Darek Gajek - Visiting Scientist (Poland)
Dr. Gajek visited in 2001 to learn about MSU research-extension programs and their interaction with US fruit production. During his stay, he worked on a range of projects, focusing on the biology and management of mite pests of Michigan's small fruit crops. His own program on arthropod management of small fruit crops is based at the Research Institute for Pomology and Floriculture in Skierniwice, Poland.
Nikhil Mallampalli - Post Doc
May 2000-July 2001. Dr. Mallampalli joined the small fruit entomology lab to develop monitoring and sampling programs for early-season lepidopteran pests of blueberry. He also helped to initiate a project on the management of Japanese beetle in this crop. Nikhil now works at the Biological and Ecological Assessment Division of the EPA.
Rodrigo Mercader - MS
Rodrigo's research examined the capacity of juice grape vines, Vitis labrusca var. 'Niagara' to tolerate or compensate for foliar herbivory by rosechafer, Macrodactylus subspinosus, and Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica. Currently Rodrigo is pursuing his Doctorate under the direction of Dr. Mark Scriber. His current research deals with biogeography and speciation in Papilio butterflies.
Natalia Botero-Garces - PhD
Dr. Botero-Garces was introduced to honey bees in 1992 as an agronomy
engineering student at the National University of Colombia in Medellín
where she did her undergraduate thesis on Andean blackberry (Rubus
glaucus) pollination by honey bees. She followed with graduate studies
in Entomology at the same institution, and was awarded an M.S. in 1998
for her thesis on insect pollination of apples in the tropical temperate
zones. After visiting MSU for a short course in IPM in the summer of 1997,
she returned in Fall of 1998 to start her Ph.D. studies in the Department
of Entomology. Her research took a behaviorally-based approach to understanding
the mechanisms underlying the distribution and movement of the grape berry
moth, Endopiza viteana (now known as Paralobesia viteana)
within grape vineyards and their surrounding "wild" habitats.
She was awarded her Ph.D. in 2003 and she recently finished working as
a Postdoctoral Associate with Dr. George Kennedy, at North Carolina State
University, on IPM in sweetpotato.
Matt O'Neal - Post Doc
Dr O'Neal was a Post Doc in the Isaac's lab March 2003 to March 2004. He helped design experiments to demonstrate the response of natural enemies to the reduced use of broad spectrum insecticides in blueberry. He is now a faculty member in the Entomology Department at Iowa State University. Click here to follow a link to Dr.O'Neal's current research page.
Elly Maxwell
Elly worked as an undergrad in the Small Fruit Entomology lab from 2001 to 2003. Elly maintained the GBM colony and was involved in various bioassays dealing with the biology, behavior and control of this insect. Elly recently obtained her Masters degree working on intregrated control of cabbage pests with Henry Fadamiro at Auburn University.
Zsofia Szendrei - PhD
Dr Szendrei is originally from Hungary where she received her M.S. in
horticulture in 2001. She started her research assistantship at MSU in
fall 2001 and graduated in 2005. Her Ph.D. thesis project was on Japanese
beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, cultural control and behavioral
ecology. Her research looked at the effect of different cover crops species
on Japanese beetle larval and adult abundance. These experiments were
conducted in blueberry fields, where this insect is a significant production
problem. The results of these studies led to questions about the egg-laying
behavior of females, and she investigated whether females use certain
environmental cues to find oviposition sites, and how these cues play
a role in influencing their behavior. Manipulation of these cues through
the use of cover crops could be used in the control of this invasive,
economically important pest. Dr Szendrei is currently working as a Post
Doc with Don Weber in the
Insect Biocontrol Laboratory at USDA-ARS.
Kirsten Pelz - MS
Kirsten began working on an M.S. in Entomology during the summer of 2002, and she graduated in 2004. She was a member of both the small fruit and tree fruit entomology laboratories at MSU, as her research involved three important fruit pests - the blueberry maggot, he apple maggot and the Eastern cherry fruit fly. Specifically, she studied the distribution of flies within host plants and the response of these fly species to host attractants and feeding stimulants that have potential for use in baited insecticides for fly control. She is pursuing her Doctorate at MSU with Dr. Ned Walker.
Mark Vander Werp
Mark recently graduated with a major in entomology from Michigan State. In 2004 he received the Jordan B. Tatter Scholarship in Horticulture. He worked in the Small Fruit Entomology Lab from October 2003 to December 2005. In addition to maintaining the grape berry moth colony, Mark was involved in bioassays designed to investigate the biology and behavior of grape berry moth. After a little time off from coursework Mark plans on attending graduate school.
Paul Jenkins - MS
Paul is the most recent graduate of the Small Fruit Entomology lab. He earned his M.S. degree investigating the response of natural enemies to chemical and cultural modifications within vineyards. Paul looked at the effect of removing wild grape hosts in wood lots adjacent to commercial vineyards on the grape berry moth parasitoid community and the effect of conventional versus selective insecticide management programs on the conservation of natural enemies of the grape berry moth. Paul also received his B.S. in Entomology from MSU in 2003. Visit his web page for more about his life outside of school. http://www.msu.edu/~jenki132/
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