Research
- Areas of Research
- Recent Theses
Areas of Research
 The Master of Pest Management program is recognized for its unique professional aspects that students gain, in part, from valuable contributions of research scientists and managers who participate as guest instructors. It provides a unique opportunity for students by offering a combination of basic research with the practical applications of pest management principles, as well as a broad and diverse selection of research areas for graduate student projects.
As new technologies and skills emerge with which pest problems can be solved, there are exciting research opportunities for both students and faculty. Society is faced with formidable challenges because the management of pests is becoming increasingly complex while constrained by limited resources and concerns of environmental sustainability. Hence, new and innovative approaches to management of pests are being developed that include biological control, biotechnology, and chemical ecology.
General research areas include apiculture, behavioural ecology, biological control, biotechnology, chemical ecology, chemical toxicology, insect biochemistry and molecular biology, disease vectors, plant pathology, plant stress physiology, vertebrate pests, and plant ecology. Student's research may study, for example, pests of agricultural crops and forests, small fruits and orchards, urban environments and recreational areas, rangeland and livestock, aquaculture fisheries, and those concerning human health.
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Recent Theses
These are some recent graduates of the M.P.M. program, with their associated supervisors and thesis titles.
- Tanaka, J.
- Chemical ecology of the white pine weevil in British Columbia (supervisor: Borden)
- Sinia, A.
- Effect of plant feeding on predation and foraging behaviour in Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) (supervisor: Roitberg)
- Mullan, J.
- Characterization and application of semiochemical-based attractants to suppress cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner), populations in vegetable greenhouses (supervisor: Gries)
- Tremblay, M.
- Microhabitat preferences and pheromone-based aggregation behaviour of the firebrat, Thermobia domestica (Packard) (Thysanura: Lepismatidae) (supervisor: Gries)
- Rose, S.
- Evaluation of commercial biological control agents and composts for the control of fusarium root and stem rot on greenhouse cucumbers (supervisor: Punja)
- Hill, D.
- Differential response to host odour in Anopheles gambiae Giles (supervisor: Roitberg)
- Gariepy, T.
- Epidemiology and molecular diagnostics of the Neofabraea pathogen complex associated with pome fruits (supervisor: Rahe)
- Feeney, M.
- Tissue culture of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) and hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of hemp (supervisor: Punja)
- Cutler, C.
- The influence of plant root systems on host-finding behavior in different isolates of entomopathogenic nematodes (supervisor: Webster)
- Cabrera, P.
- Productivity of white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi Peck) at three genetic resistance levels of interior spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) (supervisor: Roitberg)
- Rice, N.
- Control of the parasitic mites Varroa destructor and Acarapis woodi in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies using botanical compounds and integrated pest management (supervisor: Winston)
- Lohbrunner, G.
- Biological control of Acer macrophyllum: overview of host biology and the screening of fungal isolates with potential to control host growth (supervisor: Lee)
- Devlin, S.
- Comparative analyses of sampling methods for varroa mites (Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman) on honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) (supervisor: Winston)
- Babor, D.
- Semiochemical-mediated oviposition in house fly, Musca domestica (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae) (supervisor: Gries)
- Allison, J.
- Kairomonal responses by four Monochamus species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) to bark beetle pheromones (supervisor: Borden)
- Isaacson, P.
- Antimicrobial activity of Xenorhabdus sp. (Enterobacteriaceae), symbiont of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema riobrave (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) (supervisor: Webster)
- Hueppelsheuser, T.
- The use of Trichogramma, an egg parasitoid, as a biological control agent for management of oblique banded leafroller in raspberry (supervisor: Roitberg)
- Goudie, E.
- Implications of thinning and pruning on the incidence of pests in a lodgepole pine plantation in the interior of British Columbia (supervisor: Borden)
- Clodius, M.
- Investigation of pheromone-based mass trapping as a potential tactic for managing an urban population of cherry bark tortrix, Enarmonia formosana (Scopoli) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) (supervisor: Gries)
- Burleigh, J.
- Impact of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), on white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, in northeastern British Columbia (supervisor: Borden)
- Prasad, R.
- The effect of rearing temperature on performance of Trichogramma sibericum at ambient temperature. (supervisor: Roitberg)
- Bates, S.
- Impact of feeding by the Western conifer seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann (Hemipter: coreidae), on yield, seed storage reserves and seedling vigour in Douglas-fir. (supervisor: Borden)
- Wee, T.
- Biological and cultural control strategies for rice blast (Pyricularia oryzae), sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani) and tungro virus in Southeast Asia. (supervisor: Punja)
- Greenwood, M.
- Co-baiting for spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby), and the western balsam bark beetle, Dryocoetes confusus (Swaine). (supervisor: Punja)
- Morewood, P.
- Development of pheromone-based monitoring and detection of nun moth, Lymantria monacha L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). (supervisor: Gries)
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