Dr. John Vandenberg

Research Entomologist, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

John D. Vandenberg grew up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and earned his degrees in Natural Resources (B.S., Univ. Michigan) and Entomology (M.S., Univ. Maine, Ph.D., Oregon State Univ.). He has worked as a Research Entomologist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service since 1983, spending 5 years each in Beltsville, Maryland, and Logan, Utah, and the last 11 years in Ithaca, New York. He has worked on pathogens of both pest and beneficial insects since 1975. He led a team of researchers analyzing the survival and behavior of honey bees that travelled on the space shuttle. He determined the causative agent and elucidated the infection cycle of a fungal disease of the alfalfa leafcutting bee, allowing seed producers to focus their control efforts on limiting the spread of fungal spores within, and between, bee nesting sites. A fungal strain he isolated from a pest insect later became the basis for an EPA-registered mycoinsecticide, and his work demonstrating the efficacy of this fungus for a caterpillar pest of crucifers led to commercial applications. He serves as Adjunct Professor of Entomology at Cornell University. He is active in professional societies and serves as co-editor for two scientific journals.