University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Insects and Microbes

A world leader in entomology research
The UGA Department of Entomology is ranked No. 8 in the world among university entomology programs (2017, Center for World University Rankings). That ranking rests on the department's well-balanced strengths in basic, applied and directed science. Our deep, diversified team of outstanding scientists across Georgia enables the department to respond to urgent needs, like controlling an outbreak of whiteflies attacking food crops or identifying new pests like kudzu bugs and brown marmorated stinkbugs appearing in fields or ports. While applied scientists work to get the immediate issue under control, basic scientists go to work in the lab to understand the insect biology and seek long-term control solutions. Entomology is an integral part of UGA multidisciplinary teams working to improve agriculture at home and around the world. The unit plays a role in ensuring the success of every area of agriculture but also impacts public health, animal health and environmental health.
See Related Impact Statements
Bermudagrass stem maggot (2018) Classification and localization of cotton bolls in real-time using 3-D imaging and artificial Intelligence for development of a small robotic cotton harvesting platform (2018) Georgia Pecan Insect Pest Management (2018) Integrating Wetland Ecoystem Services into Agriculture (2018) Investigating vector physiology: hormones and microbes (2018) Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila in Georgia Blueberries (2018) New Research into Diamondback Moth Insecticide Resistance (2018) Parasite-host interactions (2018) The genetics of social variation in a highly invasive fire ant species (2018)

Our Research

The strength of the UGA Department of Entomology is the breadth and balance of its programs. View the core areas of research below as well as the faculty whose programs contribute to these areas.


Entomology Research News

The research group under Michael Toews scouts sugarcane aphids. CAES News
The research group under Michael Toews scouts sugarcane aphids.
UGA entomologist Michael Toews using grant to study sugarcane aphids
A team of agricultural scientists across the Southeast are using a $1.8 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) grant to study the impact of aphids in sorghum crops.
D.W. Brooks Award of Excellence winners Marc van Iersel, Vincent J. Dooley Professor of Horticulture; Lori Purcell Bledsoe, Georgia 4-H program development coordinator for Northeast Georgia; and Alfredo Martinez-Espinoza, professor of plant pathology, are congratulated by CAES Dean and Director Sam Pardue. CAES News
D.W. Brooks Award of Excellence winners Marc van Iersel, Vincent J. Dooley Professor of Horticulture; Lori Purcell Bledsoe, Georgia 4-H program development coordinator for Northeast Georgia; and Alfredo Martinez-Espinoza, professor of plant pathology, are congratulated by CAES Dean and Director Sam Pardue.
CAES celebrates solutions for feeding the planet and the leaders who are making those solutions reality
The students and faculty of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences came together Nov. 12 to celebrate the progress that agriculture has made in the past 50 years and the promise of innovations to come.
University of Georgia Regents' Professor Michael R. Strand has received one of the highest honors a scientist can receive — election to the National Academy of Sciences. CAES News
University of Georgia Regents' Professor Michael R. Strand has received one of the highest honors a scientist can receive — election to the National Academy of Sciences.
Entomologist Michael Strand named inaugural H.M. Pulliam Chair in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Professor Michael Strand has dedicated his career to unlocking the power of basic science to improve agriculture, and that dedication has earned him the recognition of the state’s agricultural community.
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UGA Department of Entomology