John Beckmann, assistant professor of medical-veterinary entomology and biotechnology in the Auburn University College of Agriculture, recently received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.
Presented by the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program, the CAREER Award recognizes early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
Beckmann’s research focuses on mosquitoes, microbes and a bacteria named Wolbachia, which lives inside insect testes and sterilizes sperm. One of his research goals is to use Wolbachia to sterilize insect pests. He is responsible for discovering the Wolbachia toxin-antidote operons used by Wolbachia to sterilize insects.
Beckmann also characterized their enzymatic functions. This research led to multiple awards, grants and patents and has been published in high impact journals such as Nature, Nature Microbiology, PNAS, and Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
His research has been highlighted by popular news outlets including Wired, The Scientist, and Nature News and Views.
Beckmann said he was grateful for the recognition from NSF. “It’s a validation that clever strategy, hard work and persistence pay off,” he said.
Beckmann earned two bachelor’s degrees — one in art and one in physiology — and a Ph.D. in entomology all from the University of Minnesota. He completed a postdoc in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University.
