Tracy Leskey Named Scientist of the Year for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Research

Tracy Leskey, USDA-ARS.

The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has named Tracy Leskey among its Scientist of the Year honorees, citing her work in developing management strategies against the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). Leskey is research leader and director at the USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV.

The Northeastern IPM Center has a long history of collaborating with Leskey, who was project director of the BMSB working group originally funded through the Center’s Partnership Grants Program in 2010. That group laid the groundwork for a much broader BMSB project funded through the USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) since 2011. Leskey remains one of six co-directors of that project.

Leskey has also played a key role in the coordinated response to a more recent invasive pest, the spotted lanternfly (SLF). In 2018, the Center funded an SLF working group. The following year, the group leveraged its initial accomplishments to earn an SCRI grant of its own, with Leskey as one of seven co-directors.

Tracy Leskey has built a distinguished career researching sustainable management strategies against some of the most damaging invasive pests to arrive in the U.S. in recent history. The Northeastern IPM Center congratulates Leskey for this well-deserved recognition.

To learn more about the USDA-ARS awards, including this year’s other recipients, see the official announcement at neipmc.org/go/pCDt.