
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Nina Jenkins’ insect-killing fungal spores eliminate the need to fumigate, clean out cabinets and drawers.
Nina Jenkins didn’t start out thinking about bedbugs. The Penn State researcher was studying how insect-killing fungal spores could combat locusts, houseflies and Asian long-horned beetles. But that all changed when a graduate student asked Nina if her fungal spores would work on bedbugs. Sure enough, they were the perfect target. So in 2017 Nina founded ConidioTec to deliver a novel, non-toxic bedbug-fighting product to pest management companies. Eight years later, in 2025, the Pennsylvania company sold its flagship product to Kansas City, Missouri-based Rockwell Labs for an undisclosed, eight-digit price.
Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.
By Kathleen Gallagher5
44 ratings
Nina Jenkins’ insect-killing fungal spores eliminate the need to fumigate, clean out cabinets and drawers.
Nina Jenkins didn’t start out thinking about bedbugs. The Penn State researcher was studying how insect-killing fungal spores could combat locusts, houseflies and Asian long-horned beetles. But that all changed when a graduate student asked Nina if her fungal spores would work on bedbugs. Sure enough, they were the perfect target. So in 2017 Nina founded ConidioTec to deliver a novel, non-toxic bedbug-fighting product to pest management companies. Eight years later, in 2025, the Pennsylvania company sold its flagship product to Kansas City, Missouri-based Rockwell Labs for an undisclosed, eight-digit price.
Midwest Moxie's executive producer is Audrey Nowakowski. She produced this episode. Subscribe to Midwest Moxie wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love Midwest Moxie as much as we do, help us out by posting a review.

91,113 Listeners

927 Listeners

15 Listeners

30,223 Listeners

22 Listeners

87,790 Listeners

112,735 Listeners

9,527 Listeners

7 Listeners

10,281 Listeners

2 Listeners

0 Listeners

34 Listeners

624 Listeners

7 Listeners

3 Listeners

0 Listeners