Vegetable IPM educator named in New York, eVGN November 2013

The New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM) at Cornell University recently announced that Marion Zuefle has joined its staff as a vegetable IPM educator. Zuefle, who previously served as a NYS IPM vegetable implementation specialist and fruit survey technician, will work closely with growers and researchers around New York state and the Northeast.

More recently, Zuefle has taken responsibility for the sweet corn pheromone trap network, a resource for farmers, Extension educators and consultants throughout the state. She’s improved the network’s Web interface for reporting results and created resources to help cooperators deploy traps and identify catches for accurate results and recommendations. And she’s obtained funding for research to help determine whether spotted wing drosophila, a known pest of small fruit, also poses a threat to tomatoes, according to NYS IPM.

Zuefle’s expertise includes research that helps understand and cope with newly arrived invasive species. She’s watching out for two exotic diseases and one exotic insect pest of tomatoes. She’s also helping research new ways of using soil temperature readings that suggest when different weeds are likely to germinate, according to NYS IPM.

Zuefle holds a Masters of Science in entomology and applied ecology from the University of Delaware.