My overall area of academic interest is applied insect ecology emphasizing the associations of soil insects with perennial grass-based agroecosystems.  My current research and extension program in soil insect ecology and turfgrass entomology emphasizes two trajectories.  The first is on the natural history and management of key turfgrass pests.  Our objective is to fill major knowledge gaps in our understanding of biology and ecology, advance alternative cultural and biological controls, disseminate the newest information, and identify and exploit new windows for pest management.  We are conducting studies in three systems that represent major priorities of New York State stakeholders and in turn are highly relevant to pest management in the Northeast and beyond.  This includes the landscape ecology of annual bluegrass weevils, the invasion biology of exotic crane flies, and the biological control of white grubs.  A second trajectory is the impact of plant protection technologies on nontarget soil arthropod communities.  Our objective is to gauge the magnitude and relevance of impacts on the abundance, diversity and ecological function of soil- and surface- active arthropods.  We are examining two contrasting systems.  In low-maintenance turf, we are conducting a series of field trials that are shedding light on the unintended consequences of reliance on long-residual soil insecticides for insect pest management.  In a second system, we are using a similar approach to examine nontarget effects within two tropical cropping systems – maize and cotton – where modern Bt-transgenic technology is being deployed for the first time in Colombia.

Program Website
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/faculty/peck/lab/home.html

Invasive crane fly factsheet
http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/turfgrass/default.asp

Annual bluegrass weevil factsheet
http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/turfgrass/default.asp

Societies
Association for Tropical Biology, 1997 – present
Colombian Society of Entomology, 1997 – present
Ecological Society of America, 1994 – present
Entomological Society of America, 1991 – present
Entomological Society of Brazil, 2001 – present
Florida Entomological Society, 2000 – present
Xerces Society, 2003 – present

Assignments
External Reviewer, LAC-Biosafety Project, CIAT/World Bank, 2009

Member, University Faculty Senate and CALS Faculty Senate, representative for Entomology-NYSAES, 2008 – present

Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Field of Entomology, 2007 – present

Vice-Chair/Chair, Federal Formula Multistate project (NE-1025), 2006 – 2007

Discipline Editor, Insect Management, in: Pest Management Guidelines for Commercial Turf, Cornell University, 2004 – present

English Editor, Colombian Journal of Entomology (Revista Colombiana de Entomología), 2003 – present

Current and Former Graduate Students
Maria Diaz, M.Sc., Entomology, Cornell University, 2006.
Anuar Morales, M.Sc., Entomology, Cornell University, 2009.
Masanori Seto, Ph.D., Entomology, Cornell University, expected 2010
Jairo Rodriguez, M.Sc., Crop Protection. National University of Colombia, Palmira, expected 2011

Current Postdoctoral Associates
Mathew Petersen, Ph.D. 2008 Iowa State University,  2008 – present

Current Program Staff
Daniel Olmstead, 2005 – present
Akiko Seto, 2007 – present

Current and Former Visiting Scientists
Ulíses Castro, Colegio de Posgraduados, Mexico, 2004 – 2005
Valerie Descours, ENESAD, France, 2004
Anyimilehidi Mazo, CIAT, Colombia, 2005 – 2006; University of Puerto Rico, 2008
Anuar Morales, CIAT, Colombia, 2003 – 2005
Claudia Ospina, CIAT, Colombia, 2005
Jairo Rodriguez, CIAT, Colombia, 2003, 2008
Gengping Zhu, Nankai University, China, expected 2009 – 2010

Publications

• Morales, A. and D.C. Peck. 2009. Synergies between biological and neonicotinoid insecticides for the curative control of the white grubs Amphimallon majale and Popillia japonica. Biological Control, in press. View Publication (pdf)
  
• Morales, A., A. Ospina and D.C. Peck. 2009. Variation in the laboratory susceptibility of turf-infesting white grubs to biological, biorational and chemical insecticides. Pest Management Science, in press.
• Ospina, C.M., J. Rodriguez Ch. and D.C. Peck. 2009. Key for the identification of the genera of Collembola in agroecosystems of Colombia [in Spanish]. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 35(1): 57-61. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C. 2009. Comparative impacts of white grub (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) control products on the abundance of nontarget soil-active arthropods in turfgrass. Pedobiologia 52: 287-299. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C. 2009. Long term effects of imidacloprid on the abundance of surface- and soil-active nontarget fauna in turf. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, in press.
• Peck, D.C. and D. Olmstead. 2009. Invasive Tipula (Diptera: Tipulidae) in turfgrass of the Northeast United States: geographic distribution and local incidence three years after detection. Journal of Economic Entomology 102(2): 652-658. View Publication (pdf)
• Diaz, M.D., M. Seto and D.C. Peck. 2008. Patterns of variation in the seasonal dynamics of Listronotus maculicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) populations on golf course turf. Environmental Entomology 37(6): 1438-1450. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C., D. Olmstead and A. Morales. 2008. Application timing and efficacy of alternatives for the insecticidal control of Tipula paludosa Meigen (Diptera: Tipulidae), a new invasive pest of turf in the Northeast United States. Pest Management Science 64: 989-1000. View Publication (pdf)
• Diaz, M.D. and D.C. Peck. 2007. Overwintering of annual bluegrass weevils, Listronotus maculicollis (Dietz) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in the golf course landscape. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 125: 259-268. View Publication (pdf)
• Rodríguez, J. and D.C. Peck. 2007. Biology and habits of Mahanarva andigena (Homoptera: Cercopidae) under screenhouse conditions [in Spanish]. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 33(1): 31-35. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C., E.R. Hoebeke and C. Klass. 2006. Detection and establishment of the European crane flies Tipula paludosa Meigen and Tipula oleracea L. (Diptera: Tipulidae) in New York: a review of their distribution, invasion history, and recognition.  Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108(4): 985-994. View Publication (pdf)
• Rodríguez, J. and D.C. Peck. 2006. Population parameters of Zulia carbonaria (Homoptera: Cercopidae) on Brachiaria ruziziensis [in Spanish]. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 32(2): 145-150. View Publication (pdf)
• Castro, U., A. Morales and D.C. Peck. 2005. Population dynamics and phenology of the pasture spittlebug Zulia carbonaria (Lallemand) (Homoptera: Cercopidae) in the Cauca Valley of Colombia [in Spanish].  Neotropical Entomology 34(3): 459-470. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C., A. Morales and U. Castro. 2004. Alternative methods for rearing grass-feeding spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae). Neotropical Entomology 33(3): 307-314. View Publication (pdf)
• Peck, D.C., J. Rodríguez Ch. and L.A. Gómez. 2004. Identity and first record of the spittlebug Mahanarva bipars (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cercopidae) on sugarcane in Colombia. Florida Entomologist 87(1): 82-84. View Publication (pdf)

Presentations

• Pest status of European crane flies in the Northeast.  Symposium (Recent advances in turfgrass insect management in the Northeast), Eastern Branch, Entomological Society of America, Harrisburg, PA, 2009.
• Natural history of spittlebugs in association with grasses: knowledge and knowledge gaps [in Spanish]. Symposium (Grass-feeding spittlebugs: a new entomological problem for sugar cane), Congreso de la Sociedad Colombiana de Entomología, Cali, Colombia, 2008.
• Soil insect pests: natural history and changing pest status in sugar cane [in Spanish]. VII Congreso de Técnicos Azucareros de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2008.
• Three years post-invasion: status of European crane flies in turfgrass of the Northeast. Symposium (Status updates on invasive insects of concern in the Northeast), Eastern Branch, Entomological Society of America, Harrisburg, PA, 2007.
• The nature and relevance of non-target effects: gauging the impact of white grub controls on turfgrass arthropod communities, Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, 2006.
• The nature and relevance of non-target effects: impacts of white grub controls on soil arthropod communities, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, 2006.
• Two years post-invasion: status of exotic Tipula crane flies in the Northeast, Department of Entomology, NYSAES, Cornell University, 2006.
• Bioecology of the most important insect pests of sugar cane [in Spanish]. Pantaleón Sugar Holdings, Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala, 2005.
• Perspectives for the management of grass-feeding spittlebugs in sugar cane  [in Spanish].  CENGICANA, Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala, 2005.
• Response, recovery and resilience of soil arthropod communities to the nontarget effects of white grub control Symposium (Developing ecosystem-oriented approaches for managing turfgrass and ornamental pests), Entomological Society of America, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 2005.
• How to develop an integrated control program for grass-feeding spittlebugs in tropical pastures: challenges and perspectives [in Spanish]. IV Foro Regional de Lechería Tropical, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico, 2004.
• Gauging the benevolence of lawn care: impact of pest management practices on non-target soil fauna. Symposium (Turf insects and soil environment – a tribute to Michael G. Villani), Entomological Society of America, Cincinnati, OH, 2003.