Entomology Research

The Department of Entomology is comprised of 19 faculty who address important problems relevant to the citizens of Pennsylvania, our nation, and our world. Our scientists are studying pests and beneficial insects from the suborganismal and genomic level to the population and community level. The Entomology Department possesses a very unique depth of concentration in several key research areas because we have several faculty members working in each specialty. Our students benefit from a large core of graduate students with common interests and multiple faculty members with strong expertise to serve on thesis committees. This synergy among faculty and students increases the likelihood of making significant findings with broad applications to society and agriculture.

The strength of our research resides in three main program areas: chemical and molecular ecology; ecology, biodiversity and pest management; and insect-host interactions.

With the recent hires of internationally known scientists in chemical and molecular ecology, our research is leading to novel, environmentally-friendly methods of pest management.

Our ecology, biodiversity and pest management group performs research spanning the theoretical to the applied. Faculty in this program's extensive use of modeling to forecast pests and diseases in space and time is particularly noteworthy. Their findings contribute to state, national, and international pest management and policy.

Our research group in insect-host interactions focuses on insect pathology and insect immunity. Findings in this group help us to better understand how insect diseases and natural enemies regulate populations and will lead to improved, biorational methods of insect management.