Walther Raúl Enkerlin Hoeflich (born March 24, 1960, in Monterrey) is a Mexican entomologist, advocate, and pioneer researcher of the economics of applied sterile insect technique (SIT), currently based at the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division.
[4] Having worked under the IAEA when it was awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, he has developed technical standards, policies, and organizational structures to support the implementation of successful SIT programs worldwide,[5][6] averting devastating economic, social and environmental damage and contributing to food security, food safety and poverty reduction.
[7] In 2008, Enkerlin became the Technical Director of the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO).
[12] In his current role at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Enkerlin has been the lead entomologist and technical officer for several high-impact Cooperation Projects in member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including projects responsible for eradicating the Mediterranean fruit fly from Argentina’s Patagonia region, Patagonia was declared as a fruit fly free area by the USDA-APHIS in 2005[13] and eradicating the Cactoblastis cactorum (cactus moth) in Mexico in 2009.
[19][20][21][22] The manuals are used as reference documents in several fruit fly International Standards of Phytosanitary Measures, as well as independently by Member Countries of the FAO and IAEA.