In celebrating Walter Leal's (center front) election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, members of the Leal lab donned humorous T-shirts, a gift from the professor. The front says 'I did all the work' and the back, '..and Walter Leal got in the Academy.'

DAVIS — Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, has been elected to the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Leal, a native of Brazil, will be honored at a ceremony on May 7 in Rio de Janeiro.

"Let me say that your election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences is a well-deserved recognition for your accomplishments as a distinguished scientist in your field of studies, entomology, and also for the very important role you have been playing in promoting cooperation among Brazilian and U.S .universities and, through those arrangements, fostering scientific development in our country," said Ambassador Eduardo Prisco of the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco.

Leal is a liaison with the University of California, Davis and the Brazil government's Scientific Mobility Program, launched to exchange graduate and undergraduate students.

The U.S. currently hosts the largest number of students participating in the Brazil government's Scientific Mobility Program, according to the Institute of International Education, and UC Davis leads the nation, hosting more than 30 Brazilian undergraduate scholarship students. Leal is also involved in the Brazilian/UC Davis student exchange with the Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) grants for research related to Brazil.

A pioneer in the field of insect communication and on the cutting edge of research, Leal employs innovative approaches to insect olfaction problems. His work examines how insects detect smells, communicate with their species, detect host and non-host plants, and detect prey. Leal has designed and synthesized complex pheromones from many insects, including scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles and the citrus leafminer. He and his lab discovered the secret mode of the insect repellent DEET.

Leal, educated in Brazil and Japan, joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2000. He holds a doctorate in applied biochemistry from Tsukuba University, Japan, and also earned degrees in chemical engineering and agricultural chemistry.

Active in national and international entomological circles, the UC Davis professor is serving as co-chair of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference, to be hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

He is a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, the Royal Entomological Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and served as president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE). Among his awards: the ISCE Silver Medal, and awards from ESA and scientific societies in Japan and Brazil.

The UC Davis chemical ecologist was one of 36 members elected this week to the Academy. Of that number, 25 are Brazilians or foreign associates residing in Brazil and 11 are Brazilian or foreign associates residing overseas.

Among the newly elected academy members are Nobel laureate Kurt Wüthrich of Switzerland, who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2002; Henrique Sarmento Malvar, managing director of Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash.; and José Alexandre Scheinkman, professor of economics, Princeton University.