# research I am a soil invertebrate ecologist who studies the delightful little critters in a wide range of contexts, including their distribution in natural and managed systems, their roles in agricultural pest control, and their interactions with microplastic pollution in soil. See below for a list of my publications. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Lampasona, T.P., Lorenz, A.R., and Grieshop, M.J. 2022. [Pest Quest: A game of strategy, uncertainty, and sticky traps.](https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/13/1/23/6705028) Journal of Integrated Pest Management 13: 23. **Helmberger, M.S.** and Grieshop, M.J. 2022. [Characterizing fragmentation of polystyrene foam debris by isopods *Oniscus asellus* (Isopoda: Oniscidae) and *Trachelipus rathkii* (Isopoda: Trachelipodidae).](https://academic.oup.com/ee/article/51/4/710/6644397) Environmental Entomology 51: 710-715. **Helmberger, M.S.** and Grieshop, M.J. 2022. [Life for the Loam: A soil ecology game about biodiversity & ecosystem health.](https://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-abstract/84/4/238/163641/Life-for-the-LoamA-Soil-Ecology-Game-about) The American Biology Teacher 84: 238-241. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Miesel, J.R., Tiemann, L.K., and Grieshop, M.J. 2022. [Soil invertebrates generate microplastics from polystyrene foam debris.](https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/22/1/21/6528469) Journal of Insect Science 22: 1-8. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Frame, M.K., and Grieshop, M.J. 2020. [Counterstaining to separate Nile red-stained microplastic particles from terrestrial invertebrate biomass.](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c00711) Environmental Science & Technology 54: 5580-5588. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Tiemann, L.K., and Grieshop, M.J. 2020. [Towards an ecology of soil microplastics.](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.13495) Functional Ecology 34: 550-560. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Thaler, J.S., Shields, E.J., and Wickings, K.G. 2018. [Entomopathogenic nematode performance against *Popillia japonica* (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in school athletic turf: Effects of traffic and soil properties.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964418305681) Biological Control 126: 177-184. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Shields, E.J., and Wickings, K.G. 2018. [Soil microarthropod communities reduce *Heterorhabditis bacteriophora* (Nematoda: Heterorhabditidae) host infection.](https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/afe.12285) Agricultural and Forest Entomology 20: 523-530. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Shields, E.J., and Wickings, K.G. 2017. [Ecology of belowground biological control: Entomopathogenic nematode interactions with soil biota.](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139317308168) Applied Soil Ecology 121: 201-213. **Helmberger, M.S.**, Craig, T.P., and Itami, J.K. 2016. [Effects of drought stress on oviposition preference and offspring performance of lace bug *Corythucha marmorata* on its goldenrod host.](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Timothy-Craig-6/publication/304536349_Effects_of_drought_stress_on_oviposition_preference_and_offspring_performance_of_the_lace_bug_Corythucha_marmorata_on_its_goldenrod_host_Solidago_altissima/links/618acf00d7d1af224bcce893/Effects-of-drought-stress-on-oviposition-preference-and-offspring-performance-of-the-lace-bug-Corythucha-marmorata-on-its-goldenrod-host-Solidago-altissima.pdf)Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 160: 1-10.