Welcome to the Virtual Tour of the Department of Entomology's Programs!

We designed this virtual tour of our departmental programs so that you can get a better feel for what our professors and their graduate students are currently about. We hope that you find this to be useful and informative. Please click on any of the programs below to learn more that program. Each Tour is a QuickTime movie clip. You can download a free QuickTime Player, if you need it. Special Note: Each movie is from 1-6 MB in size. You may need to allocate extra time if you are downloading the movie on a slow internet connection.

Faculty Email	Program Highlights	Tour
J. Christopher Bergh cbergh@vt.edu	Management of arthropod pests of high value horticultural crops by optimizing and integrating conventional and non-conventional methods. Emphasis on endogenous and exogenous determinants of insect and mite behavior and physiology as related to development, validation, and implementation of IPM programs.	High Value Horticultural Crops
Jeffrey R. Bloomquist jbquist@vt.edu	Neurotoxicology of insecticides and on non-metabolic mechanisms of insecticide resistance. Describe and quantify action of insecticides on voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels and define alteration in nerve membrane responsible for insecticide resistance. Experimental approaches include radioligand binding, ion flux assays and expression of neurotransmitter receptor genes in cultured cells.	Neurotoxicology
Carlyle C. Brewster carlyleb@vt.edu	Information technology in integrated pest management, quantitative ecology, and population biology. Emphasis on the use of databases, models, remote sensing, geographic information systems, and the Internet/WWW in IPM system development. Other interests are in multimedia and computer-aided instruction.	Information Technology/GIS
Richard D. Fell rfell@vt.edu	Social insect biology and insect behavior including apiculture, honey bee biology, pollination, and carpenter ant behavior. Also, forensic entomology. Recent projects include physiological and behavioral studies of queens in wasps and honey bees; nest biology of carpenter ants, and faunal analysis of arthropods of forensic importance in Virginia.	Apiculture and Forensic Entomology
D. Ames Herbert, Jr. herbert@vt.edu	Development of integrated pest management systems for soybeans, peanuts, and small grains that reduce reliance on pesticides while maintaining crop quality and profitability. Current projects include research with native parasites, evaluation of biological pesticides, early detection and monitoring of pest populations, and evaluation of cultural insect control practices.	Soybean, Peanut, and Cotton Insect Management
Loke T. Kok ltkok@vt.edu	Biological control of weeds and insect pests of vegetable crops. Use of insects for control of noxious weeds such as thistles, spotted knapweed, and purple loosestrife. Host specificity testing, detailed studies of biological agents, including mortality factors affecting efficacy, impact on target host are some aspects of research investigation.	Biological Control
Thomas P. Kuhar tkuhar@vt.edu	Development and assessment of novel approaches for managing arthropod pests of vegetables. Research interests include insect population ecology, biological control, sampling, and insecticide resistance management strategies.	Vegetable Insect Management
Dini M. Miller dinim@vt.edu	Structural pest research and development of innovative management techniques that reduce the need for pesticide applications in the urban environment. Current research projects focus on the use of baiting techniques for the control of subterranean termites and cost/benefit analysis of IPM techniques for control of German cockroaches.	Urban Pest Management
Donald E. Mullins mullinsd@vt.edu	Insect physiology and biochemistry, and pesticide degradation. Studies on physiological and biochemical processes of nitrogen: metabolism, storage and secretion of compounds which are important in insect life processes. Research on pesticide disposal methods using biological degradation.	Insect Physiology & Pesticide Bioremediation
Sally L. Paulson spaulson@vt.edu	Mosquito biology and vector competence. Interest in physiological, genetic and environmental factors which control vector competence of aedine mosquitoes for La Crosse encephalitis virus, a human pathogen endemic in the U.S. Current studies also investigate impact of protozoan parasite infection on mosquito populations.	Medical Entomology
Douglas G. Pfeiffer dgpfeiff@vt.edu	Development of IPM programs for apple, peach, and grape, and improving compatibility of chemical and biological control tactics. Interests are in insect/plant interactions between fruit trees and their pests, and effects of cultural modifications on these interactions. Recent work has involved development of alternative control methods.	Fruit Pest Management
E. Anderson Roberts roberts@vt.edu	Design, development, implementation, and management of the gypsy moth Slow-theSpread national program. Components of the program include database management, geographic information systems, and information distribution as well as liaison between field- and project-level operations associated with collection and analysis of gypsy moth data.	Wide Area Pest Management
Scott M. Salom salom@vt.edu	Research areas include biology, behavior, chemical ecology, and IPM of forest, shade tree, and Christmas tree insect pests. Current projects focus on biological control (foreign exploration, predator evaluation, and host-finding cues), management (sampling design), and phenology of the hemlock woolly adelgid. We have created dynamic web-based tools that enhance IPM for forest insect pests. We have co-developed a registered pheromone-based suppression treatment for the southern pine beetle. We are evaluating systemic insecticides for control of subcortical feeding insects to help replace the previous generation of chemicals no longer available.	Forest Entomology
Peter B. Schultz schultzp@vt.edu	Biology and management of insects of shade trees, nursery stock and other ornamental plants. Emphasis is placed on biological control of scale insects in urban areas, and evaluation of azaleas for insect resistance. Additional interest is in plant/insect interactions in urban landscape.	Ornamental Pests
Paul J. Semtner psemtner@vt.edu	Integrated pest management on tobacco. Emphasis on biology and control of tobacco aphid. Research objectives are to determine impact of insects and timing of insecticide applications for their control on tobacco yield and quality, to investigate biology and host range of tobacco aphid, to assess potential of cultural and biocontrol practices for reducing insect problems in tobacco.	Tobacco Insect Management
J. Reese Voshell, Jr. rvoshell@vt.edu	Aquatic entomology, including basic ecological studies with application in natural resource management and environmental protection. Areas of interest are life history, secondary production, community structure and function, and field research design and methodology. Current projects include developing long-term ecological monitoring systems and analyzing rapid bioassessment techniques.	Aquatic Entomology
Michael J. Weaver mweaver@vt.edu	Pesticide information systems, pesticide impact assessment and pesticide safety education. Recent work involves development of a crop loss assessment network, pesticide management programs, pesticide use surveys, distance learning technologies, and coordination of statewide pesticide applicator training program.	Pesticide Safety & Impact Assessment
Roger R. Youngman youngman@vt.edu	Developing and implementing IPM programs for field corn, alfalfa, and poultry in Virginia. Research areas on field corn include evaluating monitoring and detection methods for soil borne insects, and cultural control strategies that minimize need for insecticides at planting. Cooperative projects include developing expert systems for decision-making in field corn.	Corn & Alfalfa Pest Management