Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Kelsey E. Fisher

Kelsey E. Fisher, Ph.D.

 

Department of Entomology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Voice: (203) 974-8561 Fax: (203) 974-8502
E-mail: Kelsey.Fisher@ct.gov

Expertise: 

My research focuses on how insects move around, what kinds of habitats they can live in, and how landscapes affect them. It also includes using maps and models to study their behavior, protecting pollinators, and finding better ways to manage farm pests.

Education:

Ph.D. in Entomology, Iowa State University, 2021

M.S. in Entomology, University of Delaware, 2015

B.S. in Biology, Widener University, 2013

 

Station Career:

Assistant Agricultural Scientist II: 2023-present 

 

Current Research:

How animal populations grow, survive, and spread depends on how animals move and how their habitats are arranged. Healthy animal populations need access to enough food, places to mate, and safe spots for nesting and surviving the winter. Sometimes these good habitats are separated from each other and surrounded by cities, farms, or forests. Animals that can move through these areas may use a lot of energy, while those that cannot may become isolated, run out of resources, or suffer from inbreeding. Connecting habitats—either with natural corridors or with small patches of helpful habitat—makes it easier for animals to move around, grow their populations, and share genes.
 

As a scientist who studies how insects move, my research looks at how insects travel and use space in broken‑up habitats. I study their movement and how they spread across different areas. I use many research methods in the field, greenhouse, and lab to answer questions about controlling harmful insects and protecting helpful ones. These methods include radio tracking, studying genetics, looking at chemical markers, mapping, and computer modeling. I am currently working on projects that explore how monarch butterflies, bumblebees, spotted lanternflies, and European corn borers move, spread, and find suitable habitats.

 

Click this link to view the Pollinator Information Page.

 

Past Research:

From 2016 to 2022, I studied how monarch butterflies move through farm areas in the Midwest. My research showed that milkweed and nectar plants should be placed within 50 meters of existing habitat. This helps create connected spaces that make it easier for monarchs to travel.

From 2013 to 2015, I studied how well the European corn borer can use different farm crops as host plants. These crops had different levels of natural defenses.

Publications:

  • Fisher, KE, CB Bryan, K Kulakowski, C Acevado, K Anderson, K Goldman, S Shimota, SP Bradbury. 2026. Impacts of common milkweed leaf age on larval monarch survival, growth, development, and feeding behavior. INSECTS. Special Issue: Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation of Butterflies. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects17020215

  • Fisher, KE, B Coates, E Dopman, D Rowland, C Abel, J Smith, & G Dively. 2026. Evidence of field-evolved resistance in Ostrinia nubilalis to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab and Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2 sweet corn in Connecticut, USA. Economic Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaf346

  • Donahey E. & KE Fisher. 2025. Efficacy of human-managed milkweed (Asclepias spp.) dispersal methods to support monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) conservation. Journal of Insect Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-025-00707-2 
  • Fisher, KE, A Filandro, SP Bradbury, AD Wanamaker, & BS Coates. 2024. Breeding season temporal and spatial trends in continental-scale migration of the monarch butterfly. Environmental Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvae076
  • Fisher, K. E., & Bradbury, S. P. (2023). Breeding habitat restoration: How movement ecology research can inform best practices for target acreage and site selection. Current Opinions in Insect Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2023.101108
  • Fisher, K. E., Snyder, B. R., & Bradbury, S. P. (2023). Blooming forbs utilized by breeding-season Danaus plexippus in the USA North-Central region. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18473/lepi.77i1.a2
  • Grant, T, Fisher, K. E., Krishnan, N., Mullins, A., Sappington, T., Hellmich, R., Adelman, J., Coates, J., Hartzler, R., Pleasants, J., & Bradbury, S. P. (2022). Monarch butterfly ecology, behavior, and vulnerabilities in midwestern USA agricultural landscapes: Transdisciplinary research to support conservation decisions. BioScience, 72(12), 1176–1203. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biac094
  • Fisher, K. E. & Bradbury, S. P. (2022). Plant abandonment behavior and fitness of monarch larvae (Danaus plexippus) is not influenced by an intraspecific competitor. Journal of Insect Conservation. DOI: 10.1007/s10841-022-00408-0
  • Fisher, K. E. & Bradbury, S. P. (2022). Influence of habitat quality and resource density on breeding-season female monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) movement and space use in north-central USA agroecosystem landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14061
  • Fisher, K. E. & Bradbury, S. P. (2021). Estimating perceptual range of female monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) to potted vegetative common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and blooming nectar resources. Environmental Entomology. DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvab058
  • Fisher, K. E., Dixon, P. M., Han, G., Adelman, J. S., & Bradbury, S. P. (2021). Locating large insects using automated VHF radio telemetry with multi-antennae array. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13529
  • Fisher, K. E., Coates, B. S., & Bradbury, S. P. (2020). Prediction of mitochondrial genome-wide variation using mitochondrion enrichment and next-generation sequencing methods. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76088-0
  • Fisher, K. E., Adelman, J., & Bradbury, S. P. (2020). Employing very high frequency (VHF) radio telemetry to recreate monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) flight paths. Journal of Environmental Entomology. DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvaa019
  • Fisher, K. E., Hellmich, R. L., & Bradbury, S. P. (2020). Estimates of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) utilization by monarch larvae (Danaus plexippus) and the significance of larval movement. Journal of Insect Conservation. DOI: 10.1007/s10841-019-00213-2
  • Fisher, K. E., Flexner, J. L. & Mason, C. E. (2020). Host plant preferences of Z-race Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) based on plant tissue consumption rates. Journal of Economic Entomology. DOI: 10.1093/jee/toaa047
  • Fisher, K. E., Mason, C. E., Flexner, J. L., Hough-Goldstein, J., & McDonald, J. H. (2017). Survivorship of Z-pheromone race European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on a range of host plants varying in defensive chemistry. Journal of Economic Entomology. DOI: 10.1093/jee/tox066