I am interested in the introduction and spread of exotic organisms, and the use and suitability of biological control for their management. I also study arthropod-plant mutualisms related to plant defense (extrafloral nectaries with ants and parasitoids; and leaf domatia with beneficial mites), which may enhance or inhibit biological control. I have a side interest in ethnobiology (insects and plants in human cultures).
My recent and current research includes: (1) development of a biological control for two climbing ferns, Lygodium microphyllum and L. japonicum, introduced pests from the Old World; (2) introduction, colonization, and spread for these ferns in the Americas (3) appropriate use issues in biological control; (4) feasibility of biological control for skunk vine (Paederia foetida, Rubiaceae), a invasive weed in Florida; (5) ecology, geographical occurrence, and evolution of mutualisms between plants, bearing extrafloral nectaries and leaf domatia, with arthropods that result in plant protection; (6) routes of introduction of exotic organisms (invasive plants of horticultural origin and Cactoblastis cactorum); (7) ethnobiology (ethnoentomology and ethnobotany) particularly in eastern Asia.