Dr. Dale H. Habeck, 1931-2010

Dr. Habeck with Dr. W. Haller (left) and Dr. Andre "Doc" Kostermans at Bogor Botanical Gardens

Dr. Habeck and Burhan Harris at the Borobudur Stupa on Java, Indonesia

Dr. Dale H. Habeck was an internationally known professor in the Entomology and Nematology Department at the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences for over 30 years. Dr. Habeck was the faculty in charge of the Aquatic Plant Information Retrieval System (APIRS) from 1978-1982, when it was incorporated into the newly established Center for Aquatic Plants. During this time he worked cooperatively with USAID and the International Plant Protection Center (IPPC) based at Oregon State University (Dr.’s Stan Miller and Alan Deutsch among others). Throughout his career Dale travelled to many countries working with numerous foreign scientists on aquatic insect ecology and biological control of aquatic weeds. He made many significant contributions to our knowledge of aquatic insects and published much of the early work on insects associated with water hyacinths, Brazilian pepper, Mimosa pigra, hydrilla and other weedy species. His scientific legacy will continue to be productive through the work of the many graduate students that he mentored during his career. His guidance and leadership of the fledgling APIRS and support of the interdisciplinary Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants at UF are significant and greatly appreciated. I gained a great appreciation for biological control and the bravery of foreign insect explorers while traversing floods and traveling all night with Dale to bypass a flooded road in Indonesia in 1982. Possessing an easy-going, quiet nature, his common sense and knowledge of entomology will be greatly missed by his colleagues. —W. Haller