Ranked among the top five
major plant pathogens in the world, root - knot nematodes are microscopic roundworms that infect the roots of more than 2,000 fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, such as lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and carnations, across the world.
Major current projects include 1) Evaluating pesticide exposure and risk to wild bees and managed honey bees in different landscapes, 2) Combining empirical data with network modeling to understand
pathogen transmission in complex
plant - pollinator networks, and 3) Understanding how pesticide and
pathogen stress influence bee behavior and delivery of pollination services to agriculturally important crops.