UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Soares Leal soared from a self-described “rough childhood” in his native Brazil to become an internationally recognized scientist celebrated for his research on chemical communication and olfaction in insects.

But in his early childhood, he disliked insects, especially the cockroaches that crawled into his mouth while he was sleeping, and mosquitoes that bit him when he was and wasn’t.

"When an Africanized honey bee stung Robert E. Page, Jr., in the eye, the excruciating pain did not diminish his love for the insects. A pioneer in the field of honey bee social behavior and evolutionary genetics, Page’s passion for research has spanned forty-three years and continues today. He is considered a pioneer in the field and one of the current top bee scientists. A colleague stated that Page is 'arguably the most influential honey bee biologist of the past 30 years.'"