People

Flor Acevedo

Assistant professor of Entomology (Penn State Behrend)

Jared Ali

Director of the Center for Chemical Ecology; Associate Professor of Entomology
Behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions, including plant responses to below-ground herbivory and nematode. Insect community ecology, chemical ecology, and coevolution. Trophic cascades, above- and below-ground interactions, chemotaxis of soil nematodes, and evolution of plant defense strategies.

Etya Amsalem

Associate Professor of Entomology
The evolutionary development and the mechanistic basis of social behavior in insects using an integrative approach encompassing chemical, genetic and physiological tools

Tom Baker

Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Chemical Ecology

Dave Biddinger

Research Professor; Tree Fruit Research Entomologist

John Carlson

Professor of Molecular Genetics; Director, Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics
Genome mapping, including genetic linkage mapping, molecular cytogenetics; studies of genetic diversity in forests.

Huanyu Cheng

Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics

Surinder Chopra

Professor of Maize Genetics
Regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis during plant development and plant-pathogen interaction. Epigenetic regulation and allele specific patterns.

Francisco Dini-Andreote

Assistant Professor of Plant Science
Microbiome, plant-microbe interactions, and community ecology. Harnessing the plant microbiome to enhance protection against biotic and abiotic stresses.

Gary Felton

Professor and Department Head of Entomology
Plant-herbivore interactions. Adaptive responses of herbivores to plant defenses. Herbivore cues recognized by plants with specific focus on biochemical and molecular analysis of salivary secretions.

David Geiser

Professor of Mycology
Molecular evolutionary genetics of pathogenic and toxigenic fungi.

Christina Grozinger

Director of the Center for Pollinator Research; Director of the Insect Biodiversity Center; Publius Vergilius Maro Professor and Huck Scholar of Entomology
Genomics of social behavior and health in bees

John Hayes

Professor of Food Science; Director, Sensory Evaluation Center
Perception of taste, smell and chemesthesis; eating behavior; individual differences in sensation and food preferences; COVID related anosmia

Sara Hermann

Assistant Professor of Arthropod Ecology and Trophic Interactions

Kelli Hoover

Professor of Entomology
Invasive species of forest insects; plant-insect-entomopathogen interactions; impacts of plants on pathogenesis; biological control of hemlock woolly adelgid

Helene Hopfer

Associate Professor of Food Science

Seogchan Kang

Professor of Plant Pathology & Environmental Microbiology
Genetic and cellular mechanisms underpinning plant-fungal interactions with Arabidopsis thaliana and Fusarium oxysporum as a model system. Molecular genetics and comparative genomics of fungal plant pathogens. Bioinformatics.

Jessica Kansman

Postdoctoral Researcher

Joshua Kellogg

Emphasis Area Representative, Molecular Toxicology; Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Development of new metabolomics tools for chemical and biological characterization of complex systems. Discovery of new natural products from plants and microorganisms with novel bioactivity against pathogenic fungi and neglected tropical diseases. Bioanalytical techniques to probe the mechanism of action and basic biology of these target organisms. Ethnobotany and indigenous knowledge surrounding plant-based medicine.

Monica Kersch-Becker

Assistant Professor of Entomology

Greg Krawczyk

Extension Tree Fruit Entomologist, Research Professor

Gretchen Kuldau

Associate Professor of Plant Pathology

Erika Machtinger

Associate Professor of Entomology
Veterinary entomology, including vector-borne diseases. Focus is on ecology and behavior associated with host-parasite interactions to improve or develop new control methods.

James Marden

Associate Director of Operations, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Professor of Biology
How physiological variation within species affects their ecology and evolution. Primarily with insects, but recently also with plants, and a particular interest in allelic variation in the pathogen resistance genes of tropical trees.

Nate McCartney

Research Technician II

Tim Miyashiro

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
How bacteria adapt to a host environment. The mutualistic symbiosis established between the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) and a bioluminescent bacterium (Vibrio fischeri).

Andrew Myrick

Assistant Research Professor

Harland Patch

Assistant Research Professor; Research Associate of Entomology

Tanya Renner

Associate Professor of Entomology
Evolution of chemical and structural defense. Molecular evolution, evolutionary genomics, and transcriptomics. Origins and evolution of carnivorous plants.

Rudolf Schilder

Associate Professor of Entomology and Biology
Comparative & ecological physiology of insect and mammalian locomotion.

Katriona Shea

Professor of Biology; Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences
The use of ecological theory in population management.

Ming Tien

Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Characterization and biochemical analysis of cellulose synthesis in a variety of organisms. Mechanism and regulation of fungal degradation of lignin. Dissimilatory Iron reduction.

Julie Urban

Associate Research Professor

Michael Wolfin

Assistant Research Professor

Yinong Yang

Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology
Signal perception and transduction in rice-pathogen interactions. Molecular and genomic strategies for increasing disease resistance and drought tolerance in cereal crops.

Fang (Rose) Zhu

Assistant Professor of Entomology
Understanding the mechanisms and evolution of insects’ adaptation to chemical stresses in their environment.