About Us

Plant-Insect Interactions in Agroecosystems

We study relationships among plants, insect herbivores, and natural enemies to understand factors that regulate populations of herbivorous insects. We are interested in both plant- and natural-enemy-mediated factors and how they influence insect behavior, community composition, and herbivore mortality. Our long-term goal is to exploit the ecology/biology of our study organisms to provide strategies and tactics for more sustainable insect pest management.

Coat of Arms for the lab

During winter 2026, we worked as a lab to develop a Coat of Arms that represents our research efforts. This grew out of a suggestion from grad student Robert Witkowski, who has enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, heraldry and related topics.  Robert facilitated this effort in an iterative process. We found it helpful to distill what we do down to symbols and colors.  If you are curious, the meaning of the element follows:

Crest: book. Nature is our guide; studying it will bear fruit (symbolized by soybeans)
Supporters: goldenrod and maize. We apply insights from natural systems (goldenrod) to agricultural systems (maize).
Shield:
Top: At the top are our study animals, and the carabid-slug-Gnorimoschema represent a trophic cascade (roughly)
Band: Six ants, one per graduate student, depicted on lozenges. The lozenges create a patchwork, representing how we each come from different backgrounds but form a whole; we reside in Penn State blue. Like ants, the graduate students are hard-working and move ever forward on the path to graduation.
Bottom: Starting at the top and moving downward, the natural phenomena are at the top, mediated by the graduate students, who measure and interpret these phenomena—symbolized by the quill and calipers.
Motto: "Ex clade discimus" ("We learn from failure")
Colors: green—curiosity, growth; gold—excellence, wisdom; blue—PSU 

Some of our projects and collaborators

Penn State's Sustainable Dairy Cropping Systems Trial
Slugs as pests of field crops

Gerard Troisi, a valuable collaborator, member of the PA No-Till Alliance, and a talented slug tamer.

A little laser tag to celebrate Eric's thesis defense!

Emily and Katie getting ready to deploy sentinel caterpillars.

Summer of 2013 - Emily and Katie enjoying sample sorting

Lab Photo - April 2011: Back L to R: Ian, Kim, Eric, Maggie, Andrew, Anjel; Front: John

Penn State requires that we have lab coats for safety reasons, so why not wear them? Nathan, Masoomi, Brandon, Mackenzie, Sarah, and Andrew, Summer 2016