Incoming MUVE Section Treasurer
Neil Spomer received his BS in Business Administration/Marketing in 1999 from the University of Nebraska. After three years working in the banking industry, he returned to the University of Nebraska and earned MS and PhD degrees in Urban Entomology (2005 and 2009). Neil’s research focused on termite baiting and environmental fate of liquid termiticides.
After graduate school, Neil accepted a Field Scientist position in 2009 with Dow AgroSciences in Brookings, South Dakota. His responsibilities included evaluating pest efficacy and crop response to herbicides and insecticides in multiple systems. In 2012 Neil accepted a new role as Global Urban Pest Laboratory Leader and Field Scientist. Since then he has added Global Biology Team leader responsibilities and leads the global UPM R&D program at Dow AgroSciences Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana supporting Sentricon and ActiveSense.
Neil was the first recipient of the ESA Student Certification Award (2005) and recipient of the Jeffery P. LaFage Graduate Student Research Award (2008). He has served on the ESA-North Central Branch Student Affairs Committee (2005-2008), ESA-NCB National Awards committee (2005), ESA Student Liaison to the Rules Committee (2006-2007), ESA National Linnaean Games Committee (2006-2007), Jeffery P. LaFage Student Research Award judging panel (2010-2013), and MUVE Section Treasurer (2014-present). In 2010, Neil was accredited as a Board Certified Entomologist.
Neil’s primary research interests relate to evaluating and discovering novel insect control methods and technologies in the urban environment. He currently has 11 refereed publications involving termite bait and liquid termiticide efficacy and fate in the soil environment.