{"id":140361,"date":"2024-03-20T10:04:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=140361"},"modified":"2024-03-20T10:10:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:10:50","slug":"ucf-biology-researcher-receives-2023-theodore-roosevelt-genius-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-biology-researcher-receives-2023-theodore-roosevelt-genius-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Biology Researcher Receives 2023 Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Biology<\/a> Professor Joshua King has won the 2023 Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize and $100,000 for an innovation he created to control a ubiquitous pest \u2014 fire ants. His invention is a non-toxic method to manage fire ants and eliminates the need for harmful pesticides, which helps keep the environment and other ground-nesting animals safe.<\/p>\n

King was one of five winners of the Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize, which recognizes innovators who are reaching beyond the traditional conservation community to foster technology-driven solutions that can solve conservation challenges.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s method, which has been named The Antheater, is a mobile, high-volume, water heating machine of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or higher that injects hot water into the mounds of fire ants in order to suppress them and does not disturb or affect other species nesting nearby. The system can potentially be used on other ground nesting insects as well.<\/p>\n

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