The Research and Education Center of the University of Kentucky at Princeton has had three entomologists since its foundation: Harley G. Raney (1970 to 1979), Doug W. Johnson (1980 to 2015), and Raul T. Villanueva (2016 to date). 

Harley G. Raney gave the first steps to develop an Integrated Pest Management program in Western Kentucky. The IPM program became popular with farmers who needed the expertise of trained technicians to monitor their crops for signs of pests and to have recommendations to control the pests in the most economical fashion possible. He moved to Lexington and assumed the position as state pest management coordinator until he his death in 1990.  

Doug W. Johnson was hired as the extension entomologist for field crops and horticulture in March 1980. Under his direction, the IPM program increasingly moved toward teaching farmers to use IPM techniques to improve pest control using economics as the driving force. His IPM program was directed to the reduction in the use of hazardous pesticides and the cost associated with pest control. Johnson, who passed in 2023, retired in 2015. 

Raul T. Villanueva was hired as the extension entomologist for field crops and hemp in 2016. He has centered his studies on the presence of invasive species and new native pests. Villanueva has also been working with horticultural crops and alfalfa, such as ambrosia beetles, mollusks in soybeans, sustainable agriculture, and programs of cooperation overseas. Villanueva has been cooperating with extension agents as well as supporting field crop farmers and commodities and the pesticide industry in developing efficacy tests of new chemistry products. 

"As the entomologist in charge of field crops at the University of Kentucky, my extension programs focus principally on wheat, corn, and soybean crops for the entire state. However, as the only member of the Department of Entomology outside of the Lexington campus, I am active supporting my clientele with entomological concerns related to vegetables, fruit, ornamentals, and arthropods invading structures and of importance for human health in Western Kentucky." - Raul Villanueva

Current Projects

Alfalfa

• Forage: fall armyworm outreach and research for alfalfa growers- USDA.
• Alfalfa weevil resistance to pyrethroids.

Corn

• Evaluation of damages and presence of target and non-target insects in Bt corn and non-Bt corn (conventional) in Kentucky- 2025 Kentucky Corn Promotion Council
• Monitoring of corn leafhoppers in KY

Hemp

• Evaluation of the efficacy, agronomic fit, and environmental fate of biopesticides for management of economically important diseases and arthropod pests of hemp
• Biopesticide efficacy against cannabis aphid, Phorodon cannabis; and hemp russet mite, Aculops cannabicola- FFAR-BioWorks- Cornell-UKY
• The agronomy of hemp and its uses in forage-animal agriculture- USDA
• Efficacy of chlorantraniliprole and zeta-cypermethrin against corn earworm in hemp- IR-4

Soybean

• Developing solutions to economic losses caused by slug feeding in soybean-United Soybean Board Grant
• Management tactics and tools for insect pests in the north-central region-NC IPM Center
• KY soybean board: management of native snails in KY
   

Wheat

• Climate changes and shifts on phenological patterns of aphids and armyworms in Western Kentucky
• Monitoring Hessian flies with pheromones
• Evaluation of late fall pyrethroid application to control aphids in commercial wheat fields
• Monitoring and evaluation of resistant strains of the fall armyworm

Future Trajectory

The entomology program in the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center should be centered on continuing to promote sustainable IPM programs and study the effects of climate change on insects, acari, and mollusks. Climate adaptations must be addressed in the near future since higher temperatures and droughts may cause the extinction of some arthropods. Climate elements also affect occurrence patterns, behavior, conservation, and change populations and speciation of pests and natural enemies. At the same time, the entomology program should adopt new technologies such as artificial intelligence, photography and images, and molecular techniques that can vastly speed up the task of identifying species. Other new technologies being developed for pests are the use of sound, radar or laser beams, images, sound recordings, and DNA sequences. All of them can help with the identification of insects remotely and may even separate their population presences based on their size and their wingbeat flight patterns. All this information can be used and applied with AI for its application to plant protection. As well, this may include the use of a new generation of insecticides, pesticide delivery, and safe use of pesticides for humans, the environment, and the protection of endangered species.