Entomology & Plant Pathology

I am the Director of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program for the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and a Senior Extension Specialist for Stored Products in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University.

Dr. Jonathan A. Cammack is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, and the State Extension Specialist for Livestock Entomology and Parasitology with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. He teaches undergraduate courses in livestock entomology and forensic entomology.

Research Interests:

• Management of Livestock Pests
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Waste Management
• Decomposition Ecology
• Forensic Entomology
• Insects as Alternative Protein Sources for Livestock Feed

Dr. Ashleigh Faris is the State Extension Specialist for Cropping Systems Entomology. Her applied research is focused on integrated pest management (IPM) of economically damaging insects (and other arthropods) of wheat, soybean, sorghum, corn, cotton, peanuts, and other agronomic crops including pastures. This includes IPM for established, native, and invasive arthropods. Ashleigh's applied research is aimed at developing practical, sustainable, and economically viable IPM guidance and tools that address grower and stakeholder IPM needs. It is the needs of and relevancy to Oklahoma growers that are the driver for her IPM applied research and Extension programming.

Ashleigh also serves as the Statewide IPM Coordinator, the leader for IPM efforts in Oklahoma. In this role, she is part of a national and regional network (the National IPM Coordinating Committee (NIPMCC) and the Southern Region Information Exchange Group for IPM (SERA03)) that includes multi-state Hatch projects, national coordinating committees, regional IPM centers and federal and state partners. Ashleigh currently serves as the SERA03 Chair. Her role as Statewide IPM Coordinator is critical in shaping pest management strategies, securing funding, and fostering collaboration across disciplines and geographies. As the Statewide IPM Coordinator, she serves as the operational bridge, connecting all levels (scientifically sound and relevant research by reputable IPM scientists, Extension, stakeholders, local and federal government, industry professionals, growers, and federal agencies) and ensuring implementation. Ashleigh's goal is for stakeholders at both state and federal levels to benefit from and contribute to IPM adoption.

Research Interests: Integrated pest management (IPM), conservation biological control, arthropod pest sampling, invasive arthropod species, agroecosystems ecology, crop protection, host plant resistance, pest monitoring, field crop IPM

Dr. Wyatt Hoback focusses on conservation of rare invertebrate species and threats, including pesticides, to beneficial insects

Discovering Distribution and Ecology of Rare Insects: Oklahoma has among the most-diverse ecoregions of any state. Oklahoma’s ecoregions function as a natural laboratory for studying invertebrate biodiversity. Changes in climate, land use, fire, agricultural practices, invasive species, water quality, and habitat fragmentation can affect each region differently, potentially altering species distributions and interactions. 

Characterizing and Enhancing the Activities of Beneficial Insects in Range Ecosystems.   Cattle contribute more than $5.40 billion to Oklahoma’s economy with herd health and weight gain being influenced by pasture conditions and arthropod pests.  My research seeks to characterize the biology of beneficial insects as part of developing integrated pest management strategies.  Statewide grasshopper sampling has updated species distribution and potential for outbreaks while surveys of dung beetles have characterized the community and its role in manure degradation.  The influence of prescribed  fire on insect faunas are now being investigated. 

Advancing Pest Managemetn by Improving Economic injury levels (EILs). EILs provide a critical foundation for protecting grower profitability while reducing unnecessary pesticide use and conserving Oklahoma’s diverse insect communities. By identifying the pest density at which the economic value of expected crop loss exceeds the cost of control, EIL-based management helps growers apply pesticides only when treatment is economically justified, thereby preserving pesticide efficacy and reducing selection pressure for resistance. This approach is particularly important in Oklahoma, where agricultural landscapes occur across highly diverse ecoregions and support abundant communities of pollinators, predators, decomposers, and other beneficial insects. Non-target effects of pesticides represent one of the greatest direct and potentially manageable threats to insect biodiversity, particularly when broad-spectrum insecticides are applied unnecessarily or when treatments occur below economically damaging pest densities. My work in sorghum emphasizes discovering host plant resistance to pests and increasing presence of biological control insects that reduce pest populations. 

Bio:  Dr. Marek earned a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Biochemistry in 1990 and an M.S. in Agronomy in 1994, from the University of Missouri, Columbia.  He studied Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, and earned his Ph.D. there in 2001.  After a postdoc at UC Davis, he joined the faculty in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University in 2003.  Dr. Marek teaches general plant pathology, mycology, and scientific presentation courses and serves on numerous graduate student research committees throughout the university.  He also serves on several university, college, and department committees, gives regional presentations on mushroom hunting and cultivation, and is a mushroom identification contact for the Oklahoma Poison Center.

Research Interests:  We investigate the biology and virulence of plant pathogenic fungi affecting Oklahoma's agricultural and horticultural crops and natural ecosystems. Genomics, molecular and cell biology, and population biology are used to elucidate the mechanisms of pathogenic fungi infecting economically important crop plants and model plants. Fungal plant diseases investigated include wheat tan spot, switchgrass rust, alfalfa leaf spots, Phymatotrichopsis root rot, onion salmon blotch, bermudagrass spring dead spot, and Botrytis blight. Applications of fungi in biofuel feedstock saccharification, biological control of insects, mushroom cultivation, and mycotoxin contamination also are under study.

Dr. Francisco M. Ochoa Corona is a Professor at the Institute for Biosecurity & Microbial Forensics (IBMF) and the Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, since August 2008. Dr. Ochoa Corona is a forensic plant pathologist specializing in the development and delivery of reference diagnostics for exotic, naturalized, and indigenous plant viruses, as well as other phytopathogens relevant to agricultural biosecurity and microbial forensics. His work applies to plant pathogens and, recently, to animal, public health, and waterborne plant viruses and insects that can be intercepted at borders or detected through general surveillance of field settings or within transitional facilities. Ochoa Corona's research in plant pathology contributes scientific input to regulatory officials regarding plant health emergencies and focuses on targeted aspects of forensic plant pathology that are relevant to agricultural biosecurity in Oklahoma, the southern plains, the United States, and other regions of the world, such as the South Pacific and Central and South America. Dr. Ochoa Corona joined OSU from the Investigation and Diagnostic Centre (IDC) at Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ), a branch of the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), formerly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), where he served as Principal Adviser in Virology.

Research Interests:

The research in my laboratory focuses on developing, innovating, and improving tools for collecting microbial specimens applicable in biosecurity and microbial forensics. I lead my team in developing and improving detection, discrimination, and diagnostic platforms for microbes and insects. My research also aims to identify molecular landmarks and signatures of value for detection, as well as the implications of this genetic data on taxonomic relationships, including host-pathogen associations, waterborne plant viruses, arthropods, animals, and public health. Also, the use of plant pathogens as surrogates for biomedicine applications. My research output is applied to regional pests overseas, regulated organisms, select agents, or high-consequence microorganisms. My team has been developing solutions for wheat and Poaceae crops, citrus, grapevines, pome fruit trees, roses, chrysanthemums, ornamentals, and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. My research program is also interested in developing decision-support tools for prioritization, emergency management, and the prediction of biosecurity threats. We are also interested in monitoring the dynamics of relevant plant pathogens, tracking their pathways and global dispersal routes, and delimiting their biogeographic distribution.

Research Philosophy:
The way I understand and teach research defines "Invention as the occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the attempt to carry it out into practice" (Jan Fagerberg, Innovation: A Guide to the Literature": "The Many Guises of Innovation: What we have learned and where we are heading", Ottawa, October 23- 24, 2003). Therefore, I distinguish innovation from invention, and understand both are dynamic, time-lapsed core-complementing processes of creativity. The invention is the idea, and innovation is the realization of the invention. In practice, my research program invents solutions for its own or given problems and innovates its own or given ideas (inventions). The application of these concepts enables my team to be an effective and flexible science provider. Similarly, I believe extraordinary ideas are out of the ordinary, and even if they appear conventional, extravagant, or 'silly', they are never put away immediately, but given equal consideration and analysis. As a consequence, we prioritize ideas; some are innovated and some others archived, 'further munched' then innovated at the right time.

Marcos Ribeiro-Junior is a computational biologist working on pathogen detection, portable genomics, and bioinformatics.

Marcos Ribeiro-Junior received his Ph.D. in Agronomy (Plant Protection/Virology) from São Paulo State University (UNESP) in 2022, with a collaborative research period at Oklahoma State University (OSU). During his doctoral studies, he conducted research on molecular plant virology and bioinformatics, focusing on pathogen detection using high-throughput sequencing. Prior to that, he obtained his M.S. in Agronomy from UNESP in 2018 and his B.Sc. in Agronomy from the University of Marília (UNIMAR) in 2016.

I serve as state specialist for alfalfa, pasture, and pecan arthropod IPM. My current major responsibilities include providing stakeholders throughout Oklahoma with timely information on current issues and management of insects in these commodities . I rely on regular communication with county educators, alfalfa, pasture, and pecan growers, and area specialists to keep me informed on emerging arthropod pest issues around the state. I work closely with county educators and area specialists to share this information with Oklahoma stakeholders and industry representatives. 

I am a co-collaborator in the alfalfa workgroup consisting of commodity specialist, area specialist, and county educators in providing timely research and development of specific programming needs for alfalfa producers in Oklahoma. Similarly, I am a member of the OSU pecan team, serving the needs of Oklahoma Pecan growers.

My outreach responsibilities include development and delivery of educational programs regarding alfalfa, pasture, and pecan insect management to stakeholders statewide.

In addition, I'm also involved in support of county educator training through various In-service, demonstration plots, field days and specialty programs, as needed, including row crop and squash bug in cucurbits.

Research Interests:

Along with yearly alfalfa insecticide efficacy trials, I am involved in collaborative multi-state research projects that support my alfalfa extension program. These projects address alternative strategies for combatting alfalfa weevil insecticide resistance occurring within the state.

In state and collaborative multi-state pecan insect management research focusing on insecticide efficacy, use of biopesticides, and naturally occuring fungi as chemical alternatives to traditional chemical applications.

Management strategies for yearly pasture pest such as Fall Armyworm and assessing the significance of new pasture insect pests in Oklahoma.

My overall research focus include integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, insecticide resistance testing, plant-insect interactions, and biological control of key alfalfa, pasture, and pecan insect pests.

Dr. Poonam Sharma serves as a Research Assistant Professor and Assistant Director for the Diagnostic Assay Validation Network (DAVN) at the Institute of Biosecurity and Microbial Forensics (IBMF), OSU. With a PhD in Human Pathology, specializing in Infectious Disease from Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France, Dr. Sharma's research primarily focused on studying the lung and gut microbiota of cystic fibrosis patients.

Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Sharma gained experience as an ORISE Postdoctoral scientist through the USDA-ARS Research participation program. During this time, she worked in two different units at the United States National Poultry Research Centre, Athens, GA. In the Southeast Poultry unit, her research focused on the development of Next-Generation sequencing approaches for studying poultry-related viruses. She also established and managed the Next-Generation sequencing central facility. Subsequently, she moved to the Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research unit, where she investigated the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance.

Dr. Sharma joined IBMF in 2020 and was instrumental in establishing the National Diagnostic Assay Laboratory Network (DALN). Currently, her work centers around leading a national project aimed at building and coordinating the DAVN. The goal of this project is to enhance diagnostic practices for plant pathogens by addressing technical challenges across a range of molecular diagnostic tools and establishing standards for method development and validation research within the plant pathology community. 

Furthermore, Dr. Sharma is actively involved in developing assay validation protocols for Next-Generation sequencing of bacterial and viral pathogens in plants and food animals. Her efforts are directed towards advancing the field of diagnostic research and ensuring more efficient and accurate detection methods.

I am the State Pesticide Coordinator for the Pesticide Safety Education Program and an Associate Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State Universlty.

Maxwell Smith is the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Cotton Assistant Extension Specialist. His applied research is focused on IPM strategies for weed, insect, and disease management in cotton production. Maxwell's research extends into other row crops, including peanuts, corn, and soybeans. His goal for his research program is to develop outputs that provide IPM strategies that are efficacious, economical, and sustainable. 

Research Interests: Integrated Pest Management (IPM), weed science, entomology, plant pathology, crop protection, crop physiology, resistance management