Buss
Contact:

Steinmetz Hall
1881 Natural Area Dr.
Gainesville, FL 32611

(352) 273-3976
eabuss@ufl.edu

Eileen A. Buss
Associate Professor

Education

(70% Extension, 20% Research, 10% Teaching)

  • Ph.D. University of Kentucky, (Entomology), 1999
  • M.S. Michigan State University, (Entomology), 1996
  • B.S. Michigan State University (Zoology and German), 1993

Relevant Employment History

  • Associate Professor, University of Florida. 2007-present
  • Assistant Professor, University of Florida. 2001-2007
  • Research Entomologist and Director of the Industrial Affiliates Program, Purdue University. 2000-2001
  • Post-Doctoral Scientist, University of Kentucky. 2000

Extension Responsibilities

My extension program strives to develop and implement IPM programs for insectsthat infest turfgrass and ornamental plants in the urban landscape, and create extension educational materials (e.g., in-service training, pest fact sheets, trade journal articles, and other educational products) for county faculty, industry clientele/commercial pesticide applicators, Master Gardeners, and homeowners.

Specific programs are aimed at the commercial and homeowner audiences, and include providing insect identifications, teaching about pest diagnostics and integrated pest management strategies, and conducting insecticide efficacy testing against key pests to have research-based control recommendations.

Research Responsibilities

My research program complements my extension program, and specializes in developing reduced-risk pest management strategies based on insect ecology.

The emphasis is on reducing the amount of pesticide used in urban landscapes through manipulating normal maintenance practices, conserving biological control agents, proper pesticide selection, promoting biopesticides when appropriate, and targeted applications of effective products.

The primary pests that my program has studied include mole crickets, southern chinch bugs, the sugarcane grub, hunting billbug, tawny crazy ant, kermes scales and galling wasps on live oak trees.

Teaching Responsibilities

  • Teach the online course ENY3510C/ENY5516 Turfgrass & Ornamentals Entomology.
  • Give invited guest lectures in complementary courses.
  • I have chaired, co-chaired, or served on at least 30 graduate student (Ph.D., M.S., and DPM) committees.

Recent Grants and Contracts

  • 2014-15 - IR-4 Biopesticides grant. E. A. Buss. $13,530
  • 2012-15 - Assessment of southern chinch bug insecticide resistance prevention. E. A. Buss. Insecticide Resistance Action Committee Proposal. $45,202.
  • 2011-12 - Gall-maker management in live oak nurseries. FNGLA $5,000.
  • 2010-13 - Developing, demonstrating and disseminating cultural control recommendations for chinch bugs. USDA/NIFA PMAP. E. A. Buss (PI), J. Gillett-Kaufman, and L. Trenholm.
  • 2010-13 - Developing sustainable controls for the suppression of the invasive Caribbean crazy
  • 2009 - Assessing, developing and delivering practical landscape plant health care programs $193,386.97. ant (Paratrechina pubens) in natural and urban landscapes. Tstar grant. E. A. Buss (PI), D. Oi, and S. Valles. $120,000.for PCOs and Limited Commercial Landscape License Holders. UF Extension Program Enhancement Grant. $15,000.

Career Publications

  • Books, Co-author: 3
  • Book chapters: 4
  • Refereed papers: 35
  • Trade journal articles: 76

Recent Peer-reviewed Publications

Huang, T., O. Kostromytska, K. E. Kenworthy, and E. A. Buss. 2014. Zoysiagrass genotype responses to Sphenophorus venatus vestitus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 107(4): 1535-1542. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/EC13375.

Huang, T. and E. A. Buss. 2013. Sphenophorus venatus vestitus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) preference for bermudagrass cultivars and endophytic perennial ryegrass overseed. Florida Entomologist 96(4): 1628-1630.

Huang, T. and E. A. Buss. 2013. Abundance and population dynamics of adult Sphenophorus inaequalis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Florida. Florida Entomologist 96(4): 1609-1611.

Melika, G., E. A. Buss, J. A. Nicholls, J. P. Bird, and G. N. Stone. 2013. Life cycle of Disholcaspis quercusvirens (Ashmead), with a description of the sexual generation (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae). Florida Entomologist 96(3): 991-1001.

Bird, J. P., G. Melika, J. Nicholls, G. Stone, and E. A. Buss. 2013. Life history, natural enemies, and management of Disholcaspis quercusvirens (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on live oak trees. J. Econ. Entomol. 106(4): 1747-1756.

Sharma, S., D. H. Oi, and E. A. Buss. 2013. Honeydew-producing hemipterans in Florida associated with Nylanderia fulva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an invasive crazy ant. Florida Entomologist 96(2): 538-547.

Vázquez, J. C., R. N. Royalty, and E. A. Buss. 2011. Susceptibility of Blissus insularis(Hemiptera: Blissidae) populations in Florida to bifenthrin and permethrin. Florida Entomologist 94(3): 571-581.

Kostromytska, O. and E. A. Buss. 2011. Tomarus subtropicus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) larval feeding habits. Florida Entomologist 94(2): 164-171.

Kostromytska, O. S., E. A. Buss, and M. E. Scharf. 2011. Toxicity and neurophysiological effects of selected insecticides on the mole cricket, Scapteriscus vicinus (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae). Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 100: 27-34.


Revised 26 November 2105