Hannah Burrack

Professor Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Hannah Burrack is an applied ecologist with a focus on integrated pest management (IPM) in specialty crops.

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Michigan State University

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Biography

Hannah Burrack is an applied ecologist with a focus on integrated pest management (IPM) in specialty crops. During her 14-year career at North Carolina State University, Burrack led entomology research and extension efforts for blueberries, caneberries, grapes, tobacco and industrial hemp. She generated $10.8 million in funding to support these efforts, authored 71 peer reviewed articles or book chapters, and developed a wide-ranging extension program, including delivering over 500 extension presentations to audiences totally over 28,000 stakeholders. Burrack has a particular interest in the monitoring and management of invasive agricultural pests. Since 2010, she has been an international leader in coordinating research, education and extension efforts on Drosophila suzukii, the spotted-wing drosophila.

Mentorship is a high priority for Burrack. She has advised or served on committees for 5 post-doctoral scholars, 5 international visiting scholars, 13 undergraduate research projects, 13 PhD students and 17 MS students.

Burrack served as the inaugural Director for Education and Outreach with the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative at NC State University from 2020 to 2021. She became chairperson of Michigan State University’s Department of Entomology on January 1, 2022.

Areas of Expertise

Integrated Pest Management
Invasive Species Biology
Insect Monitoring
Insect Host Choice
Insect-Plant Interactions
Stakeholder Engagement
Public Education

Education

University of California-Davis

Ph.D.

Entomology

2007

University of Wisconsin-Madison

B.S.

Entomology, Rural Sociology

2002

News

Cricket Crunch: MSU Dairy Store, Department of Entomology create new ice cream flavor

The State News  online

2024-05-17

Hannah Burrack is the current chairperson in the Department of Entomology at MSU and is one of the people who organized the symposium, including creating Cricket Crunch. Burrack said the symposium is extremely important to those interested in entomology and those who are already in the field.

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Ask the expert: The cicadas are coming

MSU Today  online

2024-04-17

For the first time in more than 200 years, two broods of cicadas – Brood XIX, known as the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, known as the Northern Illinois Brood – will emerge from the ground simultaneously. Hannah Burrack, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University, answers questions about this rare occurrence.

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Michigan State University creating tools to train veterinarians in honey bee medicine

MSU College of Agriculture & Natural Resources  online

2022-10-28

“Veterinary care is often essential to maintain commercial honey bee hives, but honey bee health has not traditionally been part of veterinary training,” said Hannah Burrack, MSU Department of Entomology chair. “Dr. Milbrath is using her deep expertise in honey bee health to develop innovative programs to build the capacity of veterinarians to be proactive partners with beekeepers. This partnership is critical for continued pollination services and food security.”

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Journal Articles

Comparing the effectiveness of different insecticide application orders for suppressing Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) infestation: experimental and modeling approaches

Journal of Economic Entomology

2023

Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a key pest of soft-skinned fruit such as blackberry and blueberry. Differing seasonal spray regimes are expected to have variable effects on D. suzukii populations. Semi-field cage trials were performed at three locations in the United States (Georgia, Oregon, and North Carolina) on blueberry and blackberry crops to evaluate this hypothesis. Insecticides with different efficacy rates (ZC - zeta-cypermethrin, SPI - spinetoram, CYAN - cyantraniliprole) were applied during field experiments conducted within large cages. Treatment schedules consisted of two insecticide applications which performed over three weeks. Seasonal treatment schedules were applied in the following order: ZC-CYAN and CYAN-ZC in rabbiteye and highbush blueberry with the addition of a ZC-SPI treatment applied in blackberry.

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Moisture and soil type are primary drivers of Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) pupation

Environmental Entomology

2023

Studies in the lab have demonstrated that evaluating the effect of soil moisture and other variables is essential for understanding the importance of environmental factors influencing the Heliothinae pupal stage, but simulated field studies are conducted infrequently. We compared the pupation of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under saturated and unsaturated conditions across 3 distinct soil types (coarse sand, high organic muck, and fine-textured clay) and observed adult emergence, as well as pupal depth and weight. The interaction between soil type and moisture had a significant effect on adult emergence. Fewer adults emerged from dry fine-textured clay soil than from dry coarse sand and high organic muck. However, there was no effect of soil type and no interaction between soil and moisture on pupal depth.

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Assessing the impact of piercing-sucking pests on greenhouse-grown industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)

Environmental Entomology

2024

Cannabis sativa or hemp, defined as

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