Research Entomologist
CONTACT
Phone: (309) 681-6231
Fax: 309-681-6693
Room: 3101B
USDA ARS NCAUR
1815 N University
Peoria, IL 61604
EDUCATION
PhD, Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, Illinois State University, 2018
BS, Biology, Illinois State University, 2012
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am broadly interested in exploring the microorganisms that infect and harm insects while concurrently assessing how insect hosts respond to infection (e.g., changes in behavior, immunity, survival). During my Ph.D., I was trained as an evolutionary ecologist with a focus on life history theory, specifically exploring the biotic and abiotic factors that may shift plastic (or, flexible) life history traits (e.g., reproduction).
Throughout my career, I have measured host response using a suite of behavioral, physiological, immunological, and molecular techniques in order to build on our current understanding of how insects deal with infection.
During my postdoc at the USDA (under the supervision of Dr. José Luis Ramirez), my primary research focus is to support the burgeoning insect agricultural industry (i.e., mass-reared insect used for food, feed, and fertilizer) by conducting research to prevent, manage, detect, and treat insect pathogens (e.g., disease causing bacteria, fungi, and viruses) within farmed colonies to improve yield and ensure health and quality of these products. I am also conducting research to improve the sustainability and reduce costs of insect rearing practices.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Project 1: In collaboration with Dr. José Luis Ramirez and lab members, I am working to identify pathogens that cause disease (i.e., entomopathogens) in farmed insect colonies by performing metagenomic screening across farming facilities. I am also conducting foundational research to understand the transmission and dynamics of these pathogens, including assessing the host immune response to infection, in order to ultimately develop detection and therapeutic strategies for insect producers.
Project 2: With Drs. Martha Vaughan and Susan McCormick (both within the MPM unit), I am assessing the ability of crickets to bioremediate mycotoxins, which are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain fungi infecting cereal grains (e.g., wheat). Specifically, we are providing crickets feed containing various amounts of commonly occurring mycotoxins (e.g., deoxynivalenol) and then assessing the amount of toxin present following processing. This research could valorize contaminated grain into food for livestock animals, like fish and poultry.
LAB MEMBERS:
Currently working in the laboratory of Dr. José Luis Ramirez
COLLABORATION / COOPERATION:
Local:
Martha Vaughan (MPM)
Susan McCormick (MPM)
Robert Behle (CBP)
National:
ARS Insect Meal Grand Challenge “Debugging a new mini livestock commodity:
Developing a model of insect production to demonstrate their value as a safe solution
for food waste and sustainable fish and livestock production”
Ben Sadd (Illinois State University)
Scott Sakaluk (Illinois State University)
Matthew Hillyer (USDA-ARS-SRRC-CCUR)
Brenda Oppert (USDA-ARS-CGAHR-SPIERU)
Karyna Rosario Cora (University of South Florida)
Foreign:
John Hunt (Western Sydney University)
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
Entomological Society of America
Society for Invertebrate Pathology
Phi Sigma Biological Honors Society
Sigma Xi Honor Society
HONORS and AWARDS:
2019
- Outstanding Ph.D. student, School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University (ISU)
- Cheung, Brown, Phi Sigma Award for Best Student Publication, ISU
- School of Biological Sciences nominee for the University’s Clarence W. Sorensen Distinguished Dissertation Award, ISU
2018
- ISU’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT)® 1st place award
- ISU’s 3MT® People’s Choice award (presentation can be viewed here: https://goo.gl/sfzaAC)
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
- International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) travel grant
- 1st place oral presentation, Phi Sigma Research Symposium, ISU
- R Omar Rilett Trust for Scholarships and Research travel grant, ISU
2017
- Godfrey Hewitt Mobility Award, European Society for Evolutionary Biology
- Grant-in-Aid of Research, Sigma Xi
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
- R Omar Rilett Trust for Scholarships and Research travel grant, ISU
- National Phi Sigma Society student research travel grant
2016
- EL Mockford and CF Thompson summer research fellowship, ISU
- Dissertation Completion Grant, Graduate School, ISU
- Animal Behavior Society student research grant
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
- Grant-in-Aid of Research, Sigma Xi
- Outstanding Ph.D. Teaching Assistant, School of Biological Sciences, ISU
2015
- Theodore J Cohn Research Fund, The Orthopterist’s Society
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
- 2nd place oral presentation, Phi Sigma Research Symposium, ISU
2014
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
2013
- RD Weigel Research Grant, Phi Sigma, ISU
- Outstanding BSC 101 Teaching Assistant Award, ISU
INVITED CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
Invited seminars
AGSX Virtual Symposium Spring 2021, Catching the bug: A path towards understanding the diseases of reared crickets
Université du Québec à Montréal, 2020, When resistance is futile: Exploring the terminal investment hypothesis in a gift-giving cricket species
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 2019, When resistance is futile: Exploring the terminal investment hypothesis in a gift-giving cricket species
Purdue University Northwest, Hammond, IN, 2019, When resistance is futile: Exploring the terminal investment hypothesis in a gift-giving cricket species
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2019, When resistance is futile: Exploring the terminal investment hypothesis in a gift-giving cricket species
Millikin University, Decatur, IL, 2017, Give it all we got tonight? A dynamic terminal investment threshold in male crickets
Other select presentations
Duffield, KR et al. (Entomology 2021, Entomological Society of America, Denver, CO, 2021) Characterizing the pathogenic viruses of reared crickets
Duffield, KR et al. (53rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Le Studium, IRBI, CNRS, University of Tours and the University of Guanajuato, 2021) Identification and quantification of entomopathogenic viruses in reared crickets
Duffield, KR et al. (17th Annual Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 2019) When resistance is futile: Age determines host reproductive effort under infection threat
Duffield, KR (Midwestern regional Three Minute Thesis® competition, Grand Rapids, MI, 2018) When resistance is futile: Exploring terminal investment in crickets
Duffield, KR et al. (17th Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2018) Immune experience interacts with host genotype in eliciting terminal investment
Duffield, KR et al.(Jacques Monod conference: Open questions in disease ecology and evolution: from basic research to evolutionary medicine, Roscoff, France, 2017) Immune experience interacts with host genotype in eliciting terminal investment
Duffield, KR et al. (16th Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE), University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, 2016) Give it all we got tonight? A dynamic terminal investment threshold in male crickets
Duffield, KR et al. (Animal Behavior Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2016) Give it all we got tonight? A dynamic terminal investment threshold in male crickets
Duffield, KR et al. (Animal Behavior Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2015) Terminal investment in the gustatory appeal of male decorated cricket nuptial food gifts
Duffield, KR et al. (Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Research Symposium, West Palm Beach, FL, 2015) Terminal investment in the gustatory appeal of male decorated cricket nuptial food gifts
SELECT INVOLVEMENT WITHIN ARS:
- Lead on the Insect Diseases working group on the ARS Insect Meal Grand Challenge “Debugging a new mini livestock commodity: Developing a model of insect production to demonstrate their value as a safe solution for food waste and sustainable fish and livestock production”
Publications Indexed by Google Scholar
Click here to view Google Scholar entries for Kristin Duffield
(The Google Scholar results may not reflect a complete or accurate listing for this scientist).
will take you to the publication reprint.)
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Robinson, K., Duffield, K.R., Ramirez, J.L., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Ashworth, A.J., Jesudhasan, P., Arsi, K., Morales Ramos, J.A., Rojas, M.G., Crippen, T.L., Shanmugasundaram, R., Vaughan, M.M., Webster, C.D., Sealey, W.M., Purswell, J.L., Oppert, B.S., Neven, L.G., Cook, K.L., Donoghue, A.M. 2024. MINIstock: Model for INsect Inclusion in sustainable agriculture: ARS USDA-ARS's research approach to advancing insect meal development and inclusion in animal diets. Journal of Economic Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae130.
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Duffield, K.R., Rosales, A., Muturi, E.J., Behle, R.W., Ramirez, J.L. 2023. Increased phenoloxidase activity constitutes the main defense strategy of Trichoplusia ni larvae against fungal entomopathogenic infections. Insects. 14(8). Article 667. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14080667.
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Duffield, K.R., Foquet, B., Stasko, J.A., Hunt, J., Sadd, B.M., Sakaluk, S.K., Ramirez, J.L. 2022. Induction of multiple immune signaling pathways in Gryllodes sigillatus crickets during overt viral infections. Viruses. 14(12). Article 2712. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14122712.
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Letendre, C., Duffield, K.R., Sadd, B.M., Sakaluk, S.K., House, C.M., Hunt, J. 2022. Genetic covariance in immune measures and pathogen resistance in decorated crickets is sex and pathogen specific. Journal of Animal Ecology. 00:1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13709.
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Behle, R.W., Wu, S., Toews, M.D., Duffield, K.R., Shapiro-Ilan, D.I. 2022. Comparing production and efficacy of Cordyceps javanica with Cordyceps fumosorosea. Journal of Economic Entomology. 115(2):455-461. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toac002.
-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
Duffield, K.R., Hunt, J., Sadd, B.M., Sakaluk, S.K., Oppert, B.S., Rosario-Cora, K., Behle, R.W., Ramirez, J.L. 2021. Active and covert infections of cricket iridovirus and Acheta domesticus densovirus in reared Gryllodes sigillatus crickets. Frontiers in Microbiology. 12. Article 780796. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.780796.