Month: July 2017

New biocontrol specialist joins NYS IPM

Hello! My name is Amara Dunn, and I am excited to have joined the New York State Integrated Pest Management (NYSIPM) program as the biocontrol specialist. Prior to starting this position, I studied vegetable diseases at Cornell University and taught in the Biology Department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. I enjoy finding new ways to…Continue Reading New biocontrol specialist joins NYS IPM

It’s Invasive Species Awareness Week all over the U.S.

It’s Invasive Species Awareness Week — now. Pay it heed. Invasive species, it turns out, are a huge deal in the US, in New York. Everywhere, in fact. Coping with invasive insects, pathogens and the like have cost, in the US as a whole, upward of … OK, I’m hedging already. Is it $40 billion…Continue Reading It’s Invasive Species Awareness Week all over the U.S.

Biocontrols for Invasive Pest Help Save Mountain Forests

Biocontrols — organisms that help keep serious pests in check — are a key component of IPM. And sometimes they’re the only hope. Consider the lovely, lacy-needled hemlock tree, a member of the pine family. “The hemlock is a foundation species in our forests,” says Mark Whitmore, a forest entomologist at Cornell University and a…Continue Reading Biocontrols for Invasive Pest Help Save Mountain Forests