later employed by the University of Florida, he traveled to various Neotropical countries, mainly on entomological research projects, but also to attend meetings, and twice on vacation (which also included collecting insects). He has visited Venezuela 13 times, Mexico 4 times (including a 6-month sabbatical leave), Brazil 6 times (about 4 months), Honduras 4 times (totaling more than 3 months), Colombia, Costa Rica twice, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala 4 times, Belize, Panama, Puerto Rico 6 times, St. Croix (Virgin Islands), Grenada, Haiti (again), and Jamaica (thrice more). He has continuing collaboration with Brazilian, Puerto Rican, and Mexican entomologists. He has been an Associate of Sociedad Mexicana de Entomología (Mexico's national entomological society) and attended its 1996 meeting in Mérida, Yucatan [which was also the VI Congreso Latinoamericano de Entomología] and there won a BEST POSTER prize in insect ecology. His Spanish is now adequate for some occasions, but he sometimes mixes Portuguese words with Spanish!

He collaborated with Venezuelan entomologists in a 3-year research project in Venezuela on aquatic insects in phytotelmata; participated in the IV Congreso Latinoamericano de Entomología in Maracay, Venezuela, and the V Congreso in Isla de Margarita, Venezuela; and hosted two Venezuelan entomologists during their 1-year sabbatical studies at the University of Florida (1994 and 1998). He attempted to get the Florida Entomological Society to meet jointly with Sociedad Venezolana de Entomología in Coro, Venezuela in 1999. He has been a member of the editorial board of Entomotropica (formerly Boletíin de Entomología Venezolana, the journal of Sociedad Venezolana de Entomología, Venezuela's national entomological society).

His interests fall under the general umbrella of insect ecology and range from biological control (applied ecology), behavior and population dynamics, to insect-plant relationships and insect systematics. He also teaches a course (ENY 5241) on Biological Control.

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