KERSCH-BECKER LAB
at Penn State
Monica Kersch-Becker
Principal Investigator
I am an ecologist interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying species interactions. I use manipulative field- and laboratory-based experiments and chemical assays to examine interactions involving plants and arthropods. I am an assistant professor of arthropod ecology at Penn State. Previously, I was an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, a postdoc researcher with Gustavo Romero at the State University of Campinas, and a Ph.D. student with Jennifer Thaler at Cornell University.
Contact: mfkb@psu.edu | Google Scholar | Research Gate
Graduate Students
Danilo Ferreira Borges
Graduate Student
I am fascinated by plants and their defensive mechanisms. My research interests are focused on plant-arthropod interactions. Specifically, I am passionate about plant defensive mechanisms (chemical, physical, and biological) and how they varied between and within plants. I aim to investigate the effects of these defenses on arthropods communities.
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Bijay Subedi
Graduate Student
My main research interest centers on plant-insect interactions. I am concerned about different stress factors (abiotic: temperature, light; biotic: microbiomes) that could potentially affect/mediate the plant-insect interactions, and in turn, associated ecosystem services. Prior to arriving at Penn State, I obtained my Master’s in Entomology at the University of Idaho, USA, where I focused on the host finding behavior of Curculionid weevils using olfactory and visual cues of invasive weed and its confamilial plant species. Twitter: @BeejjuS.
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Alumni
Shuhan Yin
Research assistant
Currently at a Ph. D. student at the Penn State.
Jacob Herschberger MS 2022
Currently at a Ph. D. student at the University of Florida. Twitter: @JacobHerschber1
Tori Pocius
Postdoctoral researcher
2019-2020
Currently at Douglas Products as a field scientist I
Mary Arlin Bunnell
Undergraduate Student
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Abby Myers
Undergraduate Student
Hannah Thompson
Undergraduate Student
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