2011 Highlights: UC IPM Annual Report

From the director

Welcome to UC IPM’s report for 2011. UC IPM continued its long tradition of developing and promoting the use of integrated, ecologically sound pest management programs to solve pest problems while protecting Californians’ health and the state’s economy and environment.

I hope you enjoy reading about highlights of our recent accomplishments and activities. They’re wide ranging: We expanded our reach to better serve childcare providers and Spanish-speaking residents as well as supported growers in their fight against a new pest and in negotiating an export market. We developed new IPM programs for crops, prepared print and online publications for agricultural and urban audiences, and created a variety of online training modules. We also updated the UC IPM Web site, giving it a new face.

This has been an exciting year where the program experienced significant expansion. We hired Lisa Blecker from the University of Nevada to lead a new pesticide safety education program for California, and we are in the process of hiring a new IPM advisor to work on urban pest management issues in the San Francisco Bay Area; soon we’ll be recruiting an IPM/entomology advisor for the Central Coast. We are also affiliating more UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors with our program to add to our capacity and expand our reach.

We continued to build strong partnerships with California-based organizations, and the Department of Pesticide Regulation recognized UC IPM and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service with an IPM innovators award for collaborative work in developing year-round IPM programs.

A new UC IPM program advisory committee representing industry, agency, and academic stakeholders has already provided us with direction we’re using to set priorities, strengthen our ability to meet our goals, create closer ties with external constituencies, and identify new resources. The advisory committee noted that California should be proud of the quality and services that UC IPM provides.

Finally, I want to thank Carolyn Pickel for her service to the UC IPM program. Carolyn has served our program in several capacities including associate director for agricultural IPM and IPM advisor. We will miss her leadership, input, and energy. I also want to acknowledge the many contributions and hard work of our extraordinary faculty and staff who deserve the credit for the program’s exceptional achievements in 2011.

Thank you for your interest and the support that you already provide for our unique program.
—Kassim Al-Khatib, Director

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