A team of prominent faculty serves Michigan’s highly diverse fruit industries with expertise in developing and implementing novel and sustainable means of managing insect and nematode pests of fruit. Their work has special emphasis on the chemical ecology of key fruit pests and resulting control techniques using behavior-modifying compounds.

Faculty and Staff

1. Tree Fruit
Web site: Tree Fruit Entomology
Contact: Larry Gut

Gut’s lab focuses on the ecology of tree fruit production systems and develops and implements appropriate methods for managing them. Gut directs a short-and long-term applied research and extension program, while also building a solid basic research program centered on the use of pheromones and other behavior-modifying chemicals for insect control.

2. Trevor Nichols Research Complex (TNRC)
Web site: Trevor Nicholz Research Complex
Contact: John Wise

The research objectives for the TNRC are to develop effective fruit pest management strategies for Michigan's fruit industry, in concert with agriculture commodity organizations, agribusiness, Michigan Agriculture Experiment Station and Extension, in accordance with the land-grant philosophy of Michigan State University. Wise is the Research and Extension Coordinator of TNRC. His primary research interest is to further understand the unique activity characteristics and performance boundaries of new insecticide chemistries on Michigan fruit insect pests.

3. Small Fruit
Web site: Berry Crops Entomology
Contact: Rufus Isaacs

Studies in the Isaacs' lab are primarily aimed toward understanding the behavior and ecology of insects. This focus is broadly applied to different aspects of entomology, with the long-term aim of improving insect pest management in small fruit crops. Specific areas of interest include insect dispersal, oviposition and feeding behavior, conservation biocontrol and plant tolerance to herbivory.