James Wilson joined the Virginia Tech faculty in January 2017 as the new Extension Apiculturist. His duties include Extension efforts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and teaching the Bees and Beekeeping class and Insects in Human Society class on campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. James grew up in Southport North Carolina and earned his BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from NC State in 2008. During his studies at NC State he became engrossed in the smaller wildlife of the region, especially insects. James went on to earn his MS in Entomology with Dr. Rick Fell at Virginia Tech, researching forensic entomology in wildlife poaching, while trying to learn as much about bees as he could on the side. After his Master’s, James worked with Dr. Tom Kuhar, Vegetable Entomologist at Virginia Tech, on the Integrated Pest Management of Cucurbit Production in Virginia. His dissertation research focused on pest and beneficial insect interactions as well as the qualification of pesticide exposure risk to honey bees. Currently, James is working on identifying the pollinators at play in Virginia cucurbit production to enhance pollinator safety and crop production. James maintains Virginia Tech’s research and teaching apiaries and is looking forward to expanding the impact of Apiculture Extension throughout Virginia and surrounding states. For more information on Apiculture Extension in Virginia and ongoing research on bees in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech, please follow the Bee Group at VT on Facebook.

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