** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WITH THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF DEVELOPING AUTOMATED PEST DETECTION AND SURVEILLANCE IN CROPS, HERE WE PROPOSE TO OPTIMIZE LOW-COST SAMPLERS FOR THE COLLECTION OF AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENTAL DNA (EDNA) AND TO DEPLOY THESE SAMPLERS IN SOYBEAN FIELDS TO MONITOR FOR TWO COMMON AGRICULTURAL INSECT PESTS, THE CORN EARWORM HELIOCOVERPA ZEA AND THE INVASIVE BROWN MARMORATED STINKBUG HALYMORPHA HALYS. INSPIRED BY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN MEDICAL IMAGING, THE GENERAL PROCESS WILL INVOLVE OUR COLLECTION OF TIME-INTEGRATED EDNA SAMPLES FROM MULTIPLE SETS OF PARALLEL TRANSECTS. WE WILL THEN AMPLIFY, SEQUENCE, METABARCODE AND BACK-PROJECT THESE SAMPLES TO MAP THE OCCURRENCE OF THE PESTS IN TARGET SOYBEAN FIELDS. TO DATE, WE HAVE SHOWN WITH PILOT DATA THAT WE CAN INDEED COLLECT AIRBORNE EDNA WITH OUR EXISTING SAMPLERS. OUR NEXT STEP WILL BE TO OPTIMIZE YIELD TO PRODUCE MAXIMUM EDNA. WE WILL THEN TEST THE SAMPLERS IN THE FIELD AND COMPARE THE BACK-PROJECTED MAPS OF PESTS TO MAPS CREATED USING THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF INSECT SWEEP NETTING ON A GRID. OVERALL, OUR PROPOSED PRECISION ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY AND WORKFLOW WILL RESULT IN AUTOMATED VISUALIZATIONS OF INSECT PEST OCCURRENCE, UNPRECEDENTED IN THEIR TIMELINESS AND ACCURACY. THESE MAPS WILL THEN ENABLE FARMERS TO TAKE TARGETED CONTROL MEASURES, CONTRIBUTING TO BEST PRACTICES FOR PEST MANAGEMENT IN CROPS.