Features Fruit Production
New vegetable pest researcher at Ridgetown campus

April 9, 2008, Ridgetown, Ont. –
Insects have a new enemy at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown campus.
Christian Krupke recently joined the Ridgetown staff as the vegetable
crop entomologist and pathologist.

April 9, 2008, Ridgetown, Ont. – Insects have a new enemy at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown campus. Christian Krupke recently joined the Ridgetown staff as the vegetable crop entomologist and pathologist.

“Christian’s knowledge of crop pests will be a real asset to our research program,” says Art Schaafsma, director of Ridgetown Campus. “His research will be practical and beneficial for primary producers and the entire vegetable industry.”

Krupke comes to Ridgetown after working at Purdue University in Indiana for three years. His research at Purdue focused on corn rootworm and other pest management issues in field crops. In his new position, he will study pests in vegetable crops, particularly tomatoes, peppers, sugarbeets and cucumbers.

“My interests lie in the area of pesticide resistance, and I am looking forward to researching the pests and management techniques that are prevalent in fresh market and processing vegetables,” says Krupke. He feels a key challenge for Ontario growers is making sure the existing tools for managing pests remain viable because new options come along relatively infrequently.

In addition to his research, Krupke will be teaching biology and pest management courses to Ridgetown students.

Krupke is originally from Mississauga, and graduated with a BSc from the University of Guelph in 1994. He received his Masters degree from Simon Fraser University and then earned a PhD at Washington State University. He says he is glad to have the opportunity to work in Ridgetown and that “it is great to be living and working in Canada again.”