Science on Tap: Pest Control with Robots

The next Science on Tap at the Kiggins Theatre in downtown Vancouver is 7 p.m. July 10. Tickets are $15 to $45 at kigginstheatre.com/movie/science-on-tap-good-vibrations.

Researchers have developed a device called the “Pied Piper,” which can mimic bug “languages.” It “communicates” with insects by luring them out into the open and confuses them into missing their mating window. It’s a targeted, reusable method that eliminates pesticide runoff.

Vaughn Walton serves as a leader in OSU’s Horticultural Pest Management team in diverse integrated pest management programmatic areas.  His work includes research in integrated pest management for small fruit and on tree crops. Walton employs both ecological and mechanistic information to manage pests from a whole-system perspective.