A new partnership between Cornell Cooperative Extension and a center at SUNY New Paltz includes at least one project that hopes to help farmers respond to invasive species threats.
The project aims to provide education about the invasive spotted lanternfly and its threats to New York’s agricultural commodities. Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Hudson Valley Additive Manufacturing Center at SUNY New Paltz are collaborating to use 3D printing at the Center for true-to-life replicas of the spotted lanternfly to help farmers identify and report sightings. Cornell Cooperative Extension Senior Agriculture Resource Educator Jim O’Connell says use of the 3D printer allows for replication of the insect faster and with less risk than collecting spotted lanternfly samples, killing them in rubbing alcohol, drying and mounting them and then distributing them to educators.