The Team
Matthew Berry
Research Associate
Rodrigo Diaz
Associate Professor
Fatima Nguyen
Student Worker
Matthew received his Bachelor of Science from LSU in Biological Sciences with a marine science concentration. He oversees the organization and completion of surveys and collections of Phragmites in the Mississippi River Delta and in the surrounding areas of southeast Louisiana. This is accomplished in order to better determine the health of the Phragmites as well as the abundance of roseau cane scale insects.
Rodrigo leads the research program on biological control and invasive species.
Fatima runs thermal ecology studies of Mexican rice borer (Eoreuma loftini), and assists with field and laboratory experiments.
Emily Passman
Student Worker
Emily assists with sample processing including aquatic macroinvertebrates, salvinia weevils and roseau cane scale.
Keyla Pruett
Student Worker
Keyla works with parasitoids of the roseau cane scale (Nipponaclerda biwakoensis), and assist with field and laboratory experiments.
Korey Pham
Research Associate
Korey has broad interests on conservation ecology in managed and natural systems. In partnership with the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) and LSU AgCenter, Korey is responsible for managing the giant salvinia weevil mass-rearing operation and monitoring giant salvinia infestations across Southern Louisiana.
Charlie Wahl
Research Associate
Charlie is responsible for the mass rearing of salvinia weevils in open-earthen ponds. In addition, he conducts research on the impact of giant salvinia on coastal freshwater wetlands.
Carlos Wiggins
Graduate Student
Carlos studies the insect herbivores associated with Conyza spp. (Asteraceae) in the Southeastern United States.
Lab Alumni
Leslie Aviles, MsC
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Leslie Aviles, MsC
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Leslie Aviles, MsC
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Leslie Aviles, MsC
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Salvinia weevil rearing operation in St. Gabriel, LA. Collection of plant and water quality parameters.
Rodrigo Diaz
Associate Professor
Rodrigo leads the research program on biological control and invasive species.
Fatima Nguyen
Student Worker
Fatima runs thermal ecology studies of Mexican rice borer (Eoreuma loftini), and assists with field and laboratory experiments.
Emily Passman
Student Worker
Emily assists with sample processing including aquatic macroinvertebrates, salvinia weevils and roseau cane scale.
Keyla Pruett
Student Worker
Keyla works with parasitoids of the roseau cane scale (Nipponaclerda biwakoensis), and assist with field and laboratory experiments.
Korey Pham
Research Associate
Charlie Wahl
Research Associate
Korey has broad interests on conservation ecology in managed and natural systems. In partnership with the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) and LSU AgCenter, Korey is responsible for managing the giant salvinia weevil mass-rearing operation and monitoring giant salvinia infestations across Southern Louisiana.
Carlos Wiggins
Graduate Student
Carlos studies the insect herbivores associated with Conyza spp. (Asteraceae) in the Southeastern United States.
Lab Alumni
Leslie Aviles, MsC
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance.
Rodrigo Diaz
Associate Professor
Rodrigo leads the research program on biological control and invasive species.
Logan Herbert
Research Associate
Logan is completing his Masters degree in Biology from Eastern Illinois University, where he is looking at insect community dynamics in hazelnut agroecosystems. He oversees the organization and completion of surveys and collections of Phragmites in the Mississippi River Delta and in the surrounding areas of southeast Louisiana. This is accomplished in order to better determine the health of the Phragmites as well as the abundance of roseau cane scale insects.
Karina Nolasco
MSc Student
Karina got her B. S. degree at Zamorano University in Honduras and interested in coastal dynamics. Karina will be working with Phragmites die-back project, specifically assessing the genetic diversity of Phragmites populations at the Mississippi River Delta.
Flaminia Mariani, PhD.
Postdoctoral Associate
​Flaminia Mariani is a postdoctoral researcher working on biological control of aquatic invasive plants including alligatorweed, water hyacinth, and water primrose. Her research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of transferring natural enemies within different regions of the United States. Flaminia obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental Biology from Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy. During her doctoral studies, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to investigate the biological control of invasive duckweed species in Europe.
Nahomi Lopez
Masters Student
Nahomi studies the impact of multiple biological control agents to reduce the growth of water hyacinth. She is interested in remote sensing as tool to assess plant damage.
Lab Alumni
Steven Woodley, PhD,
Postoctoral Associate
Ian Knight, PhD, Postoctoral Associate
Leslie Aviles, M. Sc.
Giovana Matos, M. Sc.
Balwinder Kaur, M. Sc.
Lori Moshman, M. Sc.
Zinan Wang, M. Sc.
Alana Russell, M. Sc.
Steven worked on biological control of giant salvinia, specifically, on population dynamics and the impact of salinity on the salinia weevil.
Ian managed the roseau cane scale project including field sampling, biological control, and host plant resistance projects.
Leslie studied the host range of the roseau cane scale and host plant resistance among Phragmites populations.
Giovana studied the impact of commercial entomophatogens on the crapemyrtle bark scale and associated predators.
Balwinder evaluated the establishment of parasitoids for the emerald ash borer.
Lori measured the impact of row cover fabrics and crowding as methods to increase overwintering temperatures for salvinia weevils.
Zinan studied the overwintering ecology of the crapemyrtle bark scale.
Alana compared the thermal ecology of the salvinia weevil from populations from Louisiana, Australia and Argentina.
Seth Spinner, B.S.
Matthew Berry, B. S.
Charlie Wahl, PhD
Seth studied air potato beetle distribution in LA and MS, and the biology of the fortuitous biological control agent of parrotfeather.
Matt assisted with the Phragmites die-back project. Matt was responsible for surveys of scales at the MS River Delta.
Charlie studied the impact of giant salvinia on macroinvertebrate communities in Louisiana.
Carlos Wiggins, M. Sc.
Carlos studied the diversity of insect herbivores on Conyza sp. in MS, LA and TX. This project was in cooperation with CSIRO from Australia.
Korey Pham, M. Sc.
Korey worked as Research Associate in the CWPPRA salvinia weevil program, and was a Masters Student studying methods to improve integrated management of salvinia.
Ilgoo Kang
Postdoctoral Associate
Ilgoo studied the phylogeny of the subfamily Cardiochilinae (Braconidae) which contains several parasitoid species of crop pests. In addition, Ilgoo participated in several projects on the use of molecular techniques in biological control.
Josh Snook
Research Associate
Josh led a the research on restoration trials of Phragmites at the Mississippi River Delta.
Violet Sparks, PhD
Violet studied the biological control of the Roseau cane scale (Nipponaclerda biwakoensis) by four non-native parasitoids.
Dane Shackelford
Research Associate
Emily Steen
Brandi Misiaszek, MSc.
Amori Bieller
Dane managed the Salvinia Weevil Rearing Program and contributed to expansion our greenhouse operation.
Emily conducted research on biological control of Ludwigia.
Brandi studied the impact of adventive weevil on the growth of Chinese privet.
Amori assisted with biological control program of water hyacinth, giant salvinia and water lettuce.
Caleb Louque
Maggie Keller, MSc.
Cecelia Dolaz
Victoria Ayala
Caleb assisted the biological control program of water hyacinth.
Cecelia assisted with the restoration program of Phragmites in the Bird's Foot Delta.
Maggie managed the rearing and monitoring of salvinia weevils.
Victoria got her Masters degree in our lab and worked on remote sensing of giant salvinia and the weevil.