Program Vision
Thank you for visiting the Crawley Lab website! My lab is part of the broader urban entomology program at North Carolina State University, which includes the laboratories of Aram Mikaelyan and Coby Schal. Although Drs. Mikaelyan and Schal focus mostly on research, my faculty appointment is a 70% extension, 30% research split. Due to the nature of my appointment, I am most interested in research topics that provide applied solutions to my stakeholders’ needs, including pest management professionals, homeowners, consumers, property managers, industry partners, etc.
Broadly, my research program will focus on the sustainable management of urban arthropod pests through integrated pest management. Pest systems of interest to me include cockroaches, bed bugs, ants, and termites. However, I am open to the exploration of alternative and improved management strategies for all nuisance urban arthropods. Because my job includes the dissemination of scientific information directly to stakeholders, another focus of my program will be on scientific communication and improving dialogue between urban entomologists and the public,
About Sydney
Sydney was born in a rural city near Lexington, Kentucky (Go Cats!), and growing up adjacent to cattle and tobacco farms shaped her love of the natural world. She had an array of outdoor hobbies, including fishing, hiking, and cross-country running, which led to her interest in animal behavior and entomology. Sydney earned a B.A. in biology from Transylvania University. After a brief stint as an undergraduate research assistant in molecular virology, she chose to pursue a medical and urban entomology career. In 2011, she enrolled in the entomology program at the University of Kentucky, studying bed bug biology, behavior, and chemical ecology, and graduated with a Ph.D. in 2016.
Following a brief post-doctoral fellowship, Sydney accepted a position as a Scientist at Scotts Miracle-Gro in Marysville, Ohio. At Scotts, Sydney was responsible for supporting biological research associated with insect pests of the home, garden, lawn, and landscape. She designed and executed both field and laboratory research trials that supported multiple product launches under the Ortho brand. In her position, she learned to understand consumers’ and homeowners’ pest management needs and how to meet them.
Sydney’s time at Scotts Miracle-Gro helped foster her interest in serving the public and providing scientific information to stakeholders. This interest led to her current role at NC State as an Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor, which she started in August 2019. Sydney is currently developing her research and Extension program, which will focus on assisting consumers and professionals in safe, cost-effective, and scientifically-sound urban pest management. Sydney is interested in the biology and behavior of urban pests and how we can use this knowledge to enhance integrated pest management (IPM) strategies in various urban settings.
Contact the Crawley Lab
Please provide your name, email address, phone number, and a short description of what you’d like to chat with me about (internship, research, laboratory openings, etc).
Sydney Crawley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Urban and Structural Entomology
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
100 Derieux Place
Campus Box 7613
Raleigh, NC 27695-7613
Email: scrawle@ncsu.edu
Phone: 919-513-2468