Department of Agriculture awards grant to research acoustics in pest control

For homeowners, sod producers and turf industry professionals, keeping pests from feeding on valuable turfgrass has been both challenging and costly due to limited monitoring and management techniques.

Now, thanks to a two-year, $199,922 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture, a team of Cornell scientists will use acoustic technology to develop efficient and affordable ways to manage soil-dwelling pests — and prevent damage from the predators they attract.

Kyle Wickings, associate professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is lead investigator of “Using Acoustics to Enhance the Monitoring and Management of Belowground Pests and Their Aboveground Predators.”

This article originally appeared on Cornell Chronicle's website. To read the whole thing, click here.