Elson Shields
Professor, Department of Entomology

The focus of my extension and research efforts is to reduce the environmental impact of insect management in field crops utilizing the guidelines of IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Major focus is placed on biological control of insect pests, host plant resistance, least dose pesticide usage when required and insect long-ranged migration. These foci are supported with active research projects with the biological control of alfalfa snout beetle, breeding for snout beetle resistant alfalfa (with Don Viands), least dose evaluations with corn rootworm and potato leafhopper and long-ranged movement of potato leafhopper and soybean aphid. Additional foci on aerobiology include joint projects with the movement of corn pollen (D. Aylor, CT Ag Exp. Stat.), movement of wheat head scab (G. Bergstrom) and dispersal of herbicide resistant weed seed ( D. Mortensen, Penn State). Research information is disseminated to the agribusiness audience using extension articles, extension presentations, and interviews with the popular press. With field crops grown in every county in NYS and the field crop commodity planted in over 90% on NYS agricultural land, the audience is large and diverse
Research Focus
The focus of my extension and research efforts is to reduce the environmental impact of insect management in field crops utilizing the guidelines of IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Major focus is placed on biological control of insect pests, host plant resistance, least dose pesticide usage when required and insect long-ranged migration. These foci are supported with active research projects with the biological control of alfalfa snout beetle, breeding for snout beetle resistant alfalfa (with Don Viands), least dose evaluations with corn rootworm and potato leafhopper and long-ranged movement of potato leafhopper and soybean aphid. Additional foci on aerobiology have included past joint projects with the movement of corn pollen (D. Aylor, CT Ag Exp. Stat.), movement of wheat head scab (G. Bergstrom) and dispersal of herbicide resistant weed seed ( D. Mortensen, Penn State). A current research project in Plant Biosecurity is utilizing mobile PCR technology to identify aerobiota.
Outreach & Extension Focus
The focus of my extension and research efforts is to reduce the environmental impact of insect management in field crops utilizing the guidelines of IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Major focus is placed on biological control of insect pests, host plant resistance, least dose pesticide usage when required and insect long-ranged migration. These foci are supported with active research projects with the biological control of alfalfa snout beetle, breeding for snout beetle resistant alfalfa (with Don Viands), least dose evaluations with corn rootworm and potato leafhopper and long-ranged movement of potato leafhopper and soybean aphid. Additional foci on aerobiology have included past joint projects with the movement of corn pollen (D. Aylor, CT Ag Exp. Stat.), movement of wheat head scab (G. Bergstrom) and dispersal of herbicide resistant weed seed ( D. Mortensen, Penn State). A current Plant Biosecurity project is focused on detecting aerobiota using mobile PCR technology. Research information is disseminated to the agribusiness audience using extension articles, extension presentations, and interviews with the popular press. With field crops grown in every county in NYS and the field crop commodity planted in over 90% on NYS agricultural land, the audience is large and diverse.
Recent Research
- Taylor, R. A., & Shields, E. J. (2018). Revisiting Potato Leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), Migration: Implications in a World Where Invasive Insects are All Too Common. American Entomologist. 64:44-51.
- Shields, E. J., & Testa, A. M. (2017). Biological Control of Alfalfa Snout Beetle with Persistent Entomopathogenic Nematodes: Expanding a Single Farm’s Success to an Area-Wide Biological Control Program. American Entomologist. 63:216-223.
- Smith, E. A., Shields, E. J., & Nault, B. A. (2017). Onion thrips colonization of onion fields bordering crop and non-crop habitats in muck cropping systems. Journal of Applied Entomology. 141:574-582.
- Testa, A. M., & Shields, E. J. (2017). Low Labor “in vivo” Mass Rearing Method for Entomopathogenic Nematodes. Biological Control. 106:77-82.
- Smith, E. A., Fuchs, M. F., Shields, E. J., & Nault, B. A. (2015). Long-distance dispersal potential for onion thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and Iris yellow spot virus (Bunyaviridae: Tospovirus) in an onion ecosystem. Environmental Entomology. 44:921-930.
- Keller, M. D., & Shields, E. J. (2014). Aerobiological sampling efficiency of media containing Petri plates for use in lower atmosphere spore collection. Aerobiologia. 30:103-109.
- Goulet, E. j., DiTommaso, A., & Shields, E. J. (2014). Comparative study of Mecinus janthinus attack and simulated mowing for control of Linaria dalmatica. The Great Lakes Entomologist. 47:#N/A.
- Keller, M. D., Bergstrom, G. C., & Shields, E. J. (2014). The Aerobiology of Fusarium graminearum. Aerobiologia. 30:123-136.
- Petzond-Maxwell, J. L., Alves, A. P., Estes, R. E., Gray, M. E., Meinke, L. J., Shields, E. J., Thompson, S. D., Tinsley, N. A., Gassmann, A. J., & Analiza, P. (2013). Applying an integrated refuge to manage western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): Effects on survival, fitness and selection pressure. Journal of Economic Entomology. 106:2195-2207.
- Nansen, C., Stokes, B., James, J., Porter, P., Shields, E. J., Wheeler, T., & Meikle, W. G. (2013). Biological control agent of larger black flour beetles Ð a nuisance pest developing in cotton gin trash piles. Journal of Economic Entomology. 106:648-652.
Awards & Honors
- Excellence in IPM (2018) NYS IPM
- Entomological Foundation Award for Excellence in IPM (2013) ESA - Eastern Branch
Courses Taught
- ENTOM 8900: Master's Level Thesis Research
Elson in the news

News
From fully autonomous berry harvesters to plant-based lupini bean protein bars, the startups competing for $3 million in prize money at this year’s Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Competition are bringing revolutionary innovations to market.
- Cornell AgriTech
- Cornell Cooperative Extension
- Department of Entomology