Walther Raúl Enkerlin Hoeflich (born March 24, 1960, in Monterrey) is a Mexican entomologist, advocate, and pioneer researcher of the economics of applied sterile insect technique (SIT), currently based at the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division.[1]

Walther Raúl Enkerlin Hoeflich
BornMarch 24, 1960
Monterrey, Mexico
Alma materInstituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Imperial College London
Known forEntomology, Sterile insect technique, International cooperation
AwardsSuperior Achievement Award awarded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Scientific career
ThesisEconomic Analysis of Management for the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (1997)

Career

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In 1994, Enkerlin was appointed by the national plant protection organization of Mexico as research leader of the project that, in 1997, enabled the opening of the United States market to Hass avocado from Mexico after more than 82 years of quarantine.[2][3] Today Mexico is the world's number one exporter of Hass avocado, supplying 45% of the international avocado market.[4]

Having worked under the IAEA when it was awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, he has developed technical standards, policies, and organizational structures to support the implementation of successful SIT programs worldwide,[5][6] averting devastating economic, social and environmental damage and contributing to food security, food safety and poverty reduction.[7]

In 2008, Enkerlin became the Technical Director of the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO).[8][9]

Under Enkerlin's directorship, from 2010 to 2015 the Moscamed Programme Commission – the first area-wide and large-scale application of SIT technology against the Mediterranean fruit fly - achieved the greatest advance in pushing the leading edge of the Mediterranean fruit fly infestation away from the Mexican borders, maintaining the Mediterranean fruit fly-free status of Belize, Mexico, and the United States.[10][11] During that time, he was also appointed by the national plant protection organization of Mexico as the lead technical negotiator of the new Guatemala-Mexico-USA Moscamed Program Cooperative Agreement, which was merged into a single tri-national agreement and ratified in July 2014.[12]

In his current role at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Enkerlin has been the lead entomologist and technical officer for several high-impact Cooperation Projects in member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including projects responsible for eradicating the Mediterranean fruit fly from Argentina’s Patagonia region, Patagonia was declared as a fruit fly free area by the USDA-APHIS in 2005[13] and eradicating the Cactoblastis cactorum (cactus moth) in Mexico in 2009.[14][15] For eradicating the Mediterranean fruit fly from the Dominican Republic in 2017, his team was awarded the prestigious IAEA Superior Achievement Award.[16] That same year, he was jointly awarded the prestigious teamwork award from FAO-AG Department.[17]

Published work

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Enkerlin has published over 50 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, including the first-ever article published in a scientific journal on the Moscamed Program of the Governments of Mexico, Guatemala and the USA.[18] In 2019, two of his articles received recognition from the British Journal Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata for being one of the top 20 most consulted articles in 2017 and 2018. He is also the author of 5 harmonized technical manuals of the FAO/IAEA.[19][20][21][22] The manuals are used as reference documents in several fruit fly International Standards of Phytosanitary Measures, as well as independently by Member Countries of the FAO and IAEA.

Education

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Enkerlin has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Parasitology and a Masters in Science Plant Protection from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and a PhD in Applied Entomology from Imperial College London.[23] He is the son of internationally renowned entomologist Dieter Enkerlin and brother of notable Mexican conservationist Ernesto Enkerlin.

References

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  1. ^ "Walther Raúl Enkerlin PhD". IAEA Nuclear Applications for Insect Pest Control. International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. ^ Enkerlin, W., J. Reyes, A. Bernabe, J. L. Sánchez, J. Toledo and M. Aluja. 1993. El aguacate "Hass" como hospedante de tres especies de Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae), en condiciones forzadas y naturales. Agrociencia, Serie Protección Vegetal Vol. 4, 329-348.
  3. ^ 6. Enkerlin W. 2000. Plant Quarantine and Hass Avocados: Role of Science in Solving Pest Quarantine Problems: Hass Avocado Case Study. pp. 217-218. In Proceedings of a Conference on Incorporating Science, Economics, and Sociology in Developing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards in International Trade. National Research Council. National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington D.C. 20418.
  4. ^ Jeansonne, Brent (June 1, 2011). "Commercial Horticulture: What do we know about Mexico's avocado production?" (PDF). University of Florida. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12
  5. ^ "FAO/IAEA Technical Co-operation Projects". Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  6. ^ John Mumford; Walther Enkerlin (1997). "Economic Evaluation of Three Alternative Methods for Control of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Israel, Palestinian Territories, and Jordan". Journal of Economic Entomology: 1066–1072.
  7. ^ "Latin American Countries Combat Screwworm Pest through IAEA Project". www.iaea.org. 13 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Insect Pest Control Newsletter". No. 69. International Atomic Energy Agency. p. 3. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Determination of host status of fruit to fruit flies (Tephritidae)" (PDF). Commission on Phytosanitary Measures.
  10. ^ Enkerlin, W.R., J.M. Gutiérrez Ruelas, C. Cáceres Barrios, J. Reyes Flores, J. Hendrichs et al. (2017). The Moscamed Regional Programme: A success story of area-wide sterile insect technique application. Entomological Society Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 1–16, 2017.
  11. ^ 7.Enkerlin W., J. M. Gutiérrez-Ruelas, A. Villaseñor Cortes, E. Cotoc Roldan, D. Midgarden, E. Lira, J. L. Zavala López, J. Hendrichs, P. Liedo and F. J. Trujillo Arriaga (2015). Area Freedom in Mexico from Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae): A Review of Over 30 Years of a Successful Containment Program Using an Integrated Area-Wide SIT Approach. Florida Entomologist, 98(2):665-681.
  12. ^ "USDA Announces Implementation of Multilateral Agreement to Combat Damaging Fruit Fly Species: U.S., Guatemala and Mexico Reach Agreement to Suppress Mediterranean Fruit Fly and other Species that Damage Agriculture Economies". United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  13. ^ "A success story from Patagonia". Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  14. ^ Zimmermann, H., Bloem, S., Klei, H., "Biology, History, Threat, Surveillance and Control of the Cactus Moth, Cactoblastis cactorum", April 10, 2004.
  15. ^ Guide for Establishing and Maintaining Pest Free Areas. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Plant Protection Convention. 15 October 2019. p. 86. ISBN 9789251317648. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  16. ^ "IAEA Superior Achievement Award 2017 - Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication in the Dominican Republic". International Atomic Energy Agency. International Atomic Energy Agency. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Teamwork Award from FAO-AG Department to IPPC-IAEA Joint Team on the Fruit Fly Standards". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  18. ^ Enkerlin, W.R., J.M. Gutiérrez Ruelas, C. Cáceres Barrios, J. Reyes Flores, J. Hendrichs et al. (2017). The Moscamed Regional Programme: A success story of area-wide sterile insect technique application. Entomological Society Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 1–16, 2017.
  19. ^ FAO/IAEA. 2017. Guideline for packing, shipping, holding and release of sterile flies in area-wide fruit fly control programmes, Second edition, by Zavala-López J.L. and Enkerlin W.R. (eds.). Rome, Italy. 140 pp.
  20. ^ FAO/IAEA. 2018. Trapping guidelines for area-wide fruit fly programmes, Second edition, by Enkerlin, W.R. and Reyes- Flores, J. (eds). Rome, Italy. 65 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
  21. ^ FAO/IAEA. 2017. Fruit Sampling Guidelines for Area-Wide Fruit Fly Programmes, Enkerlin WR, Reyes J and Ortiz G (eds.), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Vienna, Austria. 45 pp.
  22. ^ FAO/IAEA. 2016. Guidelines for the Use of Mathematics in Operational Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management Programmes Using the Sterile Insect Technique with a Special Focus on Tephritid Fruit Flies. Barclay H.L., Enkerlin W.R., Manoukis, N.C. Reyes-Flores, J. (eds.), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. 95 pp.
  23. ^ Hoeflich, Enkerlin; Raul, Walther (1997). Economic analysis of management for the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) (Ph.D).