Media cite research by Groden in article on browntail moths

Morning Ag Clips, Maine Public and the Associated Press cited research by Eleanor Groden, a professor of entomology at the University of Maine, in articles about the expected spread of browntail moths in Maine this spring. The pest defoliates native oaks, cherries and hawthornes, as well as apple, crabapple and several other deciduous trees, and is a serious public health nuisance, the articles state. “The scale of this outbreak, we haven’t seen in a hundred years, when browntail moth was first introduced into North America,” Groden said. “Now we have about 126,000 acres that are infested, as of this past fall, which is double what the forest service estimated in 2016.” Groden and her students are working with the Maine Forest Service and others to research the dynamics of the current outbreak and potential management strategies for the pest. Groden’s team is working with researchers Barbara Cole and Ray Fort, and Ph.D. student Hyeweon Hwang, all in the UMaine Department of Chemistry, to explore multiple life stages of the browntail moth to identify weak links that could help manage the pest, Morning Ag Clips reported. The Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald and San Francisco Chronicle carried the AP article.