John Tooker

Recent news! - Read some of the news coverage our work has received! Lab staff members Dr. Eric Yip (PhD, Cornell), Assistant Research Professor, Ecology of plant-insect interactions Grace Gutierrez, research assistant Current graduate students Francesca Ferguson, PhD student in Ecology (co-advised by Heather Preisendanz) B.S., Environmental Chemistry, Juniata College Jared Adam, MS student B.S., Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University Robert Witkowski, PhD student in Plant Biology (co-advised by Tanya Renner) B.S., Plant Biology, University of Nebraska Alexela Hoyt B.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut Adegboyega Fajemisin, PhD student M.S., Agricultural, Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Current undergraduate students We are usually looking for undergraduate assistants. Please get in touch with Tooker if interested Former undergraduate helpers: Ken, Jen, Kyra, Dan (L to R) enjoying some gall collecting! Former graduate students Eric Bohenblust, PhD student, Graduated 2014 (Current position: US EPA) EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship John Henry Comstock Award from Entomological Society of America Asa Fitch Award from Entomological Society of America Ian Grettenberger, PhD student, Graduated 2015 (Current position: Assistant Professor, Univ. California, Davis) USDA NIFA Graduate Fellowship recipient USDA NE-SARE Graduate Fellowship recipient Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research recipient Anjel Helms, PhD student, Graduated 2015 (Ecology Program; co-advised with Mark Mescher) (Current position: Assistant Professor of Entomology, Texas A&M) NSF Graduate Fellowship recipient PSU Alumni Association Dissertation Award Maggie Douglas, MS student, Graduated 2012; PhD student, Graduated 2016 (Current position: Assistant Professor, Dickinson College) USDA Borlaug Fellowship recipient USDA NE-SARE Graduate Fellowship recipient Asa Fitch Memorial Award for Best Masters Student, Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America, 2012 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research recipient Anna Busch, MS student, Graduated 2016 (Current position: Agronomy Extension Educator, Union County, PA) B.S., Plant Biology - Michigan State University Anthony Vaudo, PhD student (co-advised with Christina Grozinger), Graduated 2016 (Current position: U.S. Forest Service, Idaho) M.S., Entomology, University of Florida USDA NIFA Graduate Fellowship recipient Recipient of North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Bee Health Improvement Project Grant Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research recipient Angela Coco, MS student, Graduated 2019 (Current position: Product Development Engineer, Hercon Environmental) B.S., Environmental Science - King's College Sarah McTish, MS student, Graduated 2019 (Current position: Extension Educator, Penn State Extension, Berks County, PA) B.S., Agricultural Science - Penn State Kirsten Pearsons, PhD student, Graduated 2020 (Current position:IPM Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension ) B.S., Environmental Toxicology - University of California, Davis USDA NE-SARE Graduate Fellowship recipient Elizabeth Rowen, PhD student, Graduated 2020 (Current position: Assistant Professor of Entomology, West Virginia University) M.S., Entomology - Purdue University USDA NIFA Graduate Fellowship recipient USDA NE-SARE Graduate Fellowship recipient Melanie Kammerer Allen, PhD student, Graduated 2020 (Ecology Program; co-advised with Christina Grozinger) (Current position: Geospatial Data Scientist with EcoData) M.S., Ecology - Penn State USDA NIFA Graduate Fellowship recipient Julie Golinski, MS student, Graduated 2020 (Current position: Associate Entomologist, FMC Corp.) B.S., Washington College Julie Baniszewski, PhD student, Graduated 2021 (Current position: Postdoctoral Scientist, USDA-ARS) M.S., Plant And Soil Science - University of Kentucky USDA NE-SARE Graduate Fellowship recipient Daniel Bliss, MS student, Graduated 2023 (Current position: Bartlett Tree, North Carolina) B.S., Biology, Ursinus College Former postdoctoral researchers Dr. Kevin Rice (PhD, Ohio State) - Ecology of brown marmorated stink bug (Current position: Associate Professor and Director of the Alson H Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech) Dr. Anjel Helms (PhD, Penn State) - Ecology of plant-insect interactions in Solidago (Current position: Assistant Professor of Entomology, Texas A&M) Dr. Marion Le Gall (PhD, Texas A&M) - Ecological control of slugs in no-till crop fields (Current position: Assistant Research Professor, Arizona State University) Dr. Kirsten Pearsons (PhD, Penn State) - Ecotoxicology of invertebrates in no-till crop fields Dr. Matthew Boucher (PhD, Cornell) - Ecology of invertebrate pests in no-till, cover cropped fields, Precision Sustainable Agriculture (Current position: Soil Scientist, Maine Dept. of Ag) Former undergraduate researchers Lasair Ni Chochlain, B.S. Penn State Schreyer Honors College, Graduated 2021 Hayden Bock, B.S. Penn State, Graduated 2020 Sarah McTish, B.S. Penn State, Graduated 2017 Allie Shoffner, B.S. Penn State Schreyer Honors College, Graduated 2012 Former Lab managers Andrew Aschwanden Sarah Kossak Departmental focus areas Chemical Ecology Ecological Applications Research Insect-plant interactions in agricultural systems, chemical ecology, induced host-plant defenses, natural-enemy ecology, tritrophic interactions, gall-inducing insects Word clouds built from batches of recent abstracts (These clouds give a sense of our research areas/themes/systems. The size of the word is proportional to the frequency of its use in the abstracts): 2023 - word cloud developed from abstracts submitted to EntSoc 2023 2017 2014 2011 Publications The Herbivory Variability Network 2023. Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain variability in global herbivory. Science 382:679-683. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh8830. (Tooker one of many co-authors). Guiguet, A., J. F. Tooker, A. R. Deans, I. Miko, G. Ning, S. Schweger, and H. M. Hines. Comparative anatomy of venom glands suggests a role of maternal secretions in gall induction by cynipid wasps. Insect Systematics and Diversity 7: 3. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixad022 Seng, S. G. Ponce, P. Andreas A. Kisiala, R. De Clerck-Floate, D. G. Miller III, M.-S. Chen, J. F. Tooker, P. W. Price, R.J.N. Emery, and E. F. Connor. Abscisic Acid: A Secreted Effector Synthesized by Phytophagous Insects for Host-plant Manipulation. Insects 14: 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14060489. Guiguet, A., N. B. McCartney, K. J. Gilbert, J. F. Tooker, A. R. Deans, J. G. Ali, and H. M. Hines. 2023. Extreme acidity in a cynipid gall: a potential new defensive strategy against natural enemies. Biology Letters 19: 20220513. ***Dr. Guiguet was recognized for this innovative study as a runner-up for the 2022 Biology Letters Early Career Researcher Competition Skvarla, M. J., J. F. Tooker, A. Murillo-Williams. 2023. New Information about Lizard Beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Languria angustata (Beauvois, 1805) and Languria mozardi Latreille, 1807) in Pennsylvania. The Coleopterists Bulletin 77:28-31. Kunkel, B., W. J. Cissel, J. F. Tooker, D. K. Howe, D. R. Denver, R. Mc Donnell, and I. Hiltpold. 2023. Nematodes associated with terrestrial slugs in mid-Atlantic (Delaware, USA) soybean. Agronomy 13: 645; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13030645 Insect ecology, Plant-insect interactions, Conservation biological control, Chemical ecology, Gall insects

The Herbivory Variability Network 2023. Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain variability in global herbivory. Science 382:679-683. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh8830. (Tooker one of many co-authors). Guiguet, A., J. F. Tooker, A. R. Deans, I. Miko, G. Ning, S. Schweger, and H. M. Hines. Comparative anatomy of venom glands suggests a role of maternal secretions in gall induction by cynipid wasps. Insect Systematics and Diversity 7: 3. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixad022 Seng, S. G. Ponce, P. Andreas A. Kisiala, R. De Clerck-Floate, D. G. Miller III, M.-S. Chen, J. F. Tooker, P. W. Price, R.J.N. Emery, and E. F. Connor. Abscisic Acid: A Secreted Effector Synthesized by Phytophagous Insects for Host-plant Manipulation. Insects 14: 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14060489. Guig