Dr. Jeff Harris, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology with extension, research and teaching duties. He serves primarily as the university extension specialist for apiculture, and in that role, he actively interacts with beekeepers at all levels through workshops, seminars, and various hands-on educational venues at local, state-wide, and regional beekeeping meetings. He teaches courses about insecticide toxicology, insects and human society, and an introductory freshman course about beekeeping and bird watching, two advocations that he has enjoyed since his youth. He has been at MSU for just over 10 years, and before coming to the university he worked for 15 years with the USDA Honey Bee Laboratory in Baton Rouge, LA where he worked with teams of scientists to breed honey bees for resistance to varroa mites. His is still keenly interested in exploring the mechanisms of resistance in these bees. Additionally, improved methods of selective breeding are a priority.
Dr. Esmaeil Amiri, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant pathology, and is housed at the Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, MS. He has research and extension responsibilities in pollinator health. His research interests focus on the health and reproduction of honey bee queens. He and his research group combine field activities and colony manipulations with molecular laboratory techniques and bioinformatic tools to understand (1) virus-host interaction and the role that the honey bee immune system and environmental stresses play in this interaction, (2) the effect of environmental stress on honey bee queen reproduction quality. Please do not hesitate to reach him if you need more information
Email: ea795@msstate.edu Office: +1-662-686-3215 Google Scholar Profile