Graduate student places green onions in small planters.

Research & Outreach

Department of Entomology

Communicating research to the broader community

Our extension program applies the results of research to alleviate insect problems in New York state, across the U.S. and around the world. This effort reflects the ever-changing needs of the state’s agriculture industry, recreational resources and urban dwellers. A primary reason for a department devoted to the multifaceted study of insects and related arthropods is to bring our collective expertise to bear on important insect-related issues of society.

Extension & outreach assistants

The extension/outreach assistantship gives entomology graduate students the opportunity to engage the local community directly with educational and enriching experiences with insects.

Learn more about the extension/outreach assistantship
A student talking to a young boy about insects in a lab.
Insectapalooza 2018. Credit: Maeve Anderson

Applied entomology resources

cereal leaf beetle in petri dish
Field crops entomology
bedding plants and hanging pots in greenhouse
Floriculture & greenhouse horticulture entomology
Students and faculty adjusting low tunnels.
Fruit entomology
Three people crouch and examine turfgrass
Soil ecology & turfgrass entomology
A group of people examine onion plants in a field
Vegetable entomology
Faculty member and student catching pollinators in an apple orchard.
Pollinators & pollination
spotted lanternfly adults and fourth-instar nymphs, with the bright red coloring, feed on a grapevine
New York State Integrated Pest Management

Pesticides

Naturalist outreach & public education

Children observe a cockroach held by a volunteer
Insectapalooza
Karen Snover-Clift, professor of plant science (SIPS) and Jennifer Kotary of the NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation assess Oak Wilt in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Naturalist outreach
A tarantula
Spider outreach

The Cornell University Insect Collection

The Cornell University Insect Collection is a world-class research and training collection that includes over 7 million insect specimens representing about 200,000 species, or roughly 20% of the world’s described insect fauna. Our collection is an important resource for Cornell students, staff and faculty, for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, for residents of New York state, and for the broader systematics community.

multicolored flies pinned inside a box

Insect Diagnostic Lab

Need help identifying an insect? Check out the Insect Diagnostic Lab, where a scientist can help identify insects and related organisms or where you can do your own research using available photos and information.

Explore the Insect Diagnostic Lab
Small red and black insect on a yellow flower.
Small milkweed bug. Photo provided.

Medical entomology

Student examines specimen under red light.
Vector biology research
Close up photo of a mosquito on someone's skin
Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases
Epulopiscium sp. cells under microscope
Cornell Institute of Host-Microbe Interactions and Disease