Samantha Willden Seminar

The Willden Program at Cornell University leads research and extension efforts to address short- and long-term pest management challenges in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Our research examines how abiotic and biotic factors shape tritrophic interactions across production systems ranging from high tunnels to high-tech greenhouses. Current work explores how microclimates and habitat diversification influence pest pressure and beneficial insect performance. By integrating fundamental ecology with emerging CEA technologies, the Willden Lab aims to engineer more pest-resilient production systems. Ultimately, our goal is to design CEA systems in which pest management is built into the production environment rather than implemented in response to pest outbreaks.