**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** INSECT RESISTANCE THREATENS THE GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLY AS PEST MANAGEMENT APPROACHES LOSE EFFICACY, AND PRODUCERS EXPERIENCE YIELD LOSSES AND INCREASED EXPENDITURES TO MANAGE PESTS. TO REDUCE THE RISK OF RESISTANCE AND PRESERVE PEST MANAGEMENT BIOTECHNOLOGIES, WHICH ARE PUBLIC GOODS, THE US-EPA REQUIRES RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT PLANS AND RESISTANCE MONITORING FOR INSECTICIDAL PLANT-INCORPORATED PROTECTANTS TO DETECT AND RESPOND TO CHANGES IN INSECT SUSCEPTIBILITY. MONITORING PEST GENOMES FOR ADAPTIVE CHANGES CAN DETECT EMERGING RESISTANCE AND FACILITATE PROACTIVE RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSES. IN OUR PREVIOUS WORK, GENOMIC MONITORING DETECTED EMERGING RESISTANCE BEFORE FIELD FAILURES OF PEST MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND WIDESPREAD RESISTANCE OCCURRED. HOWEVER, BEFORE SUCH MONITORING CAN BE WIDELY ADOPTED, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO CAREFULLY ASSESS ITS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES FOR DIFFERENT PEST POPULATIONS AND UNDER DIFFERENT PEST MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS. FOR EXAMPLE, RESISTANCE ALLELE FREQUENCIES CAN VARY FROM LOCATION TO LOCATION, WHICH IMPACTS THE NUMBER AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLES REQUIRED FOR RESISTANCE MONITORING AND POSES CHALLENGES FOR GENOMIC MONITORING. WE WILL FIRST ASSESSSTRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF GENOMIC MONITORING THROUGH GENOME SEQUENCING OF INSECTS SAMPLED OVER SPACE AND TIME, WHICH WILLDETERMINE HOW QUICKLY AND RELIABLY EMERGING RESISTANCE CAN BE DETECTED USING GENOMIC APPROACHES. WE WILL ALSO CHARACTERIZE GEOSPATIAL VARIATION IN RESISTANCE ALLELE FREQUENCY FOR 25 CANDIDATE RESISTANCE GENES, CORRELATING THOSE RESULTS TO LABORATORY ASSAYED RESISTANCE PHENOTYPES AS WELL AS CROP DAMAGE. TO EXPAND OUR ANALYSES BEYOND OUR PEST MODEL, HELICOVERPA ZEA, WE WILL USE FIELD REALISTIC FORWARD-IN-TIME COMPUTER-SIMULATIONS TO COMPARE GENOMIC CHANGES UNDER DIFFERENT RESISTANCE EVOLUTION SCENARIOS. THESE MODELS WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW INHERENT PROPERTIES OF PEST POPULATIONS AND THE STRENGTH OF SELECTION IMPOSED BY PEST MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES WILL CONSTRAIN OR FACILITATE GENOMIC DETECTION OF RESISTANCE PRIOR TO TECHNOLOGY FAILURE. THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SHAPE POLICY DECISIONS FOR TRIGGERING REGULATORY RESPONSES AND FIELD REMEDIATION USING PATTERNS DETECTED THROUGH GENOMIC MONITORING FOR RESISTANCE.