Posted: September 10, 2024
Dr. Heather Lee Grab works to support the needs of stakeholders in vegetable crops as well as other specialty crops like small fruits.
Projects in the lab include 1) Co-managing pest and beneficial insect populations on farms through Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management, including strategies like identifying reduced-risk pesticide programs, all the way up to studies of habitat distribution at the landscape scale and 2) Leveraging long-term monitoring data sets in combination with environmental data on land use, climate, soils, etc. to predict population of pests and beneficial insects in the short and long term. Ultimately, Dr. Grab seeks to develop strategies supporting food security and sustainable ecosystem goals by understanding where and when these important insects are likely to occur.
Research Activities & Interests
Pests and beneficial insects, like pollinators, can have a major impact on the productivity of agroecosystems. The integrated pest and pollinator management strategies that they work on help growers balance pest management needs with services provided by beneficial insects like wild pollinators. Yet, predicting when and where pests and beneficial insects are likely to occur remains a challenge for implementing these strategies. Dr. Grab is interested in understanding factors that predict the abundance and distribution of these important insects and applying that knowledge toward advancing the productivity and sustainability of agroecosystems.
Areas of Expertise
- Landscape and Spatial Ecology
- Integrated Pest Management
- Crop Pollination
- Sustainable Agriculture
Education
- B.S. Biology, Ursinus College
- Ph.D. Entomology, Cornell University
