Dr. Casey W. Hoy, ESA Fellow (2021)

Dr. Casey W. Hoy is a professor of entomology, held the Kellogg Endowed Chair in Agricultural Ecosystems Management from 2006 to 2021, and served as the inaugural faculty director of the Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation at The Ohio State University, 2015-2021. He is internationally known for his systems approach to research on improved pest management, agroecosystems management, food systems, and food security. 

Hoy was born in Ohio and grew up in the woods, fields, and waters of Ohio, Connecticut, and Maryland. He holds both B.S., with Distinction and Honors, and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Cornell University. He joined the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), in Wooster, Ohio, in 1987.         

Hoy’s research has included systems analysis and its application to integrated pest management and applied ecology. He contributed to chemical, cultural, and biological control measures for insect pests of vegetable crops. More fundamental research highlights include quantitative ecology and particularly spatial dynamics of insects, including the quantitative genetics of behavioral response to toxins and how they shape selection for physiological tolerance and insecticide resistance, areawide management of highly mobile plant disease vectors, and conservation biological control by entomopathogenic nematodes. He has published over 170 papers, book chapters, and technical reports.   

Hoy served as the associate chair of the Department of Entomology from 2001 to 2006. As the Kellogg Endowed Chair in Agricultural Ecosystems Management, he led the Agroecosystems Management Program in interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach with Ohio State colleagues and extramural partners to advance the science of agroecosystem management, develop statewide sustainable agriculture curricula, and provide leadership in sustainable agriculture extension. As a campus leader in sustainability and interdisciplinary research, Hoy coordinated a proposal among 50 faculty colleagues to establish the Discovery Themes Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation, InFACT, an investment by Ohio State of over $50 million in resilient and sustainable food security. As faculty director for InFACT, Hoy has partnered with 18 departments in seven Ohio State colleges to hire a diverse group of faculty and has led a distinguished team of over 150 faculty members from across The Ohio State University, along with over 170 partnering organizations beyond Ohio State, in a systemic, comprehensive, and transformative approach to achieving global food security. 

Hoy previously received the OARDC Multidisciplinary Team Research Award, OARDC Distinguished Faculty Research Award, and ESA Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management. He has served as a panelist or panel manager 19 times for USDA research programs, served on the Ohio Food Policy Advisory Council and several nonprofit boards, and was a co-founder of the WK Kellogg Foundation endowed Inter-Institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability. 

Hoy and wife Karen Skubik are the parents of two adult Hoy-Skubiks, Briana and Sean. Less analytical activities include soccer, skiing, brewing beer, and playing Irish music (fiddle, banjo, low D whistle) in pub sessions.