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. (17^th 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. (17^th 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. (16^th 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”

• MWA Area representative on the ARS Postdoc Advisory Council (PDAC) 

• Head of PDAC’s AgriCulture virtual webinar series 

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).

• Publications

  • (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)
  • Increased phenoloxidase activity constitutes the main defense strategy of Trichoplusia ni larvae against fungal entomopathogenic infections -(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.
    
  • Impacts of Repeated Liquid Culture on Entomopathogenic Fungi-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    
    
  • Induction of multiple immune signaling pathways in Gryllodes sigillatus crickets during overt viral infections -(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.
    
  • Crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) upregulate multiple immune pathways in response to an active viral infection-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Genetic covariance in immune measures and pathogen resistance in decorated crickets is sex and pathogen specific -(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.
    
  • Comparing production and efficacy of Cordyceps javanica with Cordyceps fumosorosea -(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.
    
  • Active and covert infections of cricket iridovirus and Acheta domesticus densovirus in reared Gryllodes sigillatus crickets -(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.