Ph.D. Candidate
Education
2020 B.S. Plant Sciences – University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Publication
Biography
Ben joined Mauck lab at UC Riverside after two years working in commercial agriculture growing hops, apples, and pears. During that job, Ben observed the limited options available to manage many insect pests. He also witnessed the difficulties for growers, who must make consequential pest management decisions quickly and with limited information while weighing complex ecological, social, and financial factors. This experience led Ben to pursue a Ph.D. where he could do research to improve our understanding of the biology of plant-insect interactions, and work on developing and deploying new tools to manage insect pests. Through this work, Ben hopes to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of farming, and advance farmworker and consumer safety.
Ben’s ongoing project focuses on breeding melon plants for resistance to sweetpotato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), a damaging pest and a vector of several important crop viruses. In addition to this lab-based research, Ben is working on a collaborative effort to develop an updated Pest Management Strategic Plan (PSMP) for the California melon industry. This PSMP will use surveys, interviews and workshops to better understand current farming practices, establish the most important research and regulatory goals for melon producers, and identify existing barriers to implementing more sustainable pest management tactics.
