Biology
Cory Straub
Associate Professor of Biology
Our research lab studies the ecology of insects in agricultural systems. We seek ecologically-based strategies for controlling insect pests, with the goal of reducing the need for chemical insecticides that threaten environmental and human health.
Cory Straub earned his Ph.D. from Washington State University and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Straub lab studies the
Department
Degrees
- B.A., Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- M.S., Central Washington University
- Ph.D., Washington State University
Teaching
Issues in Ecology and Evolution
Insect Biology
Conservation Biology
Animal Behavior
Common Intellectual Experience
Research Interests
Agroecology
Conservation of beneficial insects
Predator-prey interactions
Recent Work
(*indicates undergraduate co-author)
Jonsson, M., R. Kaartinen, C. S. Straub. 2017. Relationships between natural enemy diversity and biological control. Current Opinion in Insect Science 20:1-6.
Jonsson, M., C. S. Straub, R. K. Didham, H. L. Buckley, B. S. Case, R. J. Hale, C. Gratton, S. D. Wratten. 2015. Experimental evidence that the effectiveness of conservation biological control depends on landscape complexity. Journal of Applied Ecology 52:1274-1282.
Roubinet, E., C. S. Straub, T. Jonsson, K. Staudacher, M. Traugott, B. Ekbom, M. Jonsson. 2015. Additive effects of predator diversity on pest control caused by few interactions among predator species. Ecological Entomology 40:362–371.
Straub, C. S., N. P. Simasek*, M. R. Gapinski*, R. Dohm*, M. R. Gapinski, E. O. Aikens*, C. Nagy*. Plant diversity increases herbivore movement and vulnerability to predation. Basic and Applied Ecology 15:50-58
Straub, C. S., N. P. Simasek*, M. R. Gapinski*, R. Dohm*, E. O. Aikens*, S. Muscella*. 2013. Influence of nonhost plant diversity and natural enemies on the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae, and pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, in alfalfa. Journal of Pest Science 86:235-244.
Werling, B. P., J. Harmon, C. S. Straub, C. Gratton. 2012. Influence of native North American prairie grasses on predation of an insect herbivore of potato. Biological Control 61:15-25.
Straub, C. S., A. R. Ives, and C. Gratton. 2011. Evidence for a tradeoff between host-range breadth and host-use efficiency in aphid parasitoids. The American Naturalist 177:389-395.
Straub, C. S., and W. E. Snyder. 2008. Increasing enemy biodiversity strengthens herbivore suppression on two plant species. Ecology 89: 1605-1615.
Straub, C. S., D. L. Finke, and W. E. Snyder. 2008. Are the conservation of natural enemy biodiversity and biological control compatible goals? Biological Control 45: 225-237.
Straub, C. S., and W. E. Snyder. 2006. Species identity dominates the relationship between predator biodiversity and herbivore suppression. Ecology 87:277-282.
Snyder, W. E., G. B. Snyder, D. L. Finke, and C. S. Straub. 2006. Predator biodiversity strengthens herbivore suppression. Ecology Letters 9:789-796.?