Dr. Kacie Athey (she/her/hers)– Principle Investigator
Assistant Professor and Faculty Extension Specialist- Crop Sciences Department; Affiliate Faculty-Entomology Department
Dr. Athey contributes to the understanding of non-chemical insect control within specialty crops systems. Her research combines field research with molecular gut content analysis to study practical insect control applications and arthropod food webs.
Education
PhD. Entomology, University of Kentucky, 2017
M.S. Entomology, University of Kentucky, 2010
B.S. Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2007
Academic Positions
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sept. 2020-present
Postdoctoral Scholar, Washington State University, 2019-2020
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Kentucky, 2017-2018
Senior Laboratory Technician, University of Kentucky, 2010-2016
Lab Members (In alphabetical order by last name):
Salma Akter (she/her/hers)- PhD Student
I am a PhD student interested in crop insect pests and their management. Specifically, I will focus on training a robot to identify pest insects in vegetable-high tunnels. The aim is to assist the robot in determining the economic threshold for pest management actions based on real-time insect pest abundance. Additionally, I will be investigating the ecological attributes of pest management within and around the high tunnel system.
Outside of my studies, I enjoy cooking, visiting new places, and spending quality time with my family and friends.
Eleanor (Ellie) Meys (she/her/hers)- Academic Hourly Researcher
I graduated from the Specialty Crops Entomology Lab, where my Master’s thesis focused on arthropod predator-prey food webs in high tunnels. Currently, my role is to support the bug2school program. In my free time, I enjoy cross-stitching, hiking, birding, gardening, and restoring old radios!