ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University Biology Professor Emerita Paula Mitchell is the S.C. Entomological Society’s 2020 Cochran Award for Excellence winner due to the quality and commitment she brought to teaching, research and service throughout her long career.
Mitchell said she was honored to receive the award, adding that the society has been an important part of her years at Winthrop. She also was the first female society president, and served on its Board of Directors for many years.
“My Winthrop graduate and undergraduate students presented their research at the society’s annual meetings from 1995 through 2015, and we have published four co-authored papers in the society's journal, the Journal of Agricultural and Urban Entomology,” said Mitchell, who was nominated for the award by Merle Shepard, professor emeritus at Clemson University. “So, the society has been an important part of my academic career.”
The Cochran Award is given every three years at the society’s annual meeting to an individual for the quality of service or contributions to entomology.
Mitchell joined the Winthrop faculty in 1993, teaching primarily zoology and related courses, before retiring in 2018. She presently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Clemson University in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, and as the part-time biology museum collections manager at Winthrop.
She was a Fulbright Research Scholar in India (2001-02) and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Delhi (2005). She also served as the secretary of the International Heteropterists' Society from 2002-14 and on the Board of Counselors of the Entomological Foundation from 2008-13. She has written or co-authored 30 publications and continues to conduct research in the area of heteropteran feeding behavior and ecology.
For more information, contact Mitchell at mitchellp@winthrop.edu.
