Dr. Michael D. Breed has served the entomological community since 1977 when he joined the faculty of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado where he remains a Professor. He is also a faculty fellow at the University’s Institute of Behavioral Genetics and has a three-year appointment as an Adjunct Professor for the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Breed is known internationally for his research on social insects, particularly on kin and nestmate recognition, which is central to hypotheses related to the evolution of sociality in insects. He has published on the food recruitment strategies and ecology of tropical ants, mating frequency in yellow jackets, defensive behavior and alarm pheromones of honey bees, and mating systems and communication cockroaches. He has published over 100 research articles, has co-edited four books, and is currently co-authoring a textbook and lab manual on animal behavior. He currently serves as the executive editor of the journal Animal Behaviour.
Breed has a career of service to many different academic communities and scientific organizations, serving as secretary-general of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects between 1994 and 2002 and as Section C Chair of the Entomological Society of America. He has received numerous awards and honors, among them election as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Breed received his B.A. from Grinnell College (1973) and his M.A. (1975) and Ph.D. (1977) from the University of Kansas.
(updated August, 2006)