Two Novel Spotted Lanternfly Outreach Projects
Extension Education
James Jasinski
Extension Educator
OSU EXTENSION
URBANA
Abstract
The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) is a non-native invasive pest, first detected in Berks County PA in 2014. By 2020, low populations of SLF were confirmed in Jefferson County Ohio and by the fall of 2024, significant and nuisance level populations could be found in Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and other cities throughout the state. While this pest posed undetermined risk to Ohio’s fruit and vegetable industry, it posed a significant risk to grape growers and wine production. Programs specific to management of this pest were presented in commodity focused grower meetings. To inform primarily Ohio’s general public about this new pest, two distinct educational campaigns were undertaken in 2023. The first approach was based on printing 3D SLF life stages (egg masses, red and black nymphs, adults) for use in educational and identification training programs. Thousands of 3D printed life stages were used and given away to participants in over a dozen outreach programs across Ohio. The other outreach mode involved a novel campaign to mount SLF posters on food trucks to spread the awareness of SLF throughout several key Ohio cities. The colorful posters clearly highlighted all three stages of SLF for easier identification, and each poster was embedded with QR codes linked to the Ohio Department of Agriculture reporting website and a short video about SLF biology and distribution. By the end of the 2024 campaign, 33 food trucks in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo used the SLF posters on their vehicle to raise customer awareness about this invasive pest potentially coming to their neighborhood soon.
Poster has NOT been presented at any previous NACAA AM/PIC
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Authors: James Jasinski, Amy Stone, Jude Muir
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Jasinski, J. Extension Educator, Ohio State University, Ohio, 43078
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Stone, A. Extension Educator, Ohio State University, Ohio, 43615
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Muir, J. Program Coordinator, Ohio State University, Ohio, 43615