9:00 AM – 11:45 AM: Join UMass Extension’s Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forestry Program and UMass Extension’s Fruit Program presents for this series of FREE webinars focusing on the impact, monitoring, and management of invasive insects in Massachusetts and the nation! Topics to include spotted lanternfly updates, management, and entomopathogens; forest pest risk re. climate change; the beech leaf disease nematode; and invasive forest insects. Please note: while participants from anywhere are invited to attend, much of the material presented will be specific to Massachusetts and New England.
For recordings of previous webinars in this series, go to the archives at https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/education-events/invasive-insect-webinars.
CREDITS
Pesticide contact hours
For 1/25: 1 pesticide contact hour for categories 25, 27 and 31 or 2 pesticide contact hours for categories 29, 35, 36, 48 and Applicators (core) license. For 2/8: 2 pesticide contact hours for categories 25, 27, 29, 31, 35, 36, 48 and Applicators (core) license. For 2/22: 2 pesticide contact hours for categories 29, 35, 36, 48 and Applicators (core) license. Credits are valid for all New England states for equivalent categories. Pesticide contact hours are available for the live webinars only, not for viewing the archived recordings.
Association Credits
1 MCH, 2.5 ISA, 2.5 (cat 1) SAF, and 2.5 (cat 1) CFE credits for each day (live webninar only); 1 MCA and 1MCLP Education Credit for each day for both the live and recorded versions.
Agenda
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023
9:00 - 10:15 AM: Forest Pest Risk is Heating Up with Climate Change
Audrey Barker-Plotkin, Senior Scientist and Site & Research Manager, Harvard Forest
Insect pests and pathogens, and climate change, each threaten forest health. But what happens when the two are combined? Climate change brings pests to new areas, makes pests more damaging, reduces trees’ defenses to pests, and can alter how forests recover after pest disturbance. Strategies for managing the combined impacts of forest pests and climate change include preventing new pest introductions, resisting pest spread by treating individual trees and diversifying forest stands, promoting more resilient forests that can rebound from pests, and helping forests transition to a state better adapted to our future climate.
10:30 -11:45 AM: Spotted Lanternfly Updates for Massachusetts from MA Department of Agricultural Resources
Elizabeth Barnes, Forest Pest Outreach Coordinator, MA Department of Agricultural Resources
The MA Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) will provide updates on the current status of the invasive spotted lanternfly in Massachusetts. A brief review of the biology, hosts, and identification of this insect will be discussed. Presenters will also discuss the established populations of this insect in MA along with MDAR survey and response efforts.
Click here to register for this live webinar (Webinar ID: 823-284-347).
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023
9:00 - 10:15 AM: Spotted Lanternfly Management in the Landscape
Brian Walsh, Extension Educator, Ornamentals, PennState Extension
Managing spotted lanternfly in locations where this insect has become established and damaging populations are seen in Massachusetts will be important. Learn from the experience of PennState Extension, who have been dealing with this pest since 2014, about best management practices for this insect. An integrated pest management (IPM) approach to dealing with the spotted lanternfly is recommended.
10:30 - 11:45 AM: Entomopathogens of Spotted Lanternfly, Biopesticides, & Scouting Egg Masses in Vineyards
Dr. Eric Clifton, Research Scientist, BioWorks
This presentation will discuss recent research of epizootics (outbreaks of disease) from entomopathogens (insect killing fungi) on spotted lanternfly populations in Pennsylvania. This presentation will also cover lab and field trials using biopesticides (Beauvaria bassiana and Isaria fumosorosea) on spotted lanternfly nymphs and adults. The talk will also provide some insight on scouting for egg masses in vineyards.
Click here to register for this live webinar (Webinar ID: 252-644-443).
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2023
9:00 - 10:15 AM: Beech Leaf Disease: and the Newly Described Nematode That Causes It
Dr. Robert Marra, Associate Agricultural Scientist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
This presentation will discuss what is currently known about the biology of the foliar nematode (Litylenchus crenatae, subspecies mccannii) causing beech leaf disease (BLD). The disease, which impacts both American and European beech, was first observed in Ohio in 2012, though the nematode was not confirmed as the cause until 2019. First detected in MA in 2020, BLD is now found as far south as VA and north to ME. Common misconceptions and the latest science to be discussed. Studies looking for effective management techniques are underway and will be briefly summarized.
10:30 - 11:45 AM: Invasive Forest Insects in Massachusetts
Nicole Keleher, Director, MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, Forest Health Program
Join us to hear about the current status of invasive insects in our forests. We will discuss what we saw in 2022, what to expect in 2023, and some of the projects the DCR Forest Health Program has been focusing on. Learn how to identify common forest pests and what steps you can take to protect our trees.
Click here to register for this live webinar (Webinar ID: 161-413-083).
These webinars are part of a FREE series supported by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture through grant 21SCBPMA1011. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the presenters and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
To be notified of upcoming webinar dates and topics, join our e-mail list at: https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/email-list.
These webinars are part of a FREE series supported by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture through grant 21SCBPMA1011. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the presenters and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
