Rate My Professor Stephen Cook

Stephen Cook serves as Department Head and Professor of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho. He earned his Ph.D. in Entomology from North Carolina State University in 1985, M.S. in Entomology from Texas A&M University in 1982, and B.S. in Environmental Biology from Heidelberg University in 1979. His academic career at the University of Idaho spans over two decades, during which he has led research and teaching in insect ecology and pest management.

Cook's research focuses on the ecology and management of insects in natural systems, with particular emphasis on tree-insect nutritional ecology, chemical ecology of host resistance mechanisms, and community ecology responses to disturbances such as prescribed burning, biochar application, and silvicultural practices. His studies explore insect utilization of forest resources, pheromone attraction in cerambycid beetles, termite feeding behaviors, bark beetle defenses in pines, and biodiversity in prairie bee communities and sagebrush rangelands. He has authored or co-authored over 80 publications, accumulating more than 1,000 citations. Key works include "Spatial and temporal variation in Palouse Prairie bee communities" (Western North American Naturalist, 2025), "Does Surface-applied Biochar Alter Insect Utilization of Downed Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) Bolts?" (2025), "Mound-Building Ants and Associated Termites on Goodale's Cutoff along the Oregon Trail" (2023), "Prescribed Burning Alters Insects and Wood Decay in a Sagebrush-Steppe Rangeland in Southwestern Idaho, United States" (2023), "Attraction of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) to synthetic volatile pheromone lures during field bioassays in western Idaho" (2022), "Termite Feeding on Aspen and Pine Stakes on a High Elevation Sagebrush-Steppe Rangeland in Southeastern Idaho" (2022), "Comparative Population Dynamics, Flight Periods, and Volatile Pheromone Attraction of Tragosoma harrisii and Tragosoma soror (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Idaho" (2022), "Impact of Biochar on Douglas-Fir Tussock Moth (Orgyia pseudotsugata) Larvae Reared on Synthetic Diet" (2021), and "Identification of a Male-Produced Volatile Pheromone for Phymatodes dimidiatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)" (2020). As department head, Cook oversees faculty, graduate programs, and extension efforts in entomology, plant pathology, and nematology, contributing to integrated pest management and ecosystem health in agricultural and forest settings.