A GOAL OF RISK MANAGEMENT RESEARCH WITHIN THE BRAG PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE DECISION MAKERS SCIENTIFIC DATA CONCERNING HOW TO AVOID OR MITIGATE THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IDENTIFIED IN A RISK ASSESSMENT. INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT (IRM) STRATEGIES ARE RECOGNIZED AS CRITICAL TO MAINTAIN THE VIABILITY OF BT CROPS AND ARE THE CORNERSTONE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RISK MANAGEMENT DECISIONS MADE BY THE EPA FOR BT CROPS. WE HOPE TO STRATEGICALLY TARGET THESE GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO IRM BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS. WE PROPOSE TO: 1) MEASURE THE IMPACT OF BLENDED AND STRUCTURED REFUGE ON HELICOVERPA ZEA PUPAL DEPTH, SURVIVAL, AND ADULT FLIGHT PARAMETERS IN CORN; 2) DESCRIBE THE ROLE OF COTTON, SOYBEAN, AND PEANUT AS A RESERVOIR FOR H. ZEA BT RESISTANCE ALLELES; AND 3) PROPOSE A REFINED MODEL OF EVOLUTION OF RESISTANCE FOR H. ZEA USING THESE DATA. THESE RESULTS WILL INFORM OUTDATED IRM MODELS, WHICH ASSUME RANDOM MATING, BY PROVIDING DATA ON H. ZEA DISPERSAL AND THE IMPACT OF NON-BT AND BT HOST PLANT MIXTURES. IMPORTANTLY, WE WILL TEST IF BLENDED REFUGE IN CORN WILL NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE THE SURVIVAL OF SUSCEPTIBLE HOMOZYGOUS INDIVIDUALS AND INCREASE SURVIVAL OF RESISTANT HETEROZYGOUS INDIVIDUALS. OUR DATA WILL INFORM REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE DEPLOYMENT, USE OF REFUGES (BLENDED AND STRUCTURED), AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF BT CROPS BY FOCUSING ON H. ZEA, A SPECIES OF REGULATORY CONCERN IN THE SOUTHERN U.S. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE FIFTH STANDARD PROGRAM AREA AS IT RELATES TO THE BRAG PROGRAM, ASSESSING HOW PESTS OVERCOME PLANT PEST RESISTANCE TRAITS CONFERRED BY ENGINEERED GENES.