Source: NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV submitted to
SOUTHERN IPM CENTER PARTNERSHIP
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1004247
Grant No.
2014-70006-22485
Project No.
NC09263
Proposal No.
2014-07525
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
RCP
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2014
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2019
Grant Year
2017
Project Director
Seth Carley, D. G.
Recipient Organization
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
(N/A)
RALEIGH,NC 27695
Performing Department
Integrated Pest Mgmt-Research
Non Technical Summary
This is an RCP regional IPM center project for the southern region. Its goal is to build regional IPM information networks and encourage collaboration and broad-based stakeholder participation to improve efficiency of IPM research and extension efforts and promote IPM adoption. SIPMC serves as a focal point for communication and collaboration. It also provides and regional coordination and leadership of impact and program evaluation to refine the vision of what is most needed and what efforts are most effective.To accomplish these goals, SIPMC includes the following approaches. SIPMC will engage a large and diverse stakeholder community. We will convene two regional IPM Roundtables to increase interaction among HATCH committees, CPPM PDs, and other IPM stakeholders in the region. We will continue to implement the regional Regulatory Information Network to address regulatory issues. We will launch the national IPM eAcademy, providing online presentations highlighting current IPM research, extension, education and policy issues. This project will implement four Signature Programs to enhance food security. Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology, or FITT, optimizes development and implementation of technological tools to address IPM priorities. Two competitive grants programs will address critical and emerging issues, support collaborative efforts, and support new solutions for new and existing problems. A working group will bring a regional perspective to the pollinator protection issue. We will expand a framework for real-time IPM decision support via the new Cotton IPM Decision Support System.This proposal includes an optional supplement for development of the IPM Information System. This project will maintain and make minor improvements to systems already in use (Logic model website, PPMS, IPM Documents database, Interagency IPM Projects Database, IPM Symposium websites.) Combining with projects previously funded by the EIPMDSS program, it will also complete and maintain projects now in development (National IPM websites, Component Level Database). New tools and processes to enhance the effectiveness of the NIFA-supported IPM portfolio will be developed (online IPM eAcademy; Regional IPM Roundtables; a national IPM Resources database; enhanced tick management smartphone app; online instruction in use of reporting and visualization tools for IPM). We will facilitate the RIPMC IT committee using traditional (teleconference) and contemporary (online project management, networking and presentation software) methods.
Animal Health Component
10%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
75%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2162410112010%
2162410113010%
2162410114010%
2162410116010%
2160599302010%
3123910113010%
7215320303010%
1332420310010%
2162410302010%
7112410115010%
Goals / Objectives
This report addresses both the core project - Southern IPM Center Partnership - and the IPM Information System supplement.The Southern IPM Center (SIPMC), is one of four regional IPM Centers. SIPMC goals reflect broader goals of IPM as expressed in the National IPM Roadmap: to sustain and enhance environmental, economic and human health by applying IPM in all appropriate settings. The Southern IPM Center's role in the context of these grand global goals include:• To increase coordination and improve efficiency of IPM research and extension efforts by organizing timely responses to emerging issues of regional importance;• To facilitate collaboration by acting as a focal point and facilitator of communications thatpromote sound IPM-related decisions;• To promote further development and adoption of IPM through regional information networks, collaborative team building and broad-based stakeholder participation;• To document the impacts and value of IPM strategies, techniques, programs and projects, building support for IPM among the general public and public policymakersThe IPM Information System (IPM IS) project is funded as a supplement to the core project. To paraphrase National IPM Roadmap, our goal is to develop and implement IPM in ways that preserve and enhance environmental quality, economic profitability, and human health in all settings. This project addresses a small but important part of that grand goal: to provide information systems (IS) support to the USDA's IPM program portfolio through development, implementation and maintenance of useful tools and processes that provide ready access to important information, enhance networking, and facilitate effective collaboration across the IPM stakeholder community.(a) State of the art delivery of IPM information: This project will maintain, enhance and expand the cohort of products that delivers state of the art IPM information to a wide variety of stakeholders and customers. Components include: information currently located at www.ipm.gov and www.ipmcenters.org; the online IPM eAcademy, a forum for presentations addressing timely and important IPM issues (new); information about and presented at Regional IPM Roundtables (new) and the tri-annual International IPM Symposium; a national iteration of the NEIMPC's IPM Resources database; enhancement of a tick management smartphone app (new); and online instruction in use of reporting and visualization tools for IPM (new).(b) Impact information and logic model tools: SIPMC will continue to collect and synthesize impact information from NIFA-supported projects for incorporation into the interagency IPM Project Database. We will maintain and work with RIPMC partners to enhance the PPMS tool that feeds content - records - to that database. We will maintain the existing Logic Model website, updating content when it is provided to us. We will manage and contribute to the national IPM success story area of the new national website.(c) Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel: SIPMC will facilitate networking among the National IPM Centers, NIFA IPM staff and other stakeholders through traditional methods (email, teleconference) as well as newer online methods (Basecamp©, GoToMeeting©, GoToWebinar©.) We will continue to facilitate the National IPM Centers IT subcommittee, and to serve the online content of the National IPM Symposium website.(d) Reference and information support tool for setting IPM program priorities. This project will continue to serve as a reference and decision support tool for setting IPM program priorities through continued support of the IPM Documents databases. We will maintain and (working with RIPMC partners) enhance the PPMS tool used by RIPMCs to manage grant competitions. We will manage and maintain the existing IPM documents database. We will complete development of, release and then enhance the CLD tool to modernize use of CP and PMSP information.
Project Methods
Leadership, processes and structures: Director James R. VanKirk (NCSU), co-Director : Joseph LaForest (UGA) and Associate Directors Danesha Seth Carley (NCSU) and Henry Fadamiro comprise the SIPMC management team. A stakeholder Advisory Council (AC) engages representatives of important stakeholder groups throughout the region in effective communications to inform stakeholders of important regional and national developments and issues related to IPM, to inform SIPMC, USDA and other federal partners of stakeholder concerns and priorities and to facilitate engagement of stakeholder groups with each other. A single annual meeting will be held at a central location with a key agenda item at the first meeting to develop a new Strategic Plan. Audio-teleconferences will be held between annual meetings. The Steering Committee (SC) is a subset of the AC and is responsible for setting Center policies that are responsive to AC advice.Regulatory Information Network (RIN): RIN liaisons, one per state or territory, recruited by SIPMC staff, will engage with local IPM stakeholders including the Extension IPM Coordinator, key private sector stakeholders, and others to respond through SIPMC to regulatory requests from EPA, USDA and other agencies. Each state liaison will utilize a local advisory committee, and each will also serve on a regional workgroup to address important issues in a timely and effective manner. Southern IPM Roundtable will be organized and facilitated by SIPMC staff in collaboration with SERA003. Because each of the daily component meetings already exist, participant travel expenses are expected to be covered from other sources. SIPMC will only be responsible for group expenses such as meeting space, etc.IPM eAcademy SIPMC design and maintain the infrastructure for the IPM eAcademy as well as provide content along with other Regional IPM Centers. This system will utilize readily available and free YouTube capability in conjunction with web pages on the national IPM.gov and ipmcenters.org websites that we already maintain. We will produce some content explicitly for this purpose by identifying topics, recruiting presenters, filming and editing presentations. Other presentations originally intended for other purposes (e.g. National IPM Symposium; professional society meetings, etc.) will be utilized (with presenter and organizational permission). Signature Food Security Programs*:*Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology (FITT) Mr. LaForest will continue to lead this effort. Methodology is difficult to characterize before the fact because successive requests and solutions are usually unique. Among other ways, we maintain or have access to subscriptions to various software products (Basecamp, GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, MailChimp) that we provide to various groups as needed, and we advise on use of those and other products. Basically, SIPMC through FITT has gained a strong reputation for providing valuable assistance to IPM teams, and that reputation serves as the marketing to attract new clients.Grant programs*: IPM Enhancement Grants Program (IPMEP) and Critical and Emerging Issues Grants . IPM EP utilizes an annual Request for Applications to distribute funds to successful applicants. A survey open to all but directed to previous applicants will query about the appropriateness of recent RFA parameters including project types and proposal maxima. Results of the survey will be discussed with the AC and the new RFA will be released in the last quarter of calendar year 2014. An expert panel will make recommendations for funding, and new projects will be funded covering the entire calendar year 2015. Critical and Emerging Issues RFA will be open year-round, with applications accepted at any time for small amounts of funds to address issues that do not fit well with the IPM EP focus and calendar. Funds may be granted if (1) sufficient funds are available and (2) the project is deemed worthy of funding by the Steering Committee.Cotton IPM Decision Support System (CIDSS)*: UGA's Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health (aka Bugwood) has a strong record of developing smartphone and tablet apps. They will use standard methods to engage with appropriate experts to develop the knowledge base that feeds each step of the app development. Building on the existing app for stink bug management in Georgia cotton, they will first expand to cover stink bug on cotton management in other states. Following that, management for other insect pests will be added. By then the framework should be readily adaptable to cover other crops and other pests.The IPM for Pollinator Protection Working Group* Dr. Seth Carley has already contacted key stakeholder to participate on this working group. She will convene the first meeting soon after funding is confirmed and will use standard working group approaches, supplemented with functionality provided through FITT, to facilitate the group. • The Friends of Southern IPM Awards Program: A call for nominations will be distributed soon after SIPMC funding is approved with the submission deadline in late November. An AC subcommittee will recommend winning applications. Each award is presented at a venue chosen by the awardee, often a professional workshop or symposium.IPM Information Systems:• National IPM website: Release of website, designed using previous funding, is imminent. We will manage and continue to improve this site.• The International IPM Symposium website (http://www.ipmcenters.org/ipmsymposium12/) stores and presents online presentations (slide and poster) from the previous Symposium. We will continue this service.• IPM eAcademy: The eAcademy is described above. Though RIPMCs will share responsibility for delivering content, the IPM IS is responsible for designing and implementing the infrastructure to manage that content. The home page for IPM eAcademy will include presentations (or links to them) and metadata such as original presentation date, title, topic, presenter, and length. Metadata will feed a simple search engine allowing viewers to find and select what they want.• IPM Resources database: The existing IPM resource database and an internal Bugwood publications database will serve as initial data sources. A national working group will create a advise on changes to implemented by members of the IPM Centers IT committee.• Tick smartphone app: Using proven methods in collaboration with TAMU content providers, we will transition the content into a native smartphone app with enhanced functionality. We expect to release the new app in year one.• Instruction on using technology resources: In addition to the aggregation of data, we will be working with our state partners to develop real-time graphic presentation of data to stakeholders. Instructions on how to use these tools will be posted on a new "IPM Delivery" section of the national IPM websites. The examples will be practical, step-by-step instructions to guide a user through implementation in the common technology environments.• Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel: We will continue to facilitated networking among RIPMCs by providing a toll-free teleconference number and access to online tools including Basecamp© , GoToMeeting©, GoToWebinar© and MailChimp©. We will facilitate the National IPM Centers IT subcommittee, scheduling the annual meeting to coincide with an RIPMCCC meeting to save expense.• The IPM Documents database that stores and presents all national CPs and PMSPs will be maintained and we will release the Component-Level Database (CLD) that disaggregates data from those documents into a single, searchable database.• The Proposal and Project Management System (PPMS) used by RIPMCs to manage grant competitions will be maintained and enhanced.

Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Extension specialists, extension administrators, IPM faculty and staff, growers, hospital/school/daycare managers, homeowners, landscaping professionals, Members of Southern IPM Center Advisory Council, Pesticide Safety Education Program Educators, experiment station directors, University and College deans and provosts, NGOs, federal partners (i.e. EPA, USDA, etc.), 1890 universities, regional technical committee members (SERA003) Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The products listed in this report were created and delivered during the September 01 2018-August 30 2019 No Cost Extension period, during which the funds remaining in the award were used to fund IPM Enhancement grants and Friend of IPM recognition awards. The four progress reports that precede this report list yearly acomplishments in detail. The following is a brief numerical summary of products that have been listed in those four progress reports for the 2104-2018 period. 37 conference papers and presentations 5 journal articles 2403 blog posts. Blog has 310 registered followers. 244 newsletters 5000+ tweets reached 1238 people 363 Facebook friends 15 Websites 34 videos 11 databases (see details below) 2 software or netware 3 symposia and workshops 55 survey instruments 51 grants, awarded to 97 PDs 37 recognition awards given to Southern Region individuals 16 webinars SIPMC responded to 7 RIN calls SIPMC facilitated: 31 Basecamp groups in 2014, 107 in 2018 430 GoTo/Zoom meetings 1070 Mailchimp campaigns Databases usage (partial): IPM Data includes 176 Pest Management Strategic Plans (PMSP), 787 Crop Profiles (CP), 101 IPM Elements (IPM practices checklists), and 17 timelines. IPM Data includes 1,176 distinct pests and 5,217 pest references in the source documents. IPM Data has identified 692 distinct Active Ingredients from the National Pesticide Information and includes 5,217 from older and new CP and PMSP documents. IPM Images 93,942 visits, 327,363 pageviews, 69,345 users, 2,378 requests for permission to use 15,343 images with 1,594 of the request associated with free outreach programming. The database currently offers 283,000+ images from 2,500 photographers illustrating 25,700 subjects. Bugwood Presents 1,596 visits, 3,413 pageviews, 1,180 users. 203 presentations available. 961 downloads with 153 of them from eXtension esp. for Stop School Pest educational modules. National IPM Database 7,230 visits, 21,292 pageviews, in from 4,671 users. 3,743 downloads. 40 documents added. EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs Pesticide Ecotoxicity Database 105,498 pageviews. 4,180 active ingredients as reviewed by EPA and 30,148 records for acute and chronic toxicity endpoints currently listed. Proposal/Projects Management System (PPMS) 5,383 visits, 46,609 pageviews, 2,433 users, 181 proposal submissions for 17 RFAs from the 4 Centers. Resource Database 1,472 resources currently listed, 318 visits, 1,656 pageviews, 159 users.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Extension specialists, extension administrators, IPM faculty and staff, growers, hospital/school/daycare managers, homeowners, landscaping professionals, Members of Southern IPM Center Advisory Council, Pesticide Safety Education Program Educators, experiment station directors, University and College deans and provosts, NGOs, federal partners (i.e. EPA, USDA, etc.), 1890 universities, regional technical committee members (SERA003), Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our communication strategy includes e-mail lists, a blog, social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, articles in print or web media, and outreach events for the public. Success Stories Success stories are written about project outcomes and distributed in a number of ways. We distribute these stories in the same manner as the rest of our news: through direct outreach, the blog, and our annual report. Rather than giving details about these stories here, I have divided our communication strategies by distribution area. Outputs: We wrote and distributed 7 success stories last year. Outcomes: The articles about organic peach growers and the online pest risk school IPM tool were re-distributed further by outside media. The school IPM article was distributed through the Texas A&M school IPM newsletter and the entomology department newsletter, and the peach grower article appeared in a grower magazine (see News Media, below). Direct Outreach: E-mail and Newsletters Our directed outreach consists of e-mails and reports. Four e-mailed newsletters send out content from the blog to people that have opted in to the newsletters. We also have an e-mail listserv that we use to send out notifications about open Center RFAs or the Friends of IPM Call for Nominations. Between the listserv, newsletters and other regional group lists such as SERA003, working group lists, university department head lists and the Advisory Council member list, information from the Center goes out to over 1,000 people. Many of those recipients send the information further to their lists, reaching many more people than we could on our own. We have four e-mailed newsletters sent via MailChimp and sourced from our blog. Since last year, we have gained 25 more people on our mailing list. We also create a colorful annual report, which is distributed to our Advisory Council, attendees of the IPM Committee meeting, SERA-003 members and USDA NIFA personnel. Last year we produced 100 reports and gave out 80. Outputs: Four weekly newsletters - content has increased this year by 24% / Emails to listserv, SERA-003, Small Farms Working Group and Advisory Council members regarding opportunities, deadlines or information to share with their networks/ Annual report Outcomes: The main newsletter, which contains Center and USDA news, funding and employment opportunities and, based on feedback from the Advisory Council last year, events and webinars, goes to about 150 people on Wednesday morning. One of our Advisory Council members has become actively involved in sending information about webinars for the Extension Forestry division at the University of Georgia. The IPM Coordinator from Texas added the Communication Director to the Entomology Department newsletter there, and she and the newsletter editor exchange information about events to broaden the reach for news. Having these relationships has increased the number of applicants to both our grant programs and the award program. News media (print and online - external to the Center) Articles in news media consist of either success stories or stories about a new project. In the past year, we have had articles printed in Growing Produce, a magazine for fruit and vegetable growers. In addition, one article about a new tomato grafting project was featured in NC State University's magazine for the College of Agriculture and Life Science. In the past, we have also had articles featured in one of the regional Farm Press newspapers. We also continue to send success stories to NIFA's Share Your Science program but have not yet been featured in their e-mails. Outputs: Two stories were picked up by grower magazines. Outcomes: As a result of the Clemson article, five growers in Florida and one grower in New York inquired about obtaining the bags that were featured in the project. The growers wanted to try the bags on their own farms to either grow organic peaches (which is difficult in the Southeast because of the pest and disease pressure) or lower the amount of insecticides and fungicides needed to obtain an economically viable crop. Blog articles Our blog, IPM in the South (ipmsouth.com), contains over 2,800 posts divided into four categories. As stated above, the blog feeds the MailChimp newsletters. Blog titles are also "tweeted" through Twitter. The blog has 206 followers, with an additional 150 for the MailChimp newsletters and 1,238 for Twitter. The blog affords us the opportunity to reach an audience that we might not ordinarily reach by adding people to newsletter lists. Many of the blog followers are other WordPress bloggers, Extension agents, nursery personnel and the general public. We also have a few agricultural news writers following us on Twitter, which was helpful when we held a webinar on Palmer amaranth, as the editor of one of the farm magazines was in the audience. Outputs: In the past year, 795 articles have been posted to the blog. Outcomes: The articles on public-private partnerships and the silver bullet were reprinted in other blogs. During May 2017, the "Ticks to look out for" post was the second most popular post in the blog, indicating that visitors are searching for information on ticks and finding that information on our site. Social Media The Center's social media presence includes Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The Facebook page (facebook.com/SRIPMC) and blog both feed the Twitter (twitter.com/southernipm) account. The Facebook page contains posts from Entomology Today or other blogs or newspapers that prefer that other posters do not copy and paste the posts into their own blogs. The social media sites allow us to reach people beyond the newsletters, listservs and blog. We use our social media to promote articles in the blog, upcoming events in the region, IPM Symposium deadlines, and webinars such as the PD workshops that we held this year. Outputs: Since the opening of the Twitter account in September 2009, there have been over 4,000 tweets. Twitter has 1,238 followers and receives over 1,000 weekly impressions. The Facebook page has 334 "Likes." Outcomes: Since June 2016 we have gained over 200 additional followers for Twitter. In addition, each tweet has an "engagement," meaning that another Twitter follower is either retweeting it or clicking on the link. We have also received a few questions about information sent out through Twitter, meaning that people are interacting with the content. Public Outreach Following the advice of our Advisory Council, SIPMC does not spend extensive resources on media for the general public. Some of the blog topics, Facebook posts, Pinterest pins and Twitter tweets reach some people in the general public. However, we are involved in three public outreach events: A Bug's Day in Gastonia, NC, Honeybee Day at the Raleigh, NC Farmers' Market, and BugFest in Raleigh, NC. At each event, we have a table with handouts about various IPM issues, including general IPM, gardening information, instructions for homemade bed bug and stink bug traps, and games for children. We have two displays with IPM information (one with home IPM information and another with photos and information about predators and pests), as well as examples of traps or other IPM tools. Outputs: Bugfest attendance is over 35000 people. This year, A Bug's Day in Gastonia had about 612 visitors. Outcomes: Although we usually do not know whether the people who take our fliers use the information on them, we were told by another exhibitor at A Bug's Day that someone in her family used our instructions on bed bug traps to monitor bed bugs at his son's apartment. Although the trap did not stop the infestation because the son was accidentally bringing them in from the sheltered workshop he attended, the trap was a good way to monitor how bad the infestations were and did serve to reduce the populations, according to the exhibitor. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?There are no changes to the agency-approved application or plan for this effort (i.e. the approved project initiation), however here is an outline of the plan for the next period. Southern IPM Center Core Programs AC Meeting/Coordination Our next AC meeting is scheduled for Baton Rouge, LA on September 12-13 2017. Two follow-up AC meetings, in Winter and Spring 2018, will be held online. Southern IPM Roundtable The Roundtable will be a PD workshop at the International IPM Symposium in Baltimore, supplemented by webinars for PDs not presenting. Regulatory Information Network SIPMC will again use one-year contracts renewable again next year. Fadamiro, LaForest, and Seth Carley will continue to serve as liaisons for AL, GA, and NC, respectively. This year, we will have a RIN liaison for MS. We will also replace the liaison to the VI as our previous liaison has left. Friends of IPM Awards We plan to continue the Friends of IPM Program in 2017-2018. This year's call for nominations will come out in the Fall of 2017, and award winners will be notified in early 2018. Communications All current communication methods will continue. In addition, 1 Further efforts will be made place success stories in USDA NIFA's Fresh from the Field e-mails. 2 We are currently developing video stories of projects done by this year's Friends of Southern IPM winners. We will continue to create videos of IPM projects and efforts in the region. Evaluation We will continue to support IPM Enhancement grant recipients with evaluation, as well as other IP-related projects in the region. We will conduct a retrospective study of medium and long term outcomes of Center-funded programs since 2013. Supported Groups We will continue to support our WGs through offerings through FITT, communications offerings and opportunities for funding through, as well as any other methods that they may request individually. Signature Programs Grants Programs IPM Enhancement Grants Program We plan to leave this potential for funding in-place in the coming year. Approximately $250,000 will again be available. The RFA will be released in coordination with the other IPM Centers around September 1, 2017. Critical and Emerging Issues Grants Program We plan to leave this potential for funding in-place in the coming year. Approximately $5,000 will again be available. IPM Data / IPM Documents Program We will allocate about $4,000 to this grant program. The RFA will remain open until all funds are expended. Pollinator Protection We are still working to fill the "best niche" for our WG. Many of us are working on other task forces, other projects, and other pollinator protection teams. The WG has agreed to take a "wait and see" approach and tackle issues as they arise. We are remaining in contact and continue to identify areas where we can collaborate. Efforts have shifted to focus on outreach, and the inclusion of an ongoing pollinator Citizen Science component where "bee experts" are paired with a community volunteer to count and identify bees in the Pollinator Demonstration Garden. We will continue these efforts and possibly expand the number of events we attend. We will continue to work with our Federal partners on national efforts that help to define protections for pollinators through implementation of IPM programs. We will also continue to work with Southern programs on their MP3 documents, or other pollinator protection efforts as opportunities arise. Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology (FITT) We will: 1 Continue to provide one-on-one consultation for working groups, grant awardees, and any other stakeholders in the region 2 Develop technology use success stories documenting the issue, what tools they chose to implement, and the results of that implementation 3 Provide more documentation with examples of usage as has been started on http://maps.eddmaps.org. 4 Provide analytics on usage of tools and available content. Providing summary statistics to each project serves as positive reinforcement and indication that the effort they spent in trying new things is producing results. IPM Information Supplement (National) We will be engaging the other IPM Centers in evaluating the success of the IPM Information Supplement for all four IPM Centers. We have sought to improve what is available and its utility throughout the current grant and believe that early planning may improve the efficacy of this initiative. State of the art delivery of IPM information All of the improvements that are mentioned above under Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology will also benefit the State of the art delivery of IPM information. We will also direct some of the promotion and instruction on available services to the other IPM Centers. Their connection within their region and understanding of their stakeholders needs is a valuable asset. When paired with a better working knowledge of what is available and can be done, it may improve adoption in other regions. Additionally, we will have an opportunity to showcase available tools at the International IPM Symposium. We will organization combined booth for the IPM Centers will work with the iPiPE program in providing a venue for demonstration and exploration of technology. Impact information and logic model tools Southern IPM Center will continue to support the Interagency IPM Project Database and make necessary changes to maintain its link with the Proposal/Project Management System. We will continue to maintain the existing Logic Model website, updating content when it is provided to us. We will continue to manage and contribute to the national IPM success story area of the new national website Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel As mentioned with Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology and State of the art delivery of IPM information we will continue promotion of what is available and how different groups are using available resources. Reference and information support tool for setting IPM program priorities National Website In the coming year, in addition to continuing maintenance, we plan to complete deployment to a production server of the test setup we have prepared on a staging server. The National IPM Database (formerly the IPM CP and PMSP Document System) Over the next year, in addition to regular maintenance and user support, IPM Data will have the following enhancements: 1 The landing page will be redesigned to provide aesthetic value for the end user. The new design will make the website seem more welcoming and user-friendly. 2 A Content Management System (CMS) will be developed for easier updates to the website. 3 Reports (i.e., Sources-by-State) will continue to be created. 4 Upon requests from agency or university personnel for additional data, new sections will be added to the Admin panel to respond to needs for other information. 5 Each region will continue to beta test and enter data into IPM Data. 6 The data conversion from the original CPs and PMSPs into IPM Data will be ongoing with focus on the Active Ingredients. 7 Pesticide data from the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) API will continue to be imported into IPM Data. 8 Pest data from Bugwood will continue to be entered into IPM Data. 9 The Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that they prefer to use information less than five years old, so Project Directors will continue to be encouraged to update CP and PMSP sources older than five years and to support the initiation of new ones. PPMS Over the next year, the Proposal/Project Management System (PPMS) website will receive additional usability improvements to make it more efficient and intuitive for users. These updates are based on feedback from users.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The Southern IPM Center directs funding to solve high priority issues. Our IPM Enhancement and Critical Issues grants help southern researchers find new ways to combat invasive species, manage pesticide resistance, grow organic produce successfully in the South, and provide a healthy environment for children to learn. One project in Florida, for instance, helped save the state's sweet potato industry and protect food quality by developing a method that would predict which fields were free from wireworms, a damaging sweet potato pest. Another project focused on nursery-grown shrubs, involved scientists from several Southern states and the creation of an online book that not only helped to save the nursery industry $5.6 million in one year, but also provided advice about protecting their plants in a more efficient and less costly way. Our technology and IPM Data programs include data about crop protection practices and maps that track pest locations so farmers can be better prepared to protect their crops. Communication with other federally funded programs, funding agencies and our stakeholders helps all parties stay connected and informed. Posts on social media platforms on project results often lets the public know about new tools, such as using bags to protect organic fruit without the need for pesticide applications. We evaluate not only the projects we fund but also our own programs, to make sure that our activities have a positive impact on food security and environmental stewardship. Evaluating our programs helps identify potential shortcomings so that we can correct course quickly and continual to improve our efforts. Finally, we turn to the stakeholders we serve--federal program staff, crop consultants, school IPM coordinators, industry representatives, university researchers and extension personnel, environmental educators and more--to be sure our programs are reaching their intended audience and serving their intended purpose to connect people in the region, manage resources to support pest management, and protect our crops from insect pests, diseases, and other risks to our food security. 1) To increase coordination and improve efficiency of IPM research and extension efforts by organizing timely responses to emerging issues of regional importance. 2) To facilitate collaboration by acting as a focal point and facilitator of communications that promote sound IPM-related decisions. The Regulatory information network continues to work with the EPA and OPMP to address calls for information. This year we had 1 formal calls for information, and 4 or 5 other items of interest that we have shared with our networks. Nine SIPMC working groups are operating in the region, one of them initiated this year, focusing on Invasive Conehead Termite. SIPMC conducts outreach in publicly accessible formats, and directly to specific people or groups. Publicly accessible outreach is centered on the blog "IPM in The South" is followed by 206 people. Blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter and tweeted to an additional 1,238 followers. In the past year, 795 articles have been posted to the blog. As of June 8, 2017, the blog contains 2,881 posts. The Twitter account has over 4,000 tweets. Our Facebook page has 334 "Likes." Our directed outreach consists of e-mails and reports. Four e-mailed newsletters send out content from the blog to an additional 150 people. SIPMC also participated in "A Bug's Day" at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC, attended this year by 612 people, BugFest in Raleigh, attended by over 35,000 people, and Honeybee Day in Raleigh. In addition, 100 copies of the 2016 Annual Report were given to Advisory Council members, attendees of the IPM Committee meeting in October 2016, and SERA-003 members. 3) To promote further development and adoption of IPM through regional information networks, collaborative team building and broad-based stakeholder participation; The 2017 Southern IPM Roundtable was held in with the Southern Division American Phytopathological Society meeting in College Station, TX on February 19, 2017. The program featured presentations from the IPM programs in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Virginia with an open session for discussion with the attendees on the direction of IPM in the Southern Region. Over 100 people attended the event. This is a marked increase from the previous year.Two additional webinars have been held to provide an appropriate venue for presentation of projects associated with Crop Protection and Pest Management projects. These online PD meetings were attended by 57 people The IPM Enhancement grants received 37 applications, the highest submission number in its history, and funded nine of them. The Friends of Southern IPM program received 21 nominations for the Professional Awards and 17 for the Graduate Student Awards. Awards were given at the following events: Upstate South Carolina Strawberry Meeting, GA Association of Plant Pathology meeting, Southeastern Branch ESA meeting, Southwestern Branch ESA meeting, Florida Weed Science Society Meeting 4) To document the impacts and value of IPM strategies, techniques, programs and projects, building support for IPM among the general public and public policymakers We provided advice and assistance to stakeholders with evaluation planning and data collection. All 2015 and 2016 recipients of IPM Enhancement grants consulted with the Center's evaluation specialist for evaluating their projects. 5) INFORMATION SUPPLEMENT State of the art delivery of IPM information A MailChimp account has been provisioned for management of electronic newsletters, integration with existing blog content, distribution list management, and documentation of stakeholder engagement with published content. We provide technical assistance in setup of the tool and integration with existing outreach efforts.. 459 email campaigns have resulted in 104,862 successful deliveries. This is a 26% increase from the previous year. Impact information and logic model tools The Project/Proposal Management System was hosted and received 77 code revisions addressing 15 bugs and feature requests. The system was used by the four regional centers to process 162 proposal submissions for 10 RFAs. Enhancements included a usability redesign of the procedure for collecting Review Panel Summaries. Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel The Southern IPM Center provides access and assistance with project management (Basecamp), Online meetings (Zoom/GoToWebinar). There are now 50 projects hosted on Basecamp through SIPMC. Five webinars were hosted with 159 registrants. The rate of requests to hold online meetings has decreased, largely due to other institutions who were frequent users getting their own accounts. Reference and information support tool for setting IPM program priorities The National IPM Database (IPM Data) serves all four regional IPM Centers. IPM Data was initially designed as two separate IPM CP and PMSP Document Systems. The two datasource applications were merged into the IPM Data website application. The new system also incorporates the IPM Elements and Timeline sources. The programmer developing IPM Data has presented the database to the advisory council, stakeholders, and researchers, and has updated all groups on its development this year. The Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that they prefer to use information less than five years old, so we are continuing to encourage Project Directors to update CPs and PMSPs older than five years and to support the initiation of new ones. Fifteen CPs and seven PMSPs are currently being developed in IPM Data. IPM Data contains 171 PMSPs, 706 CPs, 82 Elements of IPM, and 17 Timelines. Google Analytics reports 11,427 page views and 3,551 pdf document downloads from April 2016 to May 2017.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2017 Citation: LeBude, A.V., A. Fulcher, J.-J. Dubois, S.K. Braman, N. Gauthier, J. Neal, M. Chappell, A. Fulcher, W.E. Klingeman, F.A. Hale, and A. S. Windham. 2017. Experiential Nursery IPM Workshop Series to Enhance Grower Practice Adoption. Hortechnology (in review)
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R., Carley, D., LaForest, J. 2016 Southern IPM Center Annual Report, September 2016
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. University of Florida study helps farmers find best fields for sweet potatoes. IPM in the South. (11 April 2017). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/04/11/university-of-florida-study-helps-farmers-find-best-fields-for-sweet-potatoes/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Research detects five major plant viruses of wheat and reveals two new viruses in Oklahoma. IPM in the South. (10 April 2017). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/04/10/research-detects-five-major-plant-viruses-of-wheat-and-reveals-two-new-viruses-in-oklahoma/
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Matthew Chappell, S White, A Fulcher, A LeBude, G Knox, J-JB Dubois 2017. Assessing Impact of Coordinated Comprehensive Regional Extension Publications: A Case Study of the Southern Nursery IPM Working Group. Hortechnology (accepted)
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Just released and FREE! Southeastern Pest Control Guide for Nursery and Landscape Plants available. IPM in the South. (30 March 2017). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/03/30/just-released-and-free-southeastern-pest-control-guide-for-nursery-and-landscape-plants-available/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Research by Friends of IPM graduate student winner helps Tennessee ranchers with tick scouting  IPM in the South. (21 March 2017) [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/03/21/research-by-friends-of-ipm-graduate-student-winner-helps-virginia-ranchers-with-tick-scouting/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Moving forward to a New Integrated Pest Management. IPM in the South. (6 March 2017). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/03/06/moving-forward-to-a-new-integrated-pest-management/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Newly funded projects will further IPM in vegetable, cotton and residential pest management. IPM in the South. (9 Feb 2017). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2017/02/09/nine-integrated-pest-management-projects-funded-through-ipm-enhancement-grant-program/
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Can public-private partnerships work for Extension? IPM in the South. (12 Dec 2016). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2016/12/12/can-public-private-partnerships-work-for-extension/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Why people resort to the silver bullet: using psychology to teach IPM. IPM in the South. (30 Nov 2016). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2016/11/30/why-people-resort-to-the-silver-bullet-using-psychology-to-teach-ipm/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. National specialty crop project explores new possibilities for grafted tomato and cucurbit plants. IPM in the South (2 Nov 2016). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2016/11/02/national-specialty-crop-project-explores-new-possibilities-for-grafted-tomato-and-cucurbit-plants/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. Ticks to look out for  by state. IPM in the South (11 July 2016). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2016/07/11/ticks-to-look-out-for-by-state/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [blog post]. Hallberg, R. NC State horticulture experts work to restore the garden beauty to rain gardens. IPM in the South (6 July 2016). [url] https://ipmsouth.com/2016/07/06/nc-state-horticulture-experts-work-to-restore-the-garden-beauty-to-rain-gardens/
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [News article]. Hallberg, R. Clemson University scientists think outside the box for organic peach growers Growing Produce (June 2016) Yes
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H. Invasive species response kit. Ornamental Workshop on Diseases and Insects. Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, NC. October, 26 2016.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: LaForest, J.H., Fadamiro, H, Seth-Carley, D. Southern IPM Center Update. SERA3: Southern Region Information Exchange Group for IPM. Memphis, TN. March 15, 2017. (17 Participants )
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J.H. Tools to support the Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Working Group. Southern BMSB Workgroup Meeting. April 20, 2016. (20 Participants)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: LaForest, J.H., Flanders, K. Wallace, R. Fire ant data management: Preserving the past and tools for the future. Imported Fire Ant and Invasive Pest Ant Conference. Mobile, AL. May 18, 2017. (60 participants)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: LaForest, J.H., Fadamiro, H, Seth-Carley, D. Southern IPM Center Update. SERA3: Southern Region Information Exchange Group for IPM. Memphis, TN. March 15, 2017. (17 Participants)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: D. Seth Carley (2016), IPM for pollinator protection in the landscape. Raleigh, June 2016. (250 landscape professionals participants)
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Website Environmental Protection Agency, Ecotoxicity [url] http://www.ipmcenters.org/ecotox Ecotoxicity data on over 4,180 active ingredients as reviewed by EPA and 30,000 records for acute and chronic toxicity endpoints. / 96691 pageviews in 9443 visits by 3617users yes
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H., Moss, E., Graham, L. F., & Wallace, R. D. (2016). EDDMapS: Tawny Crazy Ant (Version 1) [Website]. Tawny Crazy Ant Working Group. Retrieved from [url] http://www.eddmaps.org/tca/ The Tawny Crazy Ant website was created to provide up-to-date information on a new invasive pest, Nylandaria fulva. In the current reporting period, the site had 773 pageviews in 120 visits from 82 users. 94 occurrence records were added to start the site with the current distribution and encourage reporting within the region.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H., Bargeron, C. T., Liles, M., & Bush, B. (2016). Resource Database (Version 1.1) [Website]. Center for Invasive species and Ecosystem Health and Regional IPM Centers. Retrieved from [url] http://resources.ipmcenters.org/ In the current reporting period, the site had 2,742 pageviews in 391 visits from 118 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H., Bargeron, C. T., Wallace, R., David, R., Liles, M., & Bush, B. (2016). EDDMapS Maps Service (Version 3.1) [Website]. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. [url] http://maps.eddmaps.org/
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H., Bargeron, C. T., Moorhead, D., & Liles, M. (2016). Bugwood Presents (Version 1.2) [Website]. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Retrieved from [url] http://presents.bugwood.org/ Tool to share presentation materials. 171 presentations are now available with 18 new presentations uploaded and 63 existing presentations updated during the project. In the current reporting period, the site had 7,090 pageviews in 1,535 visits from 812 users. The presentations have been downloaded 1,284 times during the project period with 526 of those downloads were from eXtension where Bugwood Presents is being used for serving of the Stop School Pest educational modules.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Kudzu Bug website (www.kudzubug.org) was created to provide up-to-date information on a new invasive pest, Megacopta cribraria. In the current reporting period, the site had 25,656 pageviews in 12,939 visits from 11,122 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Southeast Early Detection Network (www.eddmaps.org/southeast) was established within the EDDMaps system to enable people in the Southern Region to act as First Detectors. Anyone can report Invasive Species from the website or from their smartphone. Reports are sent to verifiers to follow up with reporters and take appropriate action. In the current reporting period, the site had 24,863 pageviews in 3,092 visits from 2,323 users. Southeast Early Detection Network received 4,894 reports on 185 subjects from 350 reporters located in 1,136 counties within 28 states
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Crape Myrtle Bark Scale website (www.eddmaps.org/cmbs) was created to provide up-to-date information on a new invasive pest, Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae. In the current reporting period, the site had 4,437 pageviews in 1,156 visits from 764 users. Crapemyrtle Bark Scale received 25 reports from 11 reporters located in 17 counties within 7 states.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Eastern Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network (SWD*VMN) website (www.eddmaps.org/swd) was created to display current distribution and activity within the season based on trapping data from the monitoring network. In the current reporting period, the site had 4,406 pageviews in 528 visits from 233 users. We received 579 trap data reports in 42 counties within 3 states.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The International IPM Symposium website (www.ipmsymposium.org) is maintained by the Southern IPM Center. It provides information on previous conferences and current information for the conference coming up in 2018. In the current reporting period, the site had 924 pageviews in 407 visits from 309 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Southern IPM Center website (www.sipmc.org) showcases the work of the Center and facilitates access to data and tools. It is intended to address the interests of several categories of stakeholders and steer people toward the information and tools most relevant to them. In the current reporting period, the site had 16,402 pageviews in 8,186 visits from 5,990 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H., Bush, B., & Wallace, R. D. (2016). EDDMapS: Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Working Group (Version 1) [Website]. Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Working Group. Retrieved from [url] http://www.eddmaps.org/bmsb/ The Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug website was created to provide updates on BMSB in the Southern region, provide a way for individuals to report BMSB in 3 different settings, and highlight working group priorities. In the current reporting period, the site had 25,941 pageviews in 10,054 visits from 8,706 users. Southern BMSB received 175 reports from 4 reporters located in 173 counties within 6 states.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Riley, D. G., Sparks, A., Dutta, B., Schmidt, J., Grey, T., Coolong, T., . . . Stribling, F. (2016). US Vigna: A Cowpea Working Group (Version 1.0) [Website]. Southern Pea Working Group. Retrieved from [url] http://www.usvigna.org/ The Cowpea Working Group website was created to increase awareness of this crop in the USA, to address critical issues in cowpea pest management and to foster research, education and industry teams to promote better production practices. In the current reporting period, the site had 1,470 pageviews in 343 visits from 244 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Regional IPM Centers website (www.ipmcenters.org) serves as a national umbrella site for the four regional IPM Centers. It provides a mechanism to disseminate information of a national scope, to highlight regional successes and to steer people to relevant resources within regional websites. In the current reporting period, the site had 1,746 pageviews in 955 visits from 798 users.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: The Southern IPM Center supports IPM Images (www.ipmimages) as a resource to support outreach and extension programs throughout the country. In the current reporting period, the site had 275,203 pageviews in 67,523 visits from 49,766 users. Approximately 36% of that traffic is from the United States. Additionally, there have been 3,471 requests for permission for use 20,361 images with 2,521 of the request associated with free outreach programming. The database currently offers more than 254,000 images from 2,400 photographers illustrating 23,964 subjects.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: National IPM Database website In the current reporting period, the site had 15,307 pageviews in 4,193 visits from 2,871 users. PDFs of the original documents have been dodatawnloaded 3,569 times. [url] https://ipmdata.ipmcenters.org
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Proposal/Projects Management System The PPMS website (projects.ipmcenters.org) helps grant managers to organize and run a request for applications, collect proposals, review proposals, designate project funding and collect project reports. Various enhancements to this tool contributed to its function, including security and usability improvements as well as bug fixes. The system was used by the four regional centers to process 162 proposal submissions for 10 RFAs.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: [magazine article] Seth Carley, D. and Klein, S. (2016) Got pollinators: Get the buzz on establishing a pollinator habitat at your site. North Carolina Turfgrass


    Progress 09/01/17 to 02/28/17

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Extension specialists, extension administrators, IPM faculty and staff, growers, hospital/school/daycare managers, homeowners, landscaping professionals, Members of Southern IPM Center Advisory Council, Pesticide Safety Education Program Educators, experiment station directors, University and College deans and provosts, NGOs, federal partners (i.e. EPA, USDA, etc.), 1890 universities, regional technical committee members (SERA003) Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We do two different types of outreach: material that is available for anyone to see (online) and outreach directed to specific audiences or people. In terms of our available or indirect outreach, blog content in ipmsouth.com is available to all Internet users and is followed by 280 people. Blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter and tweeted to an additional 1,445 followers. As of September 2018, the blog contains 3,613 posts, 550 of which were added within the current reporting period. Followers of the blog range from land grant specialists and members of IPM-related industries to members of the general public. Those who follow via e-mail tend to be from land grant universities or government agencies, and those who follow via WordPress accounts tend to be from unknown backgrounds, although a few are from garden centers, farms or the pest control industry. Our directed outreach consists of e-mails and reports. Four e-mailed newsletters send out content from the blog to an additional 176 people. In terms of one on one contact with an audience, SIPMC again participated in "A Bug's Day" at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC, attended this year by 645 people. Many attendees picked up handouts about ticks and general IPM, and several children put together puzzles with invasive species pictures on them. In addition, 75 copies of the 2018 Annual Report were given to Advisory Council members, attendees of the IPM Committee meeting in October 2018, and SERA-003 members. The newsletter is developed in MailChimp and includes feed from the IPM in the South blog. It is emailed to a wider audience than the followers of the blog, and thus widens our reach. During the reporting period, 185 campaigns were sent resulting in 17,853 successful deliveries of our newsletter. We have maintained engagement with our target audience with an average of 32% or recipients opening the newsletter and an average of 8% clicking on at least one item. Tweets from Twitter come from either the blog or from the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/SRIPMC. From September 2017 to September 2018, we sent out 683 tweets, gained 169 additional followers, and had the potential to reach 141,812 Twitter users based on the number of tweet impressions. We also maintain a Facebook page that contains information from blog posts or news articles that may be copyright-sensitive. The Facebook page has 363 "Likes." Time-sensitive information, such as the release of RFAs or the Friends of Southern IPM Call for Nominations, is also disseminated through two listservs. The SRIPMC listserv contains 612 users. The School IPM listserv contains members of the southern region School IPM working group, with 57 followers. Stories about project successes were disseminated in various media. All success stories were posted to the IPM in the South blog. Impacts from the 2017 IPM Enhancement grants were compiled into the 2018 Annual Report that was given to Advisory Council members and IPM Committee attendees. One of those stories was featured in NIFA's "Fresh from the Field" e-mail about impacts. We still participate in three outreach events aimed at the general public: "A Bug's Day" in Gastonia, NC, "BugFest" in Raleigh, NC and "Honeybee Day" at the Raleigh Farmers' Market. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the last year of this award. No plans are made for continuation of current goals under this award. The Southern IPM Center will continue under a new award that was won in 2018.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The Southern IPM Center directs funding to solve high priority issues. Our IPM Enhancement and Critical Issues grants help southern researchers find new ways to combat invasive species, manage pesticide resistance, grow produce successfully, and provide a healthy environment for children to learn. Our technology and IPM Data programs include data about crop protection practices and maps that track pest locations so farmers can be better prepared to protect their crops. Communication with other federally funded programs, funding agencies and our stakeholders helps all parties stay connected and informed. Posts on social media platforms on project results often lets the public know about new tools, such as using bags to protect organic fruit without the need for pesticide applications. We evaluate not only the projects we fund but also our own programs, to make sure that our activities have a positive impact on food security and environmental stewardship. Evaluating our programs helps identify potential shortcomings so that we can correct course quickly and continual to improve our efforts. Finally, we turn to our stakeholders to be sure our programs reach their intended audience and serve their intended purpose to connect people in the region, manage resources to support pest management, and protect our crops from insect pests, diseases, and other risks to our food security. 1 To increase coordination and improve efficiency of IPM research and extension efforts by organizing timely responses to emerging issues of regional importance. 2 To facilitate collaboration by acting as a focal point and facilitator of communications that promote sound IPM-related decisions. The Regulatory information network responded to 4 formal calls for information from EPA and OPMP. Eleven SIPMC working groups are operating in the region. SIPMC conducts outreach as described in the Dissemination section. SIPMC develops and maintains websites and databases for stakeholders in the Southern region. Usage and contents statistics are as follows. Visits (v) first, then pageviews (pv), then users (u). All statistics are for the current reporting period except where indicated otherwise. Kudzu Bug 25,693 v 41,410 pv 3,261 u2. 211 reports from 81 reporters submitted. Southeast Early Detection Network 3,092 v 24,863 pv 2,323 u. 37,214 reports on 200 subjects from 435 reporters located in 351 counties within 25 states. Tawny Crazy Ant 441 v 3,528 pv 346 u. 6 occurrence records submitted. Crape Myrtle Bark Scale 1,253 v 4,932 pv 964 u. 42 reports from 23 reporters located in 28 counties within 8 states. 16 of the reports were first in county reports. Cowpea Working Group 656 v 860 pv 629 u. Eastern Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network (SWD*VMN) website 580 v 6,968 pv 294 u. 1021 trap data reports in 64 counties within 4 states submitted. Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug 2,679 v 9,116 pv 2,168 u. 1,429 reports from 704 reporters located in 392 counties within 45 states. Suction Trap Network 461,865 records on 250 species of aphids in 46 counties and 12 states currently listed. Southern Pests https://southernpests.org/ was launched. AlliumNet AlliumNet.com Launched February 9th, 2018 559 v 1678 pv 507 u. International IPM Symposium 18,239 v 43,252 pv 10,343 u. Southern IPM Center 7,872 v 15,189 pv 5,998 u. 3 To promote further development and adoption of IPM through regional information networks, collaborative team building and broad-based stakeholder participation; Southern Region PDs were interviewed on video. IPM Enhancement grants received 40 applications, a new record, and funded ten of them. Friends of Southern IPM received 33 nominations. A winner was selected for each of the 7 award subcategories for which we received nominations. Awards were given at the ESA Southeastern Branch meeting and the Ornamental meeting. 4 Document the impacts and value of IPM strategies, techniques, programs and projects, building support for IPM among the general public and public policymakers We assisted stakeholders with evaluation planning and data collection. All 2017 and 2018 recipients of IPM Enhancement grants consulted with the Center's evaluation specialist. A two-year effort to document and analyze the network of IPM organizations in the Southern Region was completed and the results were presented to the Advisory Council. 5 Information supplement State of the art delivery of IPM information A MailChimp account has been provisioned for management of electronic newsletters. 201 campaigns with 107,069 successful deliveries of newsletters were conducted by groups whose access to MailChimp resources is provided by the Center. Impact information and logic model tools The PPMS was used by the 4 regional centers to process 181 proposal submissions for 17 RFAs. Enhancements included usability redesign of the procedure for collecting Review Panel Summaries. Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel Basecamp currently contains 12 archived projects and 95 Active projects. Of the 95 active projects, 18 are national, 19 pertain to the southern region only, 15 to the North Central region and 43 are within other projects. Zoom has been used to host 129 meetings. Total time used was 155 hours, or 948 person-hours of meeting time. Reference and information support tool for setting IPM program priorities National IPM Database (IPM Data): the two original datasource applications (Crop profiles and PMSPs) were merged into the IPM Data website application, and IPM Elements and Timeline sources were added. Pests from the original and new CP and PMSP documents have been matched to the Bugwood database and entered into IPM Data for a total of 1,176 distinct pests and 5,217 pest references in the source documents. Pesticide data is being retrieved from the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) API. 692 distinct Active Ingredients have been identified and 5,217 have been entered into the IPM Data from older and new CP and PMSP documents. The landing page was redesigned to provide aesthetic value for the end user. The new design made the website seem more welcoming and user-friendly. The Administrative portal for data entry has been modified based on feedback from editors. A Content Management System (CMS) was developed for easier updates to the website pages. The programmer developing IPM Data has presented the database to the advisory council, stakeholders, and researchers, and has updated all groups on developments. TheEPA has indicated a preference for information less than five years old. Project Directors are encouraged to update older CPs and PMSPs besides initiating new ones. Eighteen CPs and six PMSPs are currently being developed in IPM Data. IPM Data contains 176 PMSPs, 787 CPs, 101 Elements of IPM, and 17 Timelines. Additional statistics for websites and databases are as follows: Regional IPM Centers 29,202 v 122,398 pv 21,177 u. IPM Images 93,942 v 327,363 pv 69,345 u. 2,378 requests for permission to use 15,343 images with 1,594 of the request associated with free outreach programming. The database currently offers 283,000+ images from 2,500 photographers illustrating 25,700 subjects. Bugwood Presents 1,596 v 3,413 pv 1,180 u. 203 presentations available. 961 downloads with 153 of them from eXtension esp. for Stop School Pest educational modules. National IPM Database 7,230 v 21,292 pv in from 4,671 u. 3,743 downloads. 40 documents added. EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs Pesticide Ecotoxicity Database 105,498 pv. 4,180 active ingredients as reviewed by EPA and 30,148 records for acute and chronic toxicity endpoints currently listed. Proposal/Projects Management System (PPMS) 5,383 v 46,609 pv 2,433 u. 181 proposal submissions for 17 RFAs from the 4 Centers. Resource Database 318 v 1,656 pv 159 u 1,472 resources currently listed

    Publications

    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: D. Seth Carley. Enhancing Pollinator Habitat with Plants in the NC Landscape. (North Carolina Master Gardeners) September 2017
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: D.Seth Carley, M. Mata, and A. Spafford. Pollinator-friendly gardens as an educational tool for community outreach and education. ASHA meeting, HI, September 2017
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: D. Seth Carley M. Mata. Researching, Designing, and Building Urban Pollinator-Friendly Gardens. North Carolina Garden Club, October 2017
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: D. Seth Carley. A New Forum to Advance Regulatory Science in Agriculture. Presentation at the Regulatory Workshop at NC State, October, 2017
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: D. Seth Carley. Advancing Regulatory Science in Agriculture. NCBiotech Soil Health Summit, RTP, February 2018
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: L. McConnell, D. Seth Carley. The Need for a Forum to Discuss Regulatory Concerns in Agriculture. CropLife conference April 2018
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: D. Seth Carley. How IPM can help to Advance Decision Making in Regulatory Science in Agriculture. Industry meeting (Bayer Environmental Science) April 2018
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: D. Seth Carley, L. McConnell, A. airs, and I. Kelly. Facilitating Engagement on Regulatory Science in Agriculture. (given at ACS in Boston, July, 2018)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2017). Sharing information across boundaries to deliver a common message and preserve knowledge. In Imported Fire Ant Meeting.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2017). Sharing information across boundaries to deliver a common message and preserve knowledge. In Society of Nematology.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bostick, N., Schmidt, J., Brenneman, T., Culbreath, A., Buntin, G. D., Laforest, J., & Toews, M. (2017). Improving crop pest management using qualitative data networks. In Annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bostick, N., Schmidt, J., Bargeron, C. T., Brenneman, T., Culbreath, A. K., Buntin, G. D., . . . Toews, M. (2017). Improving crop pest management using qualitative data networks. In Entomological Society of America. Denver, CO
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). Choosing the right technology to help you protect agricultural and natural resources. In University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Training.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). Ready to use tools for pest reporting, mapping, and content delivery. National Extension Technology Conference.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). Bugwood Image Database: Images you can use and tools to help you find more. National Extension Technology Conference.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). Ready to use tools for pest reporting, mapping, and content delivery. National Extension Technology Conference.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). Roundtable Discussion: Shared space for application development and hosting. National Extension Technology Conference.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Laforest, J. H. (2018). How the Regional IPM Centers Can Support Horticultural Science. American Society for Horticultural Science.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [award presentation] Fadamiro, H.Y. (2018). Friends of IPM - Masters. Student Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, March 6, 2018
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [award presentation] Fadamiro, H.Y. (2018). Friends of IPM - Ph.D. Student Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, March 6, 2018
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [award presentation] Fadamiro, H.Y. (2018). Friends of IPM - Future Leader Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, March 6, 2018.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [award presentation] Fadamiro, H.Y. (2018). Friends of IPM- IPM Educator Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, March 6, 2018.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [award presentation] Fadamiro, H.Y. (2018). Friends of IPM - Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, March 6, 2018.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: EDDMapS: Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Working Group (Version 2) [Website]. Southern Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Working Group.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: US Vigna: A Cowpea Working Group (Version 1.1) [Website]. Southern Pea Working Group.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: International IPM Symposium website Provides information on previous conferences including the recent 2018 conference.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Southern IPM Center website
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Regional IPM Centers website
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: IPM Images A resource to support outreach and extension programs nationally.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: PPMS website Helps grant managers organize and run requests for applications, proposals, project funding and project reports.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Hallberg, R., Carley, D., LaForest, J. SIPMC 2017 Annual Report, September 2017
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [blog posts] 185 blog posts
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Fadamiro, H.Y., D. Seth Carley, J. LaForest (2018). Update from the Southern IPM Center. Presented at the meeting of SERA 003 Southern IPM Coordinators Network meeting at the 9th International IPM Symposium, March 19, 2018
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Kudzu Bug. (2018).
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Crape myrtle Bark Scale. (2018).
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Eastern Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network. (2018).
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Environmental Protection Agency, Ecotoxicity
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: EDDMapS: Tawny Crazy Ant (Version 2) [Website]. Tawny Crazy Ant Working Group.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [blog posts] 365 blog posts
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: EDDMapS Maps Service (Version 3.2) [Website]. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Resource Database (Version 1.2) [Website]. Center for Invasive species and Ecosystem Health and Regional IPM Centers.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bugwood Presents (Version 1.3) [Website]. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: [conference poster] M. Mata, D.S. Carley, and A. Spafford. 2017. Sustainably managed landscapes: pollinator-friendly gardens as an educational tool for community outreach and education. (ASHS meeting, September 2017 Hawaii)
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [conference poster] D.Seth Carley, M. Mata, and A. Spafford Urban gardens as a platform for experiential learning: Pollinator conservation, citizen science, and sustainability.( 9th International IPM Symposium, March 2018 Baltimore, Maryland)
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: [Social media] 683 tweets by SIPMC (@southernipm)for the reporting period
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: LeBude, A.V., A. Fulcher, J.-J. Dubois, S.K. Braman, N. Gauthier, J. Neal, M. Chappell, A. Fulcher, W.E. Klingeman, F.A. Hale, and A. S. Windham. 2017. Experiential Nursery IPM Workshop Series to Enhance Grower Practice Adoption. Hortechnology 27:772-781
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Matthew Chappell, S White, A Fulcher, A LeBude, G Knox, J-JB Dubois 2017. Assessing Impact of Coordinated Comprehensive Regional Extension Publications: A Case Study of the Southern Nursery IPM Working Group. Hortechnology 27:765-771
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Suction trap network website.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: National Cotton States Arthropod Pest Management Working Group website.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Research and Extension programs for onion and other Allium species in cultivation website.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: National Integrated Pest Management Database website
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Southeast Early Detection Network


    Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Advisory Council, Pesticide Safety Education Program Educators, Extension Administrators, experiment station directors, University and College deans and provosts, NGOs, Federal Partners, Growers, Extension specialists, IPM faculty and staff, 1890 universities, working group members, homeowners, landscaping professionals, growers, hospital/school/daycare managers, Regional technical committee members (SERA003), consumers, regulators Changes/Problems:Three significant changes have occurred. First, Jim VanKirk, longtime SIPMC Director, retired effective June 30, 2015. Danesha Seth Carley stepped into Jim's rather large shoes as Co-Director and main PI. She acts as the main program manager for the South. She continues to lead the Center on day-to-day efforts, manage staff and budget, and works closely with Co-Director, Joe LaForest. They have approached leadership from a team-leadership-approach, and things have gone very well. We seek input from Associate Director, Henry Fadamiro, when important leadership decisions arrise. Second, The IPM Centers have recently changed the scope of the IPM eAcademy. The intent of this program remains the same - to facilitate the exchange of information among IPM practitioners, researcher and extension specialists, government agencies, and other IPM program stakeholders, however the scope and direct actions the IPM Centers will take have changed. The scope of the program focused on TED-Talk-like content that would highlight IPM programs and activities and provided that this effort might grow to serve as a clearinghouse for any content that the IPM Centers deem appropriate. The IPM Centers have found that the breadth of this scope has created significant difficulties and misunderstandings regarding what the program should do, what content is appropriate, who is producing the content, the quality of the content expected, where content is to be posted, and what type of content should be considered for inclusion. It has also been recognized that the IPM Centers do not have the resources and expertise to produce the expected production value of TED-talks, and even if they could, only providing 12 pieces of content a year would likely fail to maintain and grow an engaged audience. In response, the IPM Centers are narrowing and clarifying the scope. IPM eAcademy will no longer intend to be a clearinghouse for all online content that highlights IPM. Also, the split of content between the National IPM Center's website and IPM eAcademy on YouTube will be abandoned. IPM eAcademy will be the location that all IPM Centers will use to post any substantive video content they produce regarding IPM. This includes originally produced content including recorded webinars, meeting presentations, special features, demonstrations, and video content provided to any IPM Center that they wish to publish. This would not include content such as announcements from IPM Center RFAs or other content pertaining to an individual center's operations such as the full length recordings of a Center's Advisory Council. The eAcademy will be located on the existing YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/IPMeAcademy. Given the diversity of sources, it is expected that the content will vary considerably in length, however by expanding the scope of content beyond TED-Talk-like content, it is plausible that all of the IPM centers may be able to provide an increased supply of relevant and interesting content. Each IPM Center is also encouraged to highlight other content found on YouTube through use of the IPM eAcademy Channel including the creation of playlists, liking videos, and posting comments on YouTube as the IPM eAcademy Channel. The Southern IPM Center will continue to record webinars and other presentations and post appropriate content to the IPM eAcademy YouTube Channel. We will also create playlists of appropriate content found on YouTube to highlight excellent videos posted by other users and Groups. Third, the Southern IPM Roundtable was originally envisioned as a 3-day meeting that would provide a venue for various working groups to meet, increase the exposure of SERA3: Southern Region Information Exchange Group for IPM to various cooperators in the region, and allow Project Directors from Crop Protection Pest Management grants such as Extension Implementation Programs and Applied Research and Development programs to share their work. The intent of the original design was good, however, there was considerable difficulty in recruiting and encouraging groups to unite for the event - even when joined with an existing regional meeting. In light of this, the Southern IPM center is reevaluating their plans. IPM is a multidisciplinary effort and are currently no annual meetings that reflect the entirety of IPM across all settings and commodities. We believe that a PD meeting should reflect that reality. We intend to rotate the location of the meeting to be integrated with existing regional meetings of Southern Division American Phytopathological Society, Southeastern branch Entomological Society of America and Southern Division Weed Science Society of America or the International IPM Symposium. To expand the audience for the event, we will at least record the sessions hosted at the meeting and post them to the IPM eAcademy. We will pursue broadcasting the sessions live to on online audience and publicising the online sessions to further expand outreach and engagement, however this will be constrained by local arrangements and logistics at the selected venue. The next IPM Roundtable will be held with the joint meeting of the Southern Division American Phytopathological Society and Southern Plant Diagnostic Network Meeting in College Station, Texas on February 18-20. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We hosted our first IPM Roundtable and combined it with the Southeastern Branch Meeting for ESA. We had 5 presentations, and about 30 in attendance. We also hosted 3 other trainings: LaForest, J.H. MailChimp for Northeast IPM Center. Training. Online. July 21, 2015. (2 attendees for 1 hour) LaForest, J.H. Bugwood Image Database. Penn State University. Training. State College, PA. April 23, 2015. (2 trainees for 4 hours) LaForest, J.H. The Bugwood Center's Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System. International IPM Symposium. Salt Lake City, Utah. March 23, 2015. (40 attendees for 1 hour) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In September 2015, we worked with our Advisory Council to revise our current Communication Plan. In doing so, we refined our main audiences, which include mostly professionals within the IPM arena and anyone in an organization that deals with a component of IPM. Some individuals included in these audiences are reading blog stories either directly from the blog or through the e-mailed newsletter. Followers of the blog range from land grant specialists and members of IPM-related industries to members of the general public. Those who follow via e-mail tend to be from land grant universities or government agencies, and those who follow via WordPress accounts tend to be from unknown backgrounds, although a few are from garden centers, farms or the pest control industry. Tweets from Twitter come from either the blog or from the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/SRIPMC. From June 2016 to March, 2016, we sent out 675 tweets, gained 212 additional followers, and had the potential to reach 153,700 Twitter users based on the number of tweets, retweets and mentions by other Twitter users. We also maintain a Facebook page that contains information from blog posts or news articles that may be copyright-sensitive. The Facebook page has 271 "Likes." The "Reach" of Facebook posts ranged from 1 for a post about smokejumpers who deliver predators for EAB control, to 308 for a post about repellants in April 2016. Time-sensitive information, such as the release of RFAs or the Friends of Southern IPM Call for Nominations, is also disseminated through two listservs. The SRIPMC listserv contains 588 users. The School IPM listserv contains members of the southern region School IPM working group, with 57 followers. Stories about project successes were disseminated in various media. All success stories were posted to the IPM in the South blog. Impacts from the 2014 IPM Enhancement grants were compiled into the 2015 Annual Report that was given to Advisory Council members and IPM Committee attendees. Impacts from selected Southern Regional IPM grant program were compiled into a report that was given to USDA NIFA; four stories from that report appeared in a national perspective on the Regional IPM grant program that was published in July 2015. Stories about Friends of Southern IPM winners appeared on the IPM in the South blog. Although the Advisory Council recommended that we remove the general public and farmers from our list of targeted audiences, we have done three outreach events aimed at the general public. "A Bug's Day" and "BugFest" are entomology-related events at the two major science museums in North Carolina, and "Honeybee Day" is an event at the Raleigh Farmers' Market focusing on pollinators. We have educational materials on common pests that people can take, and we bring displays that include an interactive piece. This past May we participated in "A Bug's Day" which had 973 attendees, and disseminated handouts on ticks, Zika virus and BMSB. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to contiune to work with the Regional IPM Leadership, NIFA Program Leader, and our Advisory Council to continue to fine tune what we are doing and to do a better job of what we need to do. For the most part, we plan to do what we have been doing, but better.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? • To increase coordination and improve efficiency of IPM research and extension efforts by organizing timely responses to emerging issues of regional importance; • To facilitate collaboration by acting as a focal point and facilitator of communications that promote sound IPM-related decisions; RIN continues to work with the EPA and OPMP to address calls for information. We have had 2 formal calls for information, and 6 other items of interest this year. 6 SIPMC working groups continue to operate in the region with 2 new working groups being created on BMSB and Southern Pea. (http://sipmc.org/partners.) We do 2 different types of outreach: material that is available for anyone to see (online) and outreach directed to specific audiences or people. In terms of our available or indirect outreach, blog content in ipmsouth.com is available to all Internet users and is followed by 153 people. Blog posts are automatically sent to Twitter and tweeted to an additional 1,057 followers. As of May 2016, the blog contains 2,066 posts. Our directed outreach consists of e-mails and reports. Four e-mailed newsletters send out content to an additional 127 people. SIPMC participated in "A Bug's Day" at the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC, attended this year by 973 people. Handouts were shared : including information about ticks, Zika and BMSB. 150 copies of the 2015 Annual Report were given to AC members, attendees of the IPM Committee meeting in October 2015, and SERA-003 members. • To promote further development and adoption of IPM through regional information networks, collaborative team building and broad-based stakeholder participation; SIPMC developed a 2-page brochure about the Regional IPM Centers for the NPDN conference in April. The document was shared with over 100 attendees. For the grant year 2016, the Enhancement Grant program received 25 applications, one of the highest submission number in its history, and funded 9 for about $250,000 total. For the Friends of Southern IPM program we received 25 nominations for the Professional Awards and 19 nominations for the Graduate Student Awards. Awards were given at three events this year: ESA Southwestern Branch meeting, ESA Southeastern Branch meeting, and the Southern Soybean Disease Working Group meeting. The first SIPMC Roundtable was held in Raleigh, NC in March 2016. 6 presenters participated with ~30 people in attendance. 4 of the presentations were recorded and made available on the IPM eAcademy. • To document the impacts and value of IPM strategies, techniques, programs and projects, building support for IPM among the general public and public policymakers We provided advice and assistance to stakeholders with evaluation planning and data collection. 6 applicants for IPM Enhancement grants consulted with the Evaluation Specialist, and created their Logic Models and/or evaluation plans with him. We wrote, programmed, administered and analyzed 11 surveys to measure the impact of webinars, 4 surveys to assess target audience needs for specific programs planned by our stakeholders, and 2 surveys for measuring the impact of seminars/training sessions. We also analyzed data from 2 surveys designed and conducted by stakeholders. We completed the long-planned transition of IPM Enhancement grants to an outcome-funded model. The RFA, scoring criteria, and reporting templates were all rewritten to create a clear, easy-to-follow structure that matches in all three documents. The new format was very well received by panelists and applicants alike. INFORMATION SUPPLEMENT (a) State of the art delivery of IPM information: A MailChimp account has been provisioned for management of electronic newsletters, integration with existing blog content, distribution list management, and documentation of stakeholder engagement with published content. We provide technical assistance in setup of the tool and integration with existing outreach efforts. MailChimp is currently being utilized by UT, Va. Tech, SIPMC, the NCIPMC, and Texas A&M. Across these groups are 2,076 subscribers with 232 people subscribing since June of 2015 to March 31, 2016. 264 newsletters have been sent to their respective lists creating 56,059 recipients. On average, these messages were opened by 33% of recipients and 11% of recipients clicked on at least one item for more information. While these statistics themselves cannot show impact, we are able to gauge level of interaction with the information being provided through the newsletters. (b) Impact information and logic model tools The Interagency IPM Projects Database was hosted and received 35 code revisions addressing 15 bugs and feature requests, including strengthening the security of stored passwords and adding the ability to search for projects by project status. The Project/Proposal Management System was hosted and received 140 code revisions addressing 56 bugs and feature requests. This included system changes to allow for database migration from Microsoft Access to SQL Server and upgrade to ColdFusion 11.The system was used by the four regional centers to process 149 proposal submissions for 9 RFAs. (c) Web-based networking tools for IPM research and extension personnel Basecamp, a project management tool, currently contains 11 archived projects and 27 Active projects. Of the 27 active projects, 10 are national in scope, 16 pertain to the southern region only, and one is serving the Western region. GoToMeeting has been used to host 145 meetings. Total time used from June 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 has been 211 hours which when combined with the number of participants on each call represents 1,208 person hours of meeting time. This does not include additional person hours generated when multiple participants join the meeting from a single GoToMeeting connection. GoToWebinar was used for a Grapevine Red Blotch Disease webinar. The live webinar had 309 attendees. An additional 182 people registered for the webinar and although they did not attend, they did receive links to the recorded sessions. The recorded webinars have received 892 views on the IPM eAcademy YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/IPMeAcademy) with 111 hours of viewing time. (d) Reference and information support tool for setting IPM program priorities. IPM Crop Profile (CP) /Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP) Document System Data conversion from the original CPs and PMSPs into the new IPM Data system is ongoing. The damaging agents from the original CP and PMSP documents are being matched to the Bugwood data. 1658 of the 2219 unique pests/links are done. Efficacy data for 50 of the 141 PMSP documents has been entered into the new system. Priorities have been entered for 94 of the 141 PMSP documents. Pesticide data is being pulled from the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) API. Two hundred and seventeen active ingredients from the original documents have been matched to the NPIC database. Their AI PC codes and EPA number have been entered into the system. Google Analytics reports 2,387 pdf downloads during this time period for the CP and PMSP documents Component Level Database (CLD) for IPM Documents (IPM Data) New CPs (three) and PMSPs (nine) are being uploaded into the new CLD System. All sections (i.e., PDF Document, IPM Overview, Priorities, Production, Worker Activities, Damaging Agents, Controls, Efficacies, Toxicity to Beneficials, and Timelines) of the IPM Data system have been developed and are on the production server. Pollinator Protection, Beneficials, Toxicity to Beneficials are three new sections that have been added to the IPM Data system. The original PMSP, CP, Timeline, and Element documents have been added to the IPM Data as searchable sources. New sources called IPM Profiles continue to be added. The server has been upgraded from ColdFusion 8 to ColdFusion 11. A new secure domain (SSL) has been purchased and directed to the new IPM Data system.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Southern IPM Center and Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Resource Database. (2015). Website.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H. (2016). Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology. Poster session presented at the meeting of National Plant Diagnostic Network National Meeting.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H. (2016). Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology. Poster session presented at the meeting of Southern Division American Phytopathological Society of America.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Seth Carley, D. (2015). How can the Regional Southern IPM Center help You? presentation to UFL faculty (50 in-person participants)
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Seth Carley, D. (2016). What is the Regional Southern IPM Center, and how can they help You? presentation to Entomology faculty at NC State(35 in-person participants)
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: National IPM Online Database (IPM Data) Component Level Database (CLD) for IPM Documents (IPM Data) IPM Data http://www.ipmcenters.org/ipmdata/ https://ipmdata.ipmcenters.org Website
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Crop Profiles and IPM CP and PMSP Document System IPM Center Crop Profiles http://www.ipmcenters.org/index.cfm/center-products/crop-profiles Website
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: PMSPs IPM CP and PMSP Document System IPM Center PMSP http://www.ipmcenters.org/index.cfm/center-products/pmsps/ Website
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fadamiro, H.Y. (2015). Friends of IPM - Ph.D. Student Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America, November 18, 2015
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fadamiro, H.Y. (2016). Friends of IPM Pulling Together Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America-Southwestern Branch, February 24, 2016
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fadamiro, H.Y. (2016). Friends of IPM Implementer Award Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Southern Soybean Disease Workers, March 9, 2016
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fadamiro, H.Y. (2016). Friends of IPM - Professional Awards Presentation. Presented at the meeting of Entomological Society of America-Southeastern Branch, March 15, 2016
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: D. Seth Carley, J. LaForest (2016). Update from the Southern IPM Center. Presented at the meeting of SERA 003 Southern IPM Coordinators Network, March 16, 2016
    • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Seth CArley. Hosted "IPM in the Southern Region" symposium at the Entomological Society of America-Southeastern Branch, March 17, 2016 (also shared via video conference).
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. ipmPIPEs Give Growers a Heads Up on Pests and Diseases, Crops and Soils Magazine December 1, 2015
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R., Carley, D., LaForest, J. 2015 Annual Report, September 2015
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Kudzu Bug. (2016). Website.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Crape myrtle Bark Scale. (2016). Website.
    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Eastern Spotted Wing Drosophila Volunteer Monitoring Network. (2016). Website.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R. Multi-state Sugarcane Aphid Team Receives regional award for saving the grain sorghum crop. IPM in the South. (2016). http://bit.ly/1RnoNoE
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R. Louisiana State University student wins Friends of Southern IPM Award for research in ornamentals. IPM in the South. (2016). http://bit.ly/1NJu3It
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R. Nine project leaders will advance IPM in nursery crops, tomato and other settings. IPM in the South. (2 March 2016). http://bit.ly/1qH19NY
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Aristizabal, L. From Colombia to the Friends of IPM Award: a Masters students story IPM in the South. (1 March 2016). http://bit.ly/1NJvoit
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R. Announcing this years Friends of Southern IPM Winners. IPM in the South. (15 Feb 2016). http://bit.ly/1qH2nsF
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hallberg, R. Louisiana researcher gives cattle some relief from stable fly attacks. IPM in the South. (14 Jan 2016). http://bit.ly/1OTY6NW
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. Using animal manure in the home or school garden while minimizing the risk of E. coli. IPM in the South. (9 Dec 2015). http://bit.ly/1RnuvGZ
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. Research team finds that natural enemies help delay insecticide resistance, protect Bt crops. IPM in the South. (7 Dec 2015). http://bit.ly/1U7N43R
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. New app helps strawberry and peach growers manage diseases. IPM in the South (19 Oct 2015). http://bit.ly/1s7jAN4
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. Hands on workshops let ornamental growers practice IPM that is preached. IPM in the South (31 Aug 2015). http://bit.ly/20vYF1i
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hallberg, R. Gastonia residents learn about IPM on A Bugs Day. IPM in the South (22 June 2015). http://bit.ly/27Rig1q
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: LaForest, J. H. (2016). Freely Available Technology for Responding to Invasive Species. Southern IPM Roundtable at Entomological Society of America-Southeastern Branch. Raleigh, NC.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Dubois, J.-J.B.(2016) Survey Basics for Needs and Impact Assessment. Southern IPM Roundtable at Entomological Society of America-Southeastern Branch. Raleigh, NC.
    • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Seth Carley, D. Attracting Pollinators to your Home Garden (in the South). IPM in the South (01 Decemeber 2015). https://ipmsouth.com/2015/12/01/attracting-pollinators-to-your-home-garden-in-the-south/


    Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:This project comprises two major components, the Southern IPM Center (SIPMC) and the Information Systems Supplement (IS). The target audience comprisers IPM users, advisors, researchers, and educators across the USDA's Region as well as stakeholders in public policy including citizens, governmental employees and leaders, federal, state and local agencies. The IS component ultimately targets those same audiences but more proximally serves the four Regional IPM Centers, USDA-NIFA's IPM program staff and their partners in IPM programs across the nation. Changes/Problems:PD James VanKirk retired effective July 2015. This change was anticipated and will not substantially change the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As part of the IS component we have designed and manage the IPM eAcademy website (http://www.ipmcenters.org/index.cfm/center-products/ipm-eacademy/) that will provide a clearinghouse of online training and pd opportunities, and as part of our core SIPMC project we have loaded 10 presentations from the National Invasive Species Awwareness Week as well as a presentation by USDA-NIFA Admisnistrator Ramaswamy. Each of the Friends of IPM Awards involved a presentation of the award before a gathering of the awardee's peers. These venues are inevitably professional meetings, so presentations provide an excellent opportunity for outreach regarding IPM. SIPMC staff collaborated with staff from other IPM Centers on a very successful booth at the International IPM Symposium in Salt Lake City. Projects funded by our IPM Enhancement Grants often include training and professional development components, as these projects are appropriately issues-oriented. The IPM eAcadamy site currently includes How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have utilized our blog, social media outlets and other venues to publicize outcomes from IPM Enhancement grants and other IPM-related stories. The following is a summary of those efforts. Our blog (http://ipmsouth.com) contains content in four categories: featured articles, general IPM news, funding opportunities, and employment opportunities. In addition to being sent to 122 blog followers (65 WordPress followers and 57 e-mail followers), each article is automatically "Tweeted" to 838 Twitter followers. In addition, articles from each category are sent weekly to subscribers on MailChimp newsletters in each corresponding category. As of June 15, 2015, 1,422 posts have been added to IPM in the South. Posts about bed bugs seem to top the list, but several followers have viewed content about events such as the webinar on EPA's comment period for pollinators. Several tweets that have been generated by blog posts have either been "favorited" or "retweeted. Followers of the blog range from land grant specialists to members of the general public. Those who follow via e-mail tend to be from land grant universities or government agencies, and those who follow via WordPress accounts tend to be from unknown backgrounds, although a few are from gardening centers or farms. Currently our Twitter account, http://twitter.com/southernipm, has 838 followers. Most of the tweets that are sent originate either from IPM in the South or from the Facebook account (http://facebook.com/SRIPMC). The majority of followers have an interest in science or political news. Many followers are from land grant universities, agribusiness, garden centers or scientific organizations. We are following 432 Twitter users.Since the beginning of the account, we have sent 2,323 tweets. 489 tweets 204 additional followers 826 tweets that link back to us (retweets, favorites, etc.) 77,857 impressions 956 profile visits 117 mentions Facebook. Our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/SRIPMC, reaches additional stakeholders. The Communication Specialist uses Facebook to publicize news articles in other blogs or events in the region. Sometimes Facebook is used to send notification of a new pest species and is done in concert with other communication efforts as well (such as the blog). Facebook posts are automatically retweeted, and posts that interest people receive "Likes." Altogether, our Facebook page has 129 "Likes." "Reach" statistics range from 0 to a high of 250 for a post about the guava fruit fly finding in Florida on June 8. Pinterest. The Pinterest page, http://pinterest.com/southernipm, has 48 "pins" and 22 followers. The most popular "board" in the past year has been "Plant This, Not That," which features "good" plants for home gardens versus invasive species that may be sold in garden centers. In the coming year, the Communication Specialist may link the Pinterest page to outreach activities. Last year, SIPMC produced an annual report to be shared with stakeholders including USDA- NIFA, SERA003 and the Advisory Council and Steering Committee. The report was handed out during the September 23, 2014 IPM Committee meeting in Washington, DC. The report featured outcomes based on objectives defined in the 2012 proposal, in addition to impacts from 2013 IPM Enhancement Grant projects and winners of the 2013 Friends of Southern IPM Award competition. SIPMC plans to compile a similar report this year. SIPMC staff participated in "A Bug's Day" outreach event in Gastonia, NC. The Communication Specialist partnered with the Extension Coordinator for the North Carolina Extension Implementation Project (EIP) to develop materials for an exhibit including poster-sized "advent calendars" with tips and information on home and farm IPM, vegetable garden IPM and beneficial insect identification brochures, pollinator brochures and live bed bugs (in a sealed vial) for viewing. Our participation in the event provided an opportunity to converse with people who stopped by the booth about their knowledge or experience with IPM. The majority of people were not familiar with the term "integrated pest management," but some had experience with or had read about bed bug prevention or management What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We intend to identify gaps in our communication strategy at second AC meeting, tentatively scheduled for in March or April 2016, held online as a teleconference or web meeting. We will continue to keep the AC members updated and engaged through our various online communication tools throughout the year. The Roundtable will start on the final day of the ESA meeting in March with the PD workshop; a half-day forum of presentations by project directors funded through a variety of IPM-related programs. SIPMC will offer meeting room space for these meetings, as well as hosting a networking "social" to encourage collaboration and cooperation among PDs. We are coordinating with SERA003, whose leadership has agreed to schedule their business meeting on the second full day of the Roundtable. In this first year for the IPM Roundtable we intend to use that venue as an opportunity to record more content that can be presented via IPM eAcademy. The Regulatory Information Network will to address regulatory requests regarding pesticide registrations as they come. We are working closely with staff at OPMP to develop "generic" survey templates to address "calls for information" more proactively and efficiently. The Friends of Southern IPM call for nominations will come out fall of 2015, with award winners notified in early 2016. SIPMC staff members will continue participating in events that involve engaging the public including BugFest in Raleigh, NC, and Hokie BugFest in Blacksburg, VA. The Evaluation Specialist is developing templates for impact assessment for use by North Carolina Extension specialists that will be made available to all Extension specialists. As part of that effort, the Evaluation Specialist is developing pilot tools for three IPM-focused projects. SIPMC will continue to maintain relationships to all working groups through liaisons assigned to each group regardless of funding status. Once the IPM resource database is set up to automatically import content from the IPM eAcademy on YouTube, we will ensure that the additional metadata required by the IPM Resource database is entered. We will continue our policy of nominating exceptional speakers to the TED talk speaker database to make it possible for more Integrated Pest Management topics to be included in mainstream media venues. We plan to leave the Critical and Emerging Issues program in place in the coming year(s) while improving the visibility of this type of grant and clear instructions on how someone can request support. The 2016 IPM Enhancement Grants program will continue to have the same funding levels, focus on outcome based funding, and allow for the same project types: Working group, Seed, Capstone, and IPM Documents. We do plan to revise the RFA to address several issues that have come up in our post-panel review. The Pollinator Protection WG to undertake strategic planning at an in person meeting. Thereafter, the group will meet using remote processes. Plans include follow-up surveys on grower practices, tracking of responses to subsequent revision of priorities, and development of a network of pollinator habitat gardens in several states for use as education/demonstration sites. The Cotton IPM Decision Making WG will meet to collect modifications from individual states and decide which additional cotton pests will be included in the expansion but also what other factors to consider. Following that meeting, the modifications from the states will be incorporated to the existing application. Utilization of FITT will continue to be optional for all Enhancement Grant applicants. Any enhancements will come from discussion with the relevant Working Group, regional committee, or partner. Expansion plans include: (1) Web pages for the sugarcane aphid WG and the tawny crazy ant WG. (2) Review of all elements currently being utilized to determine if the existing usage metrics are sufficient and explore the possibility of creating on-demand reports to allow for easier collation and visualization of usage statistics. (3) Assessing ways in which users access online content to reduce any difficulties they may be experiencing. This includes search engine optimization and assessment of site performance on different platforms (4) Work with the list of pest monitoring targets provided by SERA003 to ensure that all forms are ready for the coming field season. We will also work with them to direct select pests toward the iPiPE where the need for pest risk forecasting and more advanced monitoring of pest populations would be appropriate. Data services will be established as part of the iPiPE program to ensure that any data entered into EDDMapS is available within the iPiPE system so that any Enhancements planned for the IPM Resources Database include: (1) User interface for viewing, filtering through and searching the resource database. (2) System to let a user select resources and add them to a user defined collection. (3) API for data access as well as documentation on its use. (4) Fields to support the metadata required by the IPM eAcademy. (5) Quality control of the data to merge resource records where there was either duplication between the two systems or two versions of the same resource were previously entered. This cleanup will improve the quality of the search results that are returned. (6) Automated resource import from YouTube. (7) Routine to capture thumbnails of electronic resources and associate them with available IPM Resources. (8) Routine to check electronic resources to ensure they still exist. We will continue to update the inventory of items that are available as new tools are released or we are made aware of them. This includes the API for access to the IPM resources Database. We will create at least 6 instructional walkthroughs to both meet the original purpose of IPM Delivery, and to give examples of clear and practical how-to's so that other providers of services may have a template from which to work. Instructions on how to use these tools will be posted on a new "IPM Delivery" section of the national IPM websites. We plan to modify the Interagency IPM Projects Database to maintain compatibility with the Proposal/Project Management System, in particular, to ensure that changes in PPMS reporting fields are carried over to IIPD. SIPMC will continue to collect and synthesize impact information from NIFA-supported projects for incorporation into the database and to work with RIPMC partners to enhance the PPMS tool that feeds content to that database. We will maintain the existing Logic Model website, updating content when it is provided to us, and we will continue to manage and contribute to the national IPM success story area of the new national website. In addition to continuing maintenance of the national website, we plan to update the logo images in coordination with the regional IPM Centers. We will continue to Basecamp, Citrix and MailChimp available work with the other IPM Centers to facilitate its use. The collaborative efforts to share data with MAPL, Bugwood, and Agrian are ongoing and will expand to include NASS production data. New CP and PMSP documents will be uploaded to the system. Crop Profile and PMSP documents will become available as sources for the Component Level Database (CLD) System described below. The CP and PMSP website application is being enhanced by converting dependent IPM data components to independent IPM data components (i.e., IPM Overview, Priorities, Production, Damaging Agents, Controls, Efficacies, and Timelines). Existing CP and PMSP pdf documents will remain available and searchable. Data for the independent components will be entered simultaneously with the CLD enhancements.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? SIPMC facilitated IPM research, development and education in part through its IPM Enhancement Grants program. Funding has been provided for 10 projects as detailed at http://sipmc.org/index.cfm/center-projects/grant-programs/. SIPMC's Friends of Southern IPM program recognizes exemplary work in the region and provides an opportunity to promote IPM and the work of SIPMC partners. 2015 award winners are shown at http://sipmc.org/index.cfm/center-projects/friends-of-ipm/. The Regulatory Information Network has been reconstituted to include a single member liaison for each and every state and territory in the Southern Region, the first time we have achieved such comprehensive coverage to respond to EPA queries, facilitate stakeholder input on key regulatory issues, and proactively address important IPM challenges. Facilitation of Innovation Through Technology (FITT) provides database, communications, and related IT support for working groups and other collaborative efforts such as those funded by our Critical and Emerging Issues and IPMEP grant programs. FITT also provides access to and user support for project management (Basecamp®) and communications (GoToMeeting®, GoToWebinar®) packages. FITT also provides the Southeast Early Detection Network, a website and smartphone application to support general monitoring efforts on numerous species, along with Mailchimp® , a service that distributes and connects to blogs and tracks e-mail updates and newsletters. The Cotton App working group demonstrated the Georgia-centric app at the annual meeting of the Southeast Row Crop Entomologists Working Group. A variety of stakeholders from the Southern Region were in attendance All parties are in agreement that the core functionality can be maintained throughout the region and that there is a need for specific modifications based on local conditions. The flowchart used at UGA to develop the app has been sent out and we have requested suggestions for modifications from our core group We provide support and maintenance for the Interagency IPM Project Database at http://projects.ipm.gov/ as a repository for information on funded projects. We implemented a data export feature in order to deliver data to ChalkLabs for inclusion in an indexed document warehouse for NIFA retrieval and analysis, updated contact information listed on the site, and repaired links to external websites which had changed. A new Impact Evaluation Specialist is elaborating evaluation processes for eachcomponent of SIPMC core programs, with the purpose of continuous improvement and collection of impact data. With his help, SIPMC leadership hasalready detailed more comprehensive milestones. The Impact Evaluation Specialist will use this as an entry point to creating a systematic evaluation plan for the Center moving forward. We provide support and maintenance for the Regional IPM Centers' national website at http://www.ipmcenters.org/. We began to incorporate updated data from EPA into the OPP Pesticide Ecotoxicity Database at http://www.ipmcenters.org/Ecotox/. Other changes included adjustments to legacy content and functionality that had been migrated to a content management system in the previous year so that it appears more seamless, and in the configuration of the site to accommodate and support work on the new IPM documents database system. Basecamp, a project management tool, currently contains 3 archived projects and 29 Active projects. Of the archived projects, two were added this year as the effort around "Watermelon and Cilantro Pesticide Education" has completed and the group using "National SWD" determined that the current eFly project met their needs. Of the 29 active projects, 17 are national in scope, 11 pertain to the southern region only, and one is serving the Western region. Working Groups using them include School IPM, eFly, WERA 1017, iPiPE, Pollinator Protection, Southern Nursery IPM, SERA003, and Southern Plant Diagnostic Network. At the International IPM Symposium, Basecamp is readily available for any group related to IPM to use on a national basis (offered by SIPMC free of charge). We provision a Citrix account to give all centers access to GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, and GoToTraining. GoToMeeting has been used to host 156 meetings. Total time used from September 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015 has been 240 hours which when combined with the number of participants on each call represents 1,160 person hours of meeting time. This does not include additional person hours generated when multiple participants join the meeting from a single GoToMeeting connection. GoToWebinar was used during National Invasive Species Awareness week to host 10 webinars on invasive species. The live webinars had 162 attendees while the recorded webinars have received 776 views on the Southern IPM Center YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/SouthernIPMCenter) with almost 100 hours of viewing time. A MailChimp account has been provisioned for management of electronic newsletters, integration with existing blog content, distribution list management, and documentation of stakeholder engagement with published content. We provide technical assistance in setup of the tool and integration with existing outreach efforts. MailChimp is currently being utilized by University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech, the Southern IPM Center, and the North Central IPM Center. Across these groups are 1,124 subscribers with 104 people subscribing since September of 2014. One hundred forty-six newsletters have been sent to their respective lists creating 33,550 recipients. On average, these messages were opened by 34% of recipients and 12% of recipients clicked on at least one item for more information. While these statistics themselves cannot show impact, we are able to gauge level of interaction with the information being provided through the newsletters. These statistics will also be saved and may later be used in combination with other data sets to examine interaction with the newsletter with knowledge, attitude, behavior, or skills in IPM. We currently have interest from the School IPM Working group, Extension specialists at Texas AgriLife, University of Georgia IPM, and the University of Georgia cotton team. The beta version of the online database website application for the IPM Documents, Crop Profiles (CPs) and Pest Management Strategic Plans (PMSPs), was completed. The CP and PMSP documents were published and are now searchable by region, state, crop, and date fields. The available PMSP Priority and Efficacy data were also published and made searchable. The CP and PMSP data is available on the IPM Center website at http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/ and http://www.ipmcenters.pmsp/, respectively. Initiated in late 2013, the Component Level Database (CLD) altered the way the information is accessed in the IPM documents (CPs and PMSPs). Utilizing the Admin Panel described above, the data for each section of the documents can be entered into the database. SIPMC held a work group meeting with stakeholders and leadership from the other Regional Centers, in Washington, DC on May 12, 2015 to discuss a shift in scope to incorporate broader objectives. The Proposal/Project Management System (PPMS) at http://projects.ipmcenters.org facilitates the grants management process. It is utilized by each of the four regional centers. We provide ongoing maintenance, as well as support for applicants and users from the regional centers. We continued to maintain the existing functionality of the system and to address errors reported by users. We addressed 53 significant issues, including 27 errors/defects. We added functionality including: an export feature for evaluators to download scoring data, the ability to merge duplicate "project director" accounts, and automated error reporting.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Anon. 2015. Southern IPM Center. http://sipmc.org/
    • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Anon. 2015. National IPM Centers, A national umbrella site for the regional IPM centers. http://www.ipmcenters.org/ or http://www.ipm.gov
    • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Anon. 2015. National Crop Profile Website. http://www.ipmcenters.org/CropProfiles/cropprofiles.cfm?cipmregion=national
    • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Anon. 2015. National PMSP Website.http://www.ipmcenters.org/pmsp/pmsp_form.cfm?cipmregion=National
    • Type: Websites Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Anon. 2015. IPM Planning and Evaluation (Logic Model Examples). http://www.ipmcenters.org/LogicModels/