Richard Cooper, Ph.D. Entomologist
After serving as Technical Director for Cooper Pest Solutions for over 30 years and then joining Terminix as Senior Director of Specialty Services, Richard has started his newest journey at R Cooper Consulting. In addition to starting his own consulting firm, Richard holds a position as a Research Associate at Rutgers University in the Urban Pest Management Lab.
Richard earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology from the University of Delaware in 1986. After graduating he enhanced his knowledge of insects working as a Field and Lab Technician for the USDA Beneficial Insect Laboratories in the biological control of Gypsy Moths and other invasive pests. Richard spent a short time with E. I. DuPont conducting field testing of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. He continued his education, receiving a research Masters’s Degree in Entomology at Rutgers University in 1991 and returned to Rutgers nearly twenty years later to study bed bugs, receiving a Ph.D. in Entomology in 2015.
Richard regularly participates in national seminars focusing on the behavior, biology, and control of insects, and is frequently invited to speak at scientific and pest management industry meetings. Richard is the author of numerous articles in industry trade journals and over 36 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. Richard has also served as a member of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Brown Marmorated Stink Bug working group, to help further science related to combating this serious pest. Richard is very active in ongoing field research with numerous manufacturers assisting in the field component of product development as well as the evaluation of product efficacy. In addition to his responsibilities at Cooper Pest Solutions and Rutgers University, he consults with other pest control companies on a variety of pest issues in both commercial and residential settings. In 2001 Richard received PCT Magazines distinguished leadership award and in 2003 was recognized as one of the top 40 professionals in the pest control industry under the age of 40 years old. Richard was also honored along with the other members of the Urban Entomology Lab at Rutgers in 2020 with the NJ Governor’s Environmental Excellence award for the lab’s work in healthy and sustainable housing communities.
Richard is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on the subject of bed bugs and bed bug management. He has been an invited speaker at numerous bed bug symposia to include; the National Urban Entomology Meeting (2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2018), the Entomological Society of America’s Annual Meeting (2005, 2011, and 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019), The International Congress of Entomology in South Korea in 2012, and Southeast Asian Pest Summit in 2014 in Malaysia. Richard is the author of seven book chapters including chapters on bed bugs in the pest management industry’s most well-respected text reference, “The Mallis Handbook of Pest Control” 9th, 10th, and 11th Editions, and in the academic texts “Urban Pest Management: An Environmental Perspective” published in 2011 and “Advances in the Biology and Management of Modern Bed Bugs” published in February 2018. Richard also co-authored the 1st and 2nd editions of the most comprehensive text on Bed Bug Handbook: the complete guide to bed bugs and their control” and “Bed Bugs in Office Buildings –The Ultimate Challenge?”
Richard has been consulted as an expert witness in over 30 legal and insurance claims dealing with bed bugs and has been cited as an expert by the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, The Discovery Channel, CBS’s The Early Show, NBC’s Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show, National Public Radio (NPR), among others. In 2009 Richard was appointed to serve on the NYC Bed Bug Advisory Board by New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg.
Richard served on the New Jersey DEP IPM Task Force, New York Bed Bug Advisory Board, USDA Brown Marmorated Bug Working Group, National Pest Management Technical committee. He also participates in a number of organizations including the Entomological Society of America, Pi Chi Omega, the National Pest Management Assoc. and the Earth Share, NJ., and holds pesticide applicators licenses in PA and NJ.