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- Blake Wilson named AgCenter rice, sugarcane entomologist
(03/29/17) CROWLEY, La. – Blake Wilson has been hired as an assistant professor of field crops entomology with the LSU AgCenter.
Wilson’s primary responsibilities will be research and extension relating to rice and sugarcane insects. He plans to focus his program in rice on improving the economics and sustainability of integrated pest management.
Wilson said his program will aim to manage major insect pests of sugarcane, including the sugarcane borer and the Mexican rice borer, and rice insect pests that include the rice water weevil, rice stink bug and stem borers. Control tactics will include the judicious use of insecticides, resistant varieties and production practices that reduce pest populations.
“I will work closely with extension agents as well as work directly with farmers and crop consultants,” Wilson said. “I hope these frequent interactions with stakeholders will help me identify research priorities that will best serve the needs of the rice and sugarcane industries.”
Wilson has several trials in progress at the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station at Crowley and the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station at St. Gabriel.
“In sugarcane, we are examining effects of fertilization practices on pest populations. In rice, we are looking at efficacy of insecticidal seed treatments between hybrid and conventional rice lines,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s predecessor, Mike Stout, now the head of the LSU AgCenter Department of Entomology, said Wilson is uniquely suited for this position because of his extensive experience with stem-boring insect pests in sugarcane and rice.
“He is one of the best graduate students to graduate from our department in the 20 years I’ve been here,” Stout said. “He recently won the prestigious Comstock Award as the outstanding Ph.D. student in the Southeastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America.”
Wilson grew up in Mandeville, Louisiana, before attending LSU, where he received his bachelor’s degree in biology in 2009, a master’s degree in entomology and experimental statistics in 2011, and a doctorate in entomology in 2016.
He began his career in entomology working as an undergraduate laboratory assistant in Gene Reagan’s sugarcane entomology lab.
Wilson’s research focus has been primarily on examination of stem borer ecology and pest management in sugarcane and rice in Louisiana and Texas.
Wilson has published numerous entomology research journal articles, and his work has earned him multiple awards from the Entomological Society of America.
He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, Caitlin, and two daughters, Rumi, age 4, and 1-year-old Bundle.
Blake Wilson. Photo by Caitlin King-Wilson