About Pin-Chu:
I am an applied insect ecologist interested in pest management and vector-borne plant diseases. I am currently a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Brian Nault’s vegetable entomology lab at Cornell AgriTech. I received my B.S. in Entomology from Taiwan National University and obtained my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Entomology at the University of Georgia studying tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV), the causal agent of spotted wilt in peanut, and tobacco thrips, a constant pest of peanut causing direct leaf damage and transmitting TSWV in peanut. My M.S. program focused on integrated pest management where I evaluated cultural practices, insecticides and their residual toxicity against tobacco thrips and TSWV in peanut as well as studied virus transmission and thrips fitness on TSWV resistant cultivars. For my Ph.D. program, I studied the in-field spread, population genetics, and economic impacts of TSWV in resistant cultivars and developed economic injury levels for tobacco thrips in peanut. Currently at Cornell, I am working to optimize onion thrips management using thrips-resistant cultivars in organic onion production and investigating the association of onion thrips with bacterial rots. Another ongoing project focus is on allium leaf miner management where we are studying their biology, behavior, and ecology on various Allium crops. In addition, I am participating on a project involving entomopathogenic nematodes as persistent biocontrol agents of Colorado potato beetle and wireworm in potato. I enjoy using my expertise in molecular biology and applied ecology to decipher complex interactions among insect pests, plant hosts, and plant diseases to improve pest management in sustainable agriculture. I am pursuing a career as a faculty researcher in academia, within research institutes or private industry, where I can conduct multidisciplinary research and seek solutions for fast-evolving, real-world problems that growers encounter in modern agriculture.