One aspect of my research involves trying to understand how interspecific interactions influence biological control. We are currently studying competition and hyperparasitism in whitefly parasitoids in order to determine whether these interactions may lead to reduced pest suppression.

The parasitoids that are my current focus are autoparasitoids; females develop as primary parasitoids of whiteflies, while males develop as hyperparasitoids, developing either on females of their own species or on other primary parasitoids. The sex-specific host relationships of these animals force one to adopt a different perspective on such topics as sex allocation, host selection behavior and parasitoid-host population dynamics.

I am also interested in the effects of selfish genetic elements such as parthenogenesis-inducing bacteria on the behavior and life history of these parasitoids.