• Evaluating and developing treatment action thresholds for arthropod pests of field crops
• Developing environmentally and economically viable insecticide use strategies
• Monitoring insecticide susceptibility in arthropod pests
• Evidence-based refining of Integrated Pest Management strategies
• Monitoring resistance of targeted insects to transgenic Bt corn and cotton technologies
• Characterizing Bt resistance in field populations and enhancing Insecticide Resistance Management strategies

Commodity Support Programs (Corn, Cotton, Soybean, Sorghum):

• 2025: $187,000
• 2026: $240,000

Refereed Publications

Published or in press (12, 4 as first or corresponding author)

*listed as a co-first-author

Reisig, D., E. Goldsworthy, D. Kerns, S. Paula-Moraes, J.L. Jurat-Fuentes. 2025. First characterization of Vip3Aa resistance in beet armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) collected from cotton expressing Vip3Aa19. Journal of Economic Entomology.

Heu, C.C., I.X. Schutze, DM. LeRoy, Y.H. Wang, B.A. DeGain, D.D. Kerns, et al. 2025. Knockout of chitin synthase gene confers resistance to Bt toxin Vip3Aa in Helicoverpa zea. Pest Management Science.

*Roy, R., D. Kerns, J.L. Jurat-Fuentes. 2025. Resistance to Vip3Aa: A growing threat with unclear mechanisms and management implications. Insects. 16: 820

Roy, R., H. Abdelgaffar, D. Kerns, M. Huff, M. Staton, F. Yang, F. Huang, J.L. Jurat-Fuentes. 2025. Reduced processing and toxin binding associated with resistance to Vip3Aa in a strain of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) from Louisiana. Pest Management Science. 81: 4097-4107

Ross, S., F. Yang, J.C. Santiago-González, H. Abdelgaffar, D.D. Kerns, et al. 2025. Evaluation of GS-omega/kappa-Hxtx-Hv1a and Bt toxins against Bt-resistant and -susceptible strains of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). Pest Management Science.

Silva, T., G.A. Sword, A. Miller, J.A. Qureshi, G.P. Head, D.D. Kerns, et al. 2024. Reversal of practical resistance in fall armyworm to Cry1F maize: a case report on the resistance to susceptibility in Bt crops from the southeastern USA. Journal of Pest Science. 1-17.

Yang, F., G.P. Head, D.D Kerns, J.L. Jurat-Fuentes, D.L. Kerns. 2024. Diverse genetic basis of Vip3Aa resistance in five independent field-derived strains of Helicoverpa zea in the U.S. Pest Management Science. 80: 2796-2803.

Kerns, D.D., F. Yang, D.L. Kerns, S.D. Stewart, J.L. Jurat-Fuentes. 2023. Reduced binding associated with resistance to Vip3Aa in the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea). Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 89: e01644-23

Huang, F., Y. Niu, T. Silva, S. Brown, T. Towles, D. Kerns, et al. 2023. An extended investigation of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) survival and ear injury on transgenic maize hybrid expressing Cry1A/Cry2A/Vip3A toxins. Toxins. 15: 474.

Krob, J.L., S.D. Stewart, S.A. Brown, D. Kerns, S.H. Graham, et al. 2022. Standardized field trials in cotton and bioassays to evaluate resistance of tobacco thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) to insecticides in the southern United States. Journal of Economic Entomology. 115: 1693-1702.

Kerns, D.D., F. Yang, D.L. Kerns, S.D. Stewart. 2021. Evaluation of Bt resistance in Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) strains using various Bt cotton plant tissues. Pest Management Science. 78: 95-103.

Kerns, D.D., D.L. Kerns, G.M. Lorenz, A.L. Catchot, S.D. Stewart. 2020. Impact of various Bt cotton traits and the application of an insecticide on the within plant distribution of Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae and injured floral structures. The Journal of Cotton Science. 24: 148-158.

Oral Presentations

Conference Proceedings (6)

Professional Invited (16)

Professional Submitted (24)

Extension/Producer/Industry Personnel/Consultant Training Meetings (19)

Assistant Professor, Field Crop Entomology - Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University/LSU AgCenter, Winnsboro, LA (June 2024-Present). Responsibilities: Conduct entomology research in Northeast Louisiana. Primary research, extension, and outreach projects are associated development and integration of integrated pest management strategies in corn, cotton, grain sorghum, and soybean.

Graduate Research Assistant, Entomology - Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (August 2020- May 2024). Responsibilities: Conducted research regarding characterization of Bt resistance mechanisms. Used Proteomic, transcriptomic, and genomic techniques. Purified and distributed Bt proteins for collaborators across the US.

Graduate Research Assistant, Entomology - West Tennessee Research & Education Center, University of Tennessee, Jackson, TN (May 2018-August 2020). Responsibilities: Conducted field and laboratory research investigating insecticide resistance, ecology, and management of corn, cotton, soybean, and grain sorghum arthropod pests.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Ph.D., Entomology, Plant Pathology, and Nematology, 2020-2024

University of Tennessee, Jackson, TN. Master of Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology, 2018-2020

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Bachelor of Science, Entomology, 2014-2018