Applied Biological Control Research
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Mark S. Hoddle, Ph.D.Biological Control Specialist and Principal Investigator Dr. Hoddle has headed the research in this laboratory since 1997 and is primarily involved in the identification of pest problems where biological control could be a successful approach. The location, release and evaluation of natural enemy impacts on population growth features strongly in his research. The evaluation of biological control agents are conducted primarily in the field and, when necessary, aspects of both pest and natural enemy biology and behavior are studied in the laboratory. |
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Nicola A. Irvin, Ph.D.Biological Control Specialist and Research Scholar Dr. Irvin joined the Hoddle laboratory in 2001 as a postdoctoral scholar. She has a heavy focus on researching the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar), and its mymarid wasp biological control agents Gonatocerus ashmeadi, G. fasciatus, G. triguttatus and G. tuberculifemur. Dr. Irvin has since been promoted to Assistant Specialist and in 2007 was awarded a Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE) grant to investigate the use of nectar cover crops for sustainable pest control in California vineyards. |
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Raju Pandey, Ph.D.Postdoctoral Research Scholar Dr. Pandey joined Hoddle laboratory as a Postdoctoral Scholar in February 2010. He is currently working on a biological control project of Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), which is one of the most destructive invasive insect pests of citrus. It vectors a lethal citrus disease known as Huanlongbing (previously known as citrus greening). More specifically, his current research focus is on evaluating potential non-target impacts of Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a parasitoid of ACP, on California’s native psyllid fauna. |
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Ricky LaraPh.D. Candidate Ricky joined the Hoddle laboratory in 2008 as a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Entomology. His academic interests revolve around acarology, agroecology and integrated management of economically important pests in agriculture. This committed appreciation of acarology began with several undergraduate internships working in California vineyards. |
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Vanessa LopezPh.D. Candidate Vanessa is a Ph.D. graduate student in the Entomology Department who joined the Hoddle Lab in September 2009. She is currently working on developing a classical biological control program for the invasive goldspotted oak borer (Agrilus auroguttatus). She has also previously done work researching the hitchhiking behavior and load selection of leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) in Monteverde, Costa Rica as an undergraduate in UCR's Education Abroad Program. |