Research Interests
Ongoing Projects
Tobacco
Our tobacco research addresses landscape scale questions of pest movement, phenology, and management. We have specific projects studying the tobacco splitworm (Phthorimaea operculella) and tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta). Projects on cultural, biological, and chemical control are important components of our program.
We also conduct on farm tests of managment tools for important tobacco herbivores including flea beetles, green peach aphids, tobacco budworms, and the thrips vectors of TSWV.
Small fruits
Small fruit production in North Carolina includes blueberries, grapes, caneberries (raspberries and blackberries), and strawberries. Projects include mite management in strawberries; thrips phenology, ecomonic impact, and management in blackberries; and blueberry red ringspot virus (RRSV) in blueberries.