A faculty-student summer research team at Skidmore College has been using GIS (geographic information systems), satellite imagery and data collection in the field to study the impact of the spongy moth – formerly known as the gypsy moth – in the region. “A big thing we have come across time and time again is that more diverse forest landscapes are a lot more resilient to defoliation,” said Foster, a political science major at Skidmore, in the release. Research has shown that multiple years of defoliation (loss of leaves), paired with other environmental stressors, can lead to widespread forest decline. With that in mind, the summer research team has set out to use GIS and remote sensing to gain a better understanding of how outbreaks have shifted and grown over time and to create a predictive model of what such an event could look like next year.