Faculty/Staff Detail

Andrea Davalos, Biological Sciences Department, is part of a team of collaborators assembled by Carrie Brown-Lima, director of Cornell University’s New York Invasive Species Research Institute, that works independently on different aspects of swallow-wort ecology and control. Their work, keeping with the New York Invasive Species Research Institute’s mission to connect scientific researchers with on-the-ground managers to address key New York state invasive species issues, is detailed in a July 9 Cornell Chronicle article titled “Moth provides hope against invasive swallow-wort.” Pale and black swallow-wort are rapidly invading fields and forests across the Northeast. The team, which just received a grant from the New York Department of Transportation, will release swallow-wort biocontrol moths later this summer.

Also this summer, two SUNY Cortland students are working with Davalos on the project: Jeremy Collings, who received a Summer Research Fellowship and a grant from New York State Flora Association to pursue a parallel question regarding swallow-wort management in New York State Parks; and Emily Ammons, who started this summer. Both students are mostly involved with Davalos’ project but have assisted with the biocontrol project and will continue to be involved throughout the year.