Science & Tech

Merrill Sweet Gets National Research Post

Texas A&M University biology professor Merrill Sweet has no intention of slowing down his research of the creepy crawly critters, even in retirement.
By Chris Jarvia, Texas A&M College of Science September 15, 2009

After spending nearly his entire 41-year career studying the ins and outs of insects, former Texas A&M University biology professor Merrill Sweet has no intention of slowing down his research of the creepy crawly critters, even in retirement.

The 74-year-old Sweet has been appointed as a research associate for the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., to continue his work in entomology, the study of insects. Sweet’s prior relationship with the institution and years of research in the Lygaeoidea super family of insects made him a prime candidate for the position.

“It’s a recognition I am quite proud of,” Sweet said. “The National Museum of Natural History is an excellent museum, the best in the country. There’s no waste of money there.”

The appointment is awarded to scientists of exemplary credentials who have maintained a scholarly affiliation with the museum and is for a renewable three-year term. Research associates must actively collaborate with the NMNH scientific community and produce at least one scientific publication during the appointment period.

Having worked with the NMNH’s insect collection division before, Sweet knows he will be staying busy, and he welcomes the challenge. Upon retiring from Texas A&M in 2004, he transformed his home into his own personal laboratory and continued to engage himself with research on different bugs, including his specialty, the insect order Hemiptera — a diverse assemblage of nearly 100,000 species of all shapes and sizes. For Sweet, the associate position is just another opportunity to further his involvement with his biggest fascination.

With field work in South Africa, South America and Australia already under his belt, Sweet is also looking forward to the travel involved with working for the NMNH.

“This position really gives me the opportunity to expand my research,” he said. “They want to send me to other places, and there are many places I still want to go. One place I want to go is Madagascar.”

Opened in 1910, the NMNH was built to house national collections and research facilities. In addition to 126 million natural science specimens and cultural artifacts, the museum’s holdings include 4 1/2 million plant specimens, 7 million fish specimens, 30 million insect specimens and 2 million artifacts.

It is a massive collection by any standards, but Sweet said the NMNH also has an ulterior motive in appointing him as a research associate.

“They want to integrate my personal collection into the national collection,” he said.

Sweet’s personal insect collection consists of 10 large cases of nearly 100,000 specimens.

It’s a passion Sweet has cultivated since he was a senior undergraduate at the University of Connecticut in 1957. However, Sweet’s love of bugs only happened by chance.

Originally planning on a career as a botanist, Sweet wanted to do a college research project on plants but was told by the department head he needed to take more chemistry classes first. Disappointed, Sweet took up a job as a curator to the university’s insect collection in the meantime.

“I was a student worker and was just doing it as a job,” he said. “A man by the name of James Slater showed me a collection of bugs that no one really knew much about — what they ate or anything like that. He asked if I wanted to work with him on a project with the bugs, and I said, ‘Sure!’

“Thanks to him, I got my start in entomology and never looked back.”

Sweet was so inspired that he earned his doctorate in entomology in 1963, the same year he arrived at the Texas A&M Department of Biology. He spent the remainder of his career teaching biology, zoology, ecology and learning as much as possible about insects ranging from marine copepods to aquatic beetles to seed bugs.

Already hard at work for NMNH, Sweet wouldn’t have it any other way. He is once again deep into his research and already planning a trip to the NMNH sometime this winter. Along with the numerous publications he wrote during his time at Texas A&M, Sweet currently is working on another book about the genus bugs of the Texas Hill Country.

While some people couldn’t imagine making a successful living off bugs, Sweet has no regrets and calls his research associate appointment “an honor.”

“I love the little bugs, they’re so interesting,” Sweet said. “We all have to make money to live, but it’s nice to have done it with something you enjoy.”

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