Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, is being honored today as a finalist for a 2023 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (the Sammies) as an Emerging Leader for her pioneering work designing ways to use insects as biological controls for other bugs that damage crops, especially apples and pears, which limits the need for some pesticides, cutting costs for farmers and protecting the environment.
Sometimes, this involves relocating insects from one orchard to another or dropping predators from drones.
Schmidt-Jeffris, who is with the ARS Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research Laboratory in Wapato, Washington, collaborates with orchard growers all over the Pacific Northwest who are the producers of 70 percent of the country's domestic apples—90 percent of the organic apples—and more than 90 percent of the pears. By finding better ways to conserve natural predators of pests that damage fruit, Schmidt-Jeffris' advances are saving growers money and reducing pesticide use. For example, her work conserving predators of apple pest mites makes major contribution to a program that saves the apple industry $16.5 million annually.
Sometimes, growers need to add more predators to their orchards. This is where the drones come in. Since most of what has been known about releasing insects as biocontrols comes from greenhouse studies, much of Schmidt-Jeffris' work has been to figure out which biocontrol insects and methods don't work well in orchards. One technique she is leading the way with involves whether dropping the predators from drones saves growers labor and time, which is critical in the large orchards of Washington.
She has learned through her scientific studies that mealybug destroyer beetles are usually not reliable controllers of mealybugs on apple trees in the orchard, though they have been popular for the job in greenhouses. But she has found growers can use lacewings to control aphids.
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