Californians share the common experience of pests at home, at work, and in recreational areas. We also share multiple and often contradictory desires for outcomes from pest management: expectations of immediate results and long-term control, effective controls with the lowest risk to people and the environment, and a wide choice of pest management options including some choices that are inherently higher risk.
The Pests, Pesticides, and IPM (PPI) Project was designed to increase the understanding of the complexities of pest management by the general public and to encourage more adoption by practitioners in the field.
During 2016 to 2018 we organized a series of in-depth discussions on why integrated pest management (IPM) has not met its full potential in California and what can be done to improve our outreach. To ensure broad perspectives, we included seasoned thought leaders, researchers, extension personnel, IPM practitioners, people that use pesticides, people impacted by pesticide use, worker representatives, non-English speakers, retailers and regulators from the urban and rural areas of California.
View the project synopsis.
The PPI Project will continue its ongoing effort to establish dialogue about pest management and pesticide use in California. Our management team and advisory board firmly believe that these discussions should be on-going, and not just when there a pest or pesticide crisis occurs.
We hope you will consider being a part of this important exchange. For more information contact Lori Berger or James Farrar
This project was funded by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation Agreement 16–C0061.
Project Objectives
- To articulate the diversity of pest management needs and perceptions of risk at the field, research, regulatory, and policy levels
- To suggest policy, innovation, and communication approaches that support increased adoption of IPM
- To equip leaders with broadened knowledge and tools so that all stakeholders might consider and use more IPM-based approaches
- To establish ongoing dialogue between diverse stakeholders in IPM
Management Team
Lori A. Berger, Academic Coordinator, University of California Statewide IPM Program (Co-Principal Investigator)
James J. Farrar, Director, University of California Statewide IPM Program (Co-Principal Investigator)
Peter B. Goodell, Emeritus IPM Advisor, emeritus, University of California Statewide IPM Program
Nan Gorder, Special Assistant to the Director, Department of Pesticide Regulation (retired)
Doug Downie, Senior Environmental Scientist, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Nita Davidson, Senior Environmental Scientist, Department of Pesticide Regulation
Joseph McIntyre, Senior Facilitation Analyst and Executive Director, Ag Innovations Network
Advisory Board
Bob Curtis, Almond Board of California
Annie Joseph, Our Water Our World Program
Tony Linegar, California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
Gabriele Ludwig, Almond Board of California
Jennifer Maloney, Bayer CropScience
Nayamin Martinez, Central California Environmental Justice Network
Keith Pitts, Marrone Bio Innovations
Gary Silveria, Tremont Ag and California Association of Pest Control Advisers
Iana Simeonov, Public Health Institute, University of California San Francisco
Mark Starr, California Department of Public Health
Jim Steed, Neighborly Pest Management, Inc. and Pest Control Operators of California
Dave Tamayo, Sacramento County Stormwater Program
Juan Uranga, Center for Community Advocacy
Carl Winter, FoodSafe Program, University of California Davis
Annual IPM Summit
A major objective of the Pests, Pesticides, and IPM Project is to create opportunities for on-going dialogue between diverse stakeholders in pest management throughout California.
The first IPM Summit was held at UC Davis on April 17, 2018 and brought together leaders and practitioners to learn about the PPI Project recommendations and to participate in a series of interactive discussions about the challenges with and opportunities for improving IPM adoption.
The goals of IPM Summit:
- Exposure to a broad cross-section of stakeholders and leaders in the State all committed to increasing the use of IPM principles
- New perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in managing pests and pesticides in California based on over a year's field research
- New tools to assist in understanding the system dynamics that create conflict around pests and pesticides and how story-telling can be an important part of humanizing the challenge
- Exciting and useful perspectives on innovation and public attitudes that can help shape a more positive future for IPM
Almost 100 organizations attended the 2018 IPM Summit.
White Paper
The summary of discussions and research were crafted into a white paper—Roadmap for Integrated Pest Management—to catalogue the status of IPM in California, the challenges we face, and to share a set of recommendations to make IPM more effective for all Californians.
Non-Technical Summary
A short, non-technical summary of the Pests, Pesticides, and IPM Project and recommendations for the general public will be posted soon.
The nontechnical summary provides basic information on IPM and how the PPI Project is trying to addressing concerns of the general public about pests and pesticides in the home, at school, at play, and at work.
Ten Bold Recommendations to Build Better IPM for All Californians
- Reinvest in IPM at every level—to make sure the best science-based information is developed and available to all Californians.
- Drive the demand for IPM in the value chain—to increase awareness of IPM and to create incentives for more IPM throughout the value chain.
- Speed up the IPM innovation process—to ensure a wide variety of tools are available.
- Invest in trusted messengers—to reach people in their own languages, customs, and styles about risk, health, and safety in order to more fully engage frontline workers in pest management
- Increase the collaborative and problem—solving capacity of stakeholders, practitioners, policymakers, and the public—to maximize our collective resources, especially to problem solve when a crisis occurs.
- Strengthen the public’s capacity to understand pests, pesticides, and IPM—so that scientific information and regulatory approaches are more readily understood, accepted, and supported.
- Make IPM practitioners more effective voices for IPM—so that they, as front line professionals, can answer questions about pests and pesticide use that arise in their community.
- Leverage nontraditional resources for IPM—to increase collaborations and resources that support the power of partnerships in tackling complex issues related to pest management.
- Strengthen capacity of practitioners to use more IPM—to more effectively reach out to the public who is concerned about health and safety.
- Redesign the retail IPM process—to educate consumers about the responsible use of pesticides and/or limit the availability of high risk products in the marketplace to trained and licensed professionals.
IPM Success Stories
IPM is used in nearly every setting imaginable in California: Homes, gardens, farms, schools, buildings, roadways, parks, public lands, and more.
Each setting has successfully leveraged the use on one or more tactics or a combination of these approaches for more effective and broadly accepted pest management in California.
- Ecosystems-based thinking
- Partnerships
- New tools
- Awareness campaigns
Read IPM Success Stories.
Sponsors
If you or your organization wish to provide funds to support this effort, please donate to the PPI Project.
We hope to establish the Pests, Pesticides, and IPM Project as an ongoing effort of the UC Statewide IPM Program.
Thank you for your support and please contact us if you would like to discuss future funding opportunities.