Integrated pest management (IPM) is a management approach that aims to balance the good and bad organisms in the agricultural environment. We focus our studies on insects, which play an integral role in our food production. Pest insects can be destructive to a crop and cause significant reductions in yield or quality of a fruit. IPM also aims to protect beneficial insects - the predators and the pollinators - in the agroecosystem. Together, the pests and the beneficials make up our system. In perennial fruit crops, we have the opportunity to incorporate multiple IPM tactics with a focus on organismal and systems ecology. By integrating insect's population ecology, behavioral ecology, beneficial insect services and top-down inputs, we can refine IPM programs and increase our agricultural economic and environmental sustainability. 
Connecting with fruit growers and extension educators is key to our success. The Nielsen fruit lab accomplishes this is multiple ways. Through externally funded grants, we work directly with growers to evaluate management tactics on their farms. Conversations and feedback from growers help guide much of this research and we learn as much from them as they hopefully do from us! Visits to growers experiencing a problem are also essential and help to establish a relationship between researchers and producers. We also work closely with the Rutgers Fruit IPM program to connect with growers. Finally, research results are communicated through traditional means via twilight meetings, extension meetings, fact sheets and online newsletters. 
We are a group of passionate applied insect ecologists who want to find sustainable solutions to pest-related issues in fruit. The lab juggles many research projects spanning a broad range of ecology, behavior, biological control and population biology. Much of our work is conducted in the field, specifically in rural southern New Jersey at at the Rutgers Ag Research farm but we do travel throughout the state and within the region to conduct our research. The lab currently has a full time technician, a post-doc, two graduate students and is lead by Dr. Anne Nielsen. Together we are an energetic group and Anne encourages each lab member to contribute to the lab in his or her own individual way.  


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