Research

Our two major areas of study are:

Insect nutrition

• Physiology of sugar and amino acid nutrition
• Using genomic data to reconstruct and analyze insect metabolism

Insect interactions with beneficial microorganisms

• Nutrient flux between insects and their symbiotic microorganisms
• How the nutritional function of beneficial microorganisms is regulated by the insect host

Our goals are:

• To explain how interactions with symbiotic microorganisms enable some insects to thrive on nutritionally-inadequate diets
• To identify novel targets and strategies for insect pest control