Small Fruit Entomology Team
Primary Investigator
Lisa leads the state-wide SFH program and is based at the Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon, Washington. Originally from Iowa, Lisa developed her agricultural interests while spending summers on her family’s farm and helping her grandmother cultivate a diverse farmyard garden. Her horticultural interests grew as she engaged in international development projects at Iowa State University (ISU), which is where she also earned her BS in biology and horticulture. She continued studying at ISU and got her MS in both horticulture and soil science before continuing on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for her PhD. Lisa joined WSU in 2014 and has developed a diverse research and extension program with an emphasis on maximizing productivity, fruit quality, and on-farm efficiencies, while ensuring the health of adjacent natural resources critical for small fruit crop production in the Pacific Northwest. Primary research areas include optimizing pollination services in small fruit crops, improved end-of-life management of agricultural plastics used in small fruit crop production, machine harvesting technologies, and nutrient management.
Current Students
Graduate Students
Claire grew up in sunny San Diego but found her academic home in Washington state’s evergreen landscape. She earned her B.S. in Biology/Basic Medical Sciences from Washington State University in 2022 and later joined the entomology program at the WSU NWREC in Mount Vernon, where she expanded her experience across applied insect ecology and the life sciences. She is now a PhD student in the Small Fruit Horticulture program studying integrated pest management in blueberry systems, with research focused on two major arthropod pests: spotted wing drosophila and the blueberry aphid.
Outside of research, Claire enjoys crocheting, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with friends, family, and her cat.
Gusta is a Seattle native who was inspired by her backround in urban pest control to pursue a Ph.D. in Entomology. She began her collegiate journey at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon whilst simultaneously working with the LaHue Lab at the WSU NWREC. She then transferred to WSU Everett and compled a BS in Organic and Sustainable Agriculture in 2025. As an undergraduate intern with Dr. Louis Nottingham, Gusta began her research with spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) in blueberries, testing atlernative control methods to conventional pesticides. This led to her undertaking of projects using sterile insect release (SIR) on SWD partnered with biotech company Agragene. Gusta began her Ph.D. in 2026 with Dr. Louis Nottingham and has since joined the SFH team with Dr. Lisa Wasko DeVetter.
In her free time Gusta enjoys spending time with her son Mack, gardening, and art.