Paul Esker and his research group are focused on increasing the understanding of how plant diseases affect field crops, including corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa. Specific interests in his laboratory include the role of decision theory and its application for field crop disease management, how different cropping systems affect plant disease dynamics (including the question of scale), how chemical and biological management tactics may reduce the risk of field crop diseases, and methods to improve diagnosis of field crop diseases. His laboratory also has an extensive international collaboration, with projects currently in Brazil (soybean), Mexico (corn), and Australia (pyrethrum). As the Field Crops Extension Plant Pathologist, Esker's goals include the integration of current research results into sound management recommendations for Wisconsin’s producers through a variety of multimedia approaches, developing training programs for field crop disease diagnosis, and increasing understanding the cost-benefit of using different management tactics for field crop disease control.
