Check out this great Emerald Ash Borer lifecycle video produced by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. This quickly shows how this pest can be spread through transported firewood, and then how it infests and destroys Ash trees.

This video was produced by MDA through a unique collaboration with faculty and students of Art Institutes International (Aii) and McNally Smith College of Music. The collaboration began back in October 2009 when an MDA staff member contacted Shannon Gilley, a faculty member and 3-D digital artist at Aii. Gilley and his students began creating rough sketches based on the concept Cycle of Destruction an idea that intended to show the entire life cycle of EAB while connecting its potential for killing ash trees.

After many sketches and a handful of revisions, the final draft was created in late March 2010 with assistance with sound design and soundtrack from McNally Smith College of Music faculty member Chris Cunningham and his students. This 30-second video is a unique specimen of technical communication in that it compresses a large amount of visual information into a small amount of time. The hopeful result is that viewers better understand the meaning behind the often-repeated message Dont Move Firewood in a way that reduces human-assisted movement of firewood that is one of the main ways that invasive species are spread.

This video was made with technical assistance from staff from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and University of Minnesota Extension.

Production of this video was made possible with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Learn more on our Emerald Ash Borer page »