On January 31, biology professor Lee Dyer was officially named part of the class of 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows.

Dyer is being recognized along with others at the University for his scientific and socially notable achievements during his career. Dyer studies chemical ecology and tropical biodiversity. Dyer’s research interests lie in the complicated interactions that take place between plants and herbivores as a result of the chemical compositions of plants.

“I am most excited about the ability to combine natural history data collected over decades with high quality chemistry and genetics data with new approaches in mathematical models and statistical analysis,” Dyer said. “The collaborative environment here at the University of Nevada, Reno allows for these integrative approaches that were not possible at other institutions where I've had faculty positions.”

Dyer said that the interdisciplinary collaborations at the University have been valuable to his work.

“This award is meaningful because it demonstrates that the supportive, collaborative environment here at the University has contributed to a research career that is being recognized by respected scientific associations,” he said.

As an AAAS Fellow, Dyer will serve as an advocate of science, something he’s done for decades. He has been involved with the Earthwatch Institute since 1997. The Earthwatch Institute is a nonprofit that gets citizen science volunteers involved in ongoing scientific research, including Dyer’s work in chemical ecology and biodiversity.

“I am particularly appreciative of colleagues in the Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology and the Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology graduate program, which are two of the strongest programs of their kind in the country,” Dyer said.

In 2011 Dyer received the Hyung K. Shin Outstanding Research Award and in 2014, Dyer was named a Foundation Professor. Dyer has been working at the University for almost 15 years. Dyer joins Ana de Bettencourt-Dias in the College of Science and John Cushman and Mae Gustin in the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources as part of the newly elected class of AAAS Fellows.