My research is in the vast and varied field of Integrated Pest Management, IPM.
My current research focuses on spotted wing drosophila (SWD), fruit.cornell.edu/spottedwing/, in three areas:
- coordinating monitoring for its occurrence,
- its impact on tart cherry and other stone fruit, and
- using hummingbirds to aid in managing SWD.
I have investigated the impact of copper bactericides and pruning practices for managing bacterial canker of sweet cherry. I contribute to commodity surveys in orchard and small fruit plantings for exotic insects and plant diseases targeted by USDA APHIS.
Outreach and Extension Focus
I work in the NYS IPM Program, Cornell AgriTech, with the goal of helping tree fruit, grape, and berry growers protect their crops while minimizing economic, health and environmental risks. I collaborate with Cornell Cooperative Extension educators, in Regional Programs and County Associations, with Cornell faculty, legislators, the fruit industry, consultants, and growers. I gave 27 presentations on fruit IPM topics in 2018. My extension effort has focused on digital agriculture tools — Trac Software for spray record keeping and farm traceability, and the Network for Environment and Weather App's (NEWA) that delivers fruit insect phenology and plant disease IPM forecasts. To support apple markets, I coordinated development of GlobalGAP certification education for New York apple growers, helping secure a 13 million dollar EU export market and I advise the EcoApple and EcoStoneFruit protocols. I’m the coordinating editor for online fruit information at Cornell Fruit Resources. Since the spotted wing drosophila invasion in 2012 of NY fruit farms, my top priority is to alert CCE educators and growers — posting about 50 blogs per year on my SWD blog, coordinating a monitoring network and distribution map, updating pesticide quick guides and IPM information.
