With an umbrella borrowed from her family’s patio, a solar-powered electric net and some artificial intelligence, a North Hunterdon High School student created a solution to help fight off the pesky spotted lanternfly.
The state’s Department of Agriculture has urged citizens to crush lanternflies or spray them with insecticides and treat affected trees before the invasive insects can cause damage to plants and crops.
But, Selina Zhang ,18, took the fight a step further and created an award-winning spotted lanternfly trap for less than $200.
“Many traditional approaches to this are labor intensive or may have environmental aftermath, so I wanted to take a targeted and environmentally friendly approach,” Zhang said.
She calls the device “ArTreeficial.” It is a supersized, eco-friendly mouse trap for invasive spotted lanternflies, she said.
The trap, currently stationed in her backyard in Annandale in Hunterdon County, may seem like a solar panel-adorned umbrella at first glance. But, is much more intricate.
At the top of the umbrella are lines of solar panels that energize the device’s electric mesh, which zaps the insects. To lure the spotted lanternfly to the trap, Zhang uses an incense derived from the pest’s favorite tree —the Tree of Heaven.
She uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to attract and target only the spotted lanternfly, preventing harm to other insects.
“The AI component comes into specifically being able to identify, so it acts as a discerner to prevent non-target damage that some other approaches may unfortunately face,” Zhang said.
Zhang snapped hundreds of lanternfly photos and studied them for weeks to train the trap and conduct research for the project. She submitted ArTreeficial, along with a literature review and vision poster, to the Regeneron Science Talent Search competition earlier this year and placed in the top 10 for her concept.
Regeneron’s Talent Search was founded by the Society for Science in 1942. It is the nation’s oldest, most prestigious high school science research competition, according to Maya Ajmera, the president and CEO of the society.
This year, a record-breaking 2,100 high school seniors submitted research projects to the completion, officials said. After undergoing judging and interviews, Zhang was named a scholar and won eighth place for her project.
“If you’re named a scholar, you’re one of the top scientists or engineers in this country as a young person,” Ajmera said. “That’s not an easy feat.”
What made Zhang’s project stand out was her use of multiple approaches and disciplines to find a solution to a problem that is currently affecting her home state and much of the country, Society for Science officials said.
“She uses engineering, she uses artificial intelligence, she’s doing agricultural sciences and using a whole group of disciplines” to solve a big problem, Ajmera said.
Zhang even drew inspiration from unexpected sources, including the video game Dance Dance Revolution and chess boards, when she designed the electric net for the spotted lanternfly zapper.
Zhang, who is also an award-winning violinist who has performed solo at New York’s Carnegie Hall and leader of North Hunterdon’s science bowl team, is looking for ways to replicate ArTreeficial. She is exploring ways to adapt the concept for different environments and reproduce the design in different sizes, she said.
After high school, Zhang said she plans to study biology and computer science in college and leverage AI as a tool to approach scientific challenges.
“I hope that that my work can go on to inspire someone else,” Zhang said. “That’s my hope, that many people will be able to take up this torch and go on to look into the sciences and do awesome things.”
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Nyah Marshall may be reached at Nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com
