Commentaries

Last Cry of the Summer Cicada

By John Richard Schrock

Published August 31, 2015 at 2:31 PM CDT

Typical Kansas cicada (Photo by Aidan Loveland Koster)

As summer comes to a close, so too does the sound of the buzzing cicada. Commentator John "Richard" Schrock gives a final salute to these seasonal insects... and gives a tip of the hat to a Kansas professor who studied them.

Commentator John "Richard" Schrock is the director of biology education at Emporia State University, where he trains future biology teachers. He's also a regular contributor to Kansas Public Radio.

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John Richard Schrock

Schrock attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where tuition was $8 a semester hour in 1964, completing a bachelor's degree in biology teaching and a master's in science education. He began teaching in Kentucky before he graduated from I.S.U., and completed his degrees during summers. Schrock taught five years in Alexandria, Kentucky middle and high schools and two years at the I.S.U. Laboratory School before going overseas to teach at Hong Kong International School for three years. Schrock completed his Ph.D. in entomology working on insect ecology and systematics at the University of Kansas and, upon graduation, worked for the Association of Systematics Collections for three years. When the A.S.C. moved to Washington, DC, Schrock took the position at Emporia State University, directing biology teacher training. He was on the state biology committee and closely involved in the Kansas evolution debates of 1999. He writes a weekly Kansas newspaper column on education, produces public radio commentaries, and appears monthly on Kansas television.

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