Dr. David Onstad

About

Activities and Interests:

I work for Corteva Agriscience and live in Washington state. I create and analyze mathematical models to evaluate resistance management strategies for insect pests and plant pathogens. Before 2012, I was a professor at the University of Illinois where I taught applied ecology and focused on IPM.

I have created models for more than 30 species of plants, insects, and diseases, including honey bees, predators, parasitoids, insect pathogens and plant diseases. My research topics include alfalfa, maize, soybean, broccoli, wheat, grape vineyards, apple orchards, woodlands, and a few other systems. I am Past-President of the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). In 2022, I was elected a Fellow of the ESA.

The third edition of my book, co-edited by Lisa Knolhoff, Insect Resistance Management: biology, economics and prediction, will be published by Academic Press in 2022. My latest book, The Economics of Integrated Pest Management of Insects, was co-edited with Phil Crain and published by CABI in 2019.

My long-term interests include promotion of entomology in museums, schools, universities, and many other facilities and institutions in society. I continue to advocate for the use of economic analysis in IPM. I also emphasize how entomology and IPM should change to significantly contribute to society and agriculture as the world changes beyond 2040.