STONEVILLE, Miss. -- After harvest each year, university research and Extension entomologists from across the Cotton Belt states collect and submit data regarding cotton crop losses from insects.

Compiling, formatting and managing that huge volume of data is a task Don Cook, an entomologist and associate research professor at Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, handles with ease.

“That is a tremendously hard task to wrangle, but Don Cook took it over, and he does an incredible job,” MSU Extension Director Angus Catchot said. “That speaks to his character; he sees a need and is willing to fill voids that our farmers need filled.”

Cook’s dedication was rewarded in December when he became the first recipient of the Don Parker Memorial Endowed Extension and Research Award, named for the MSU Extension entomologist known in the Mid-South for his work with the National Cotton Council of America and the Cotton Foundation.

After Parker died in 2023, MSU officials immediately sought to establish an endowed award in his name because of his contributions to Mid-South agriculture, Catchot said, noting that funding came in immediately because Parker touched so many lives of those who work in Mid-South agriculture.

“He had a way of working across the aisle,” Catchot said. “Even someone whose opinion was 180 degrees from his, they all loved him.”

In Parker’s honor, award recipients are selected based on contributions to Mississippi’s cotton industry, but nominations are also considered for individuals with contributions in other major Mississippi row crops such as corn, rice, soybean and sweet potato. Recipients will likely alternate between students and faculty from year to year.

Catchot said an industry committee selected Cook from a wealth of applications and that Cook has become an anchor among growers and colleagues. He cited Cook’s work in an area where research is needed: stored grain.

“That’s an area where there’s very little experience and work that’s been done, but he’s picked that up,” Catchot said. “He’s become the go-to in the whole Mid-South region.”

Cook’s agricultural career began at Louisiana State University, where he received a master’s in agronomy in 1994 and a doctorate in entomology in 2003. He worked at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station in St. Joseph, La., until joining MSU Extension at the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in 2007. Two years later, he came to Stoneville.

He is a member of the Mississippi Entomological Association, Entomological Society of America and the Society of Southwestern Entomologists among others.

“Dr. Cook is very well-versed on historical entomological knowledge. He is also full of up-to-date insect management information,” said Tyler Towles, a fellow entomologist who works with Cook at DREC and studied under Cook while obtaining his degrees. “Having both historical and current practice knowledge makes him a gold mine for agricultural information.”