Dr. Albert Lew, a Township of Union resident, is celebrating his retirement. For over 13 years Lew worked as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialist (CPBAS), where he utilized his scientific education and expertise to protect American agriculture by preventing the entry of harmful pests, plants, animal diseases and possible biological contamination threats.
An expert in insects, plant pathology and nematology, CBPAS Lew inspected plant and food imports, consequentially intercepting over 4,000 insects and plant diseases of which 1,500 were deemed by the USDA to be potentially harmful to production agriculture. This number included several new species never before found in the Port of Newark, NJ. To date CBPAS Lew has achieved the highest record of plant pest interceptions for the Port of Newark/New York.
Throughout his career CBPAS Lew has received numerous awards including: “First-in- Port” award, and the “Port Director’s Award for the Top Significant Pest Interception for NY/NJ Field Operations”, and various peer recognition awards for his hard work and going the extra mile for the mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBPAS Lew has established the first “Interception Photo Library at Newark Airport”, a job aide for the identification of Insects and Plant Diseases from around the world, accessible electronically to CBP Agriculturists as well as CBP Officers. He received his PhD from the University of Nebraska, Master of Science in Plant Protection from the University of Reading, England and an MBA degree in Global Business Management from the University of Phoenix.
Prior to joining CBP Agriculture, Dr. Lew worked as a Supervisory Research Entomologist in New Insecticide Research & Development for FMC Corporation, American Cyanamid and BASF Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey. He also published numerous research papers and received several insecticide patents and awards.
Dr. Lew’s fluency in Mandarin and Cantonese has facilitated the agriculture inspection tasks involving the arriving Asian flights at Newark Airport. In addition, he also provided daily language assistance to CBP customs and immigration officers in order to determine the admissibility of arriving passengers.
Congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Lew for his fruitful achievements and retirement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
(above) Dr. Albert C. Lew, CBP Agriculture Specialist
