Two ISU researchers have found a way to repel cockroaches and attract media attention simultaneously. Joel Coats, professor and chairman of the entomology department, and Christopher Peterson, graduate student in entomology, were honored with the American Chemical Society’s “Newsmaker” award for communicating their research on using catnip compounds to repel cockroaches. The ACS estimated that the study reached an audience of 17 million people. The pair received one of six “Newsmaker” awards presented during the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C., this August. Peterson, who is using the project for his doctoral research, said receiving the award was special because communicating science research to the public is part of the mission of a land grant university. “It was an honor to be recognized for doing the same thing that Iowa State has a mission of doing,” he said. Coats said the media aspect of the award was especially important to him. “I was excited because of the new emphasis on communicating science to the public,” Coats said. “It was very timely, I thought, for the ACS to begin recognizing people for that.” Coats said the research was started by two summer interns in the Women in Science and Engineering program. Peterson said he and Coats decided to further the project after the interns had finished because of the interesting results that turned up. “What we hope is that we’ll be able to use some of this research to develop new products for insect repellents,” Peterson said. Coats said there are currently no cockroach repellents on the market, though the two researchers said there is a real need for them. Repellents could take the place of insecticides in “sensitive situations” such as schools, hospitals and restaurants, Coats said. He said the repellents could also be used in packing industries where buildings are infested through the moving of boxes and crates. “There’s a lot of emphasis now on alternative sources of insect control,” he said, adding that natural products are also being explored. The project, which used cockroaches as a target, spanned three years from start to finish, though Coats said the two “hope it will go beyond roaches as well.” Coats said he and Peterson are currently beginning to apply their research to mosquitoes and plan on also using house flies. They presented their research during the August 1999 ACS meeting in New Orleans, which was when Peterson said the mainstream press picked it up. “The ACS press office thought that it might have some popular appeal,” Peterson said. Peterson said he did interviews for several newspapers as well as the Associate Press radio wire. “That was pretty exciting,” he said. Coats said the research was also featured on CNN Headline News, BBC London radio and in the magazines Science News, Newsweek and New Scientist. Coats said the amount of publicity proved the need for this type of research. “There are a lot of people interested,” he said. “That’s exciting in itself.” Peterson said he enjoys working with Coats because he is “very well-respected” and “very well-known throughout the discipline for his contributions.” “He’s been a very positive mentor for me,” he said.