UC IPM welcomed Katrina Hunter as the new Pesticide Safety Writer in November. Hunter will be working in both the University of California Office of Pesticide Information and Coordination and Pesticide Safety Education Program. She will review pesticide recommendations and mentions in ANR peer reviewed publications (e.g., Pest Notes and Pest Management Guidelines), lead the shelf survey, and work on other pesticide safety-related writing projects. Those projects include adapting the National Worker Protection Standard: A Guide for Trainers for California, writing scripts for online continuing education courses, writing blog articles and other social media content, and filling in with the revision and development of pesticide applicator study manuals.
Hunter earned her bachelor’s from UC Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies where she completed an honor’s thesis on the overwintering habits of spotted wing drosophila. She recently completed her master’s certificate in Science Communication, also at UC Santa Cruz. Hunter interned for various media outlets and developed professional writing and multimedia skills for breaking down science to the general public.
She has valuable IPM experience from her time working at Driscoll’s as a research associate in entomology, leading large-scale field trials and experiments to improve the management of economically important insect and mite pests, and as an IPM specialist at Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, investigating alternative approaches to managing pests for an organic culinary herb and vegetable grower.
Hunter has a unique set of skills that combine pest management and communications and we are very excited to have her join our team.