Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This proposal from the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) addresses Administrative Coordination (13%), IPM Implementation for Agronomic Crops and/or Specialty Crops (17%), IPM for Pollinator Health (18%), and IPM Implementation in Communities including Housing and Schools (52%). The work proposed builds on previous EIP-funded grant outputs and successes, such as the launch of MyIPM. The overall goals are to develop extension products and trainings that make IPM information readily available to all Californians. That includes web content; how-to videos; continuing education as webinars or online courses; and in-person and train-the-trainer workshops. The Coordination objectives will provide newly hired Cooperative Extension academics with the awareness of IPM resources that can assist in their success. The IPM in Agronomic/Specialty Crops objectives are to develop pest weather model user alerts, continue our successful webinar series, add another online course on vertebrate pest management, and publish a new date palm pest management resource. We propose a new online resource about native bees found in agricultural crops, webinars, and updating the Bee Precautions Pesticide Ratings online tool for the IPM for Pollinator Health priority. In IPM for Communities, we will continue in-person and webinar trainings. We propose focusing on public health pests, pesticide safety, and IPM for lawns and turfgrass, developing content for pest management professionals, housing managers, and residents. We propose to update the UC lawn guide, adding information that will be of greater use by groundskeepers at school sites and other managed landscapes.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
COORDINATIONCoordination, educational materials development, and delivery of IPM information in California. Coordinate, communicate, and collaborate with other IPM leaders in the western states through the IPM regional technical committee, WERA-1017. Provide an administrative home for the Western IPM Center ensuring communication of IPM priorities in the west, opportunities to leverage new IPM research, extension materials, and tactics developed in other western states, and methods for UC IPM to address high-priority needs.Objective 1: Hold annual program planning and IPM regional committee meetings.Objective 2: Ensure a successful start for new Cooperative Extension academics by showing them IPM resources via an online tour.AGRONOMIC AND/OR SPECIALTY CROPSObjective 1: Launch MyIPM: 1) launch login and grape powdery mildew risk index alerts, and 2) develop alerts for the fire blight model.Objective 2: Host and facilitate twelve webinars at four per year covering IPM topics in agronomic or specialty crops. Host and facilitate three webinars at one per year on invasive pest topics.Objective 3: From a previously recorded webinar, develop and publish an interactive online course on vertebrate management using our quick conversion process.Objective 4: Publish a Date Palm Pest Management Guidelines that cover IPM practices in California and Arizona.POLLINATOR HEALTHObjective 1: Host and facilitate three webinars at one per year covering pollinator topics related to IPM.Objective 2: Develop an online Bee Gallery for bees in agriculture.Objective 3: Update and improve the Bee Precautions Pesticide Ratings tool.COMMUNITIESObjective 1: Develop and update educational material on pests around homes, schools, gardens, and landscapes. The information will be shared with and disseminated by UC Master Gardeners, retail nursery employees, school district staff, structural and landscape pest management professionals, and public housing/multi-unit housing audiences (including property managers, maintenance staff, landlords, and tenants).Objective 2: Revise and update the UC Guide to Healthy Lawns currently directed mainly at homeowners.
Project Methods
COORDINATIONThe IPM resources tours will be designed to introduce new UC ANR academics to the pest management content and tools available on the UC IPM website. Resources covered will include the 47-crop Pest Management Guidelines publication series, Year-Round IPM Programs, and decision-assisting tools that mitigate the risk of harm to humans and the environment when pesticides are the appropriate solution. Online resources such as the Weed Gallery, UC Ag Experts Talk Webinar series, and online courses will also be covered. This resource tour package will need to be assembled--consisting of a PowerPoint presentation and planned activities. We will check in with the academics again in six months and after one year of the initial tour to remind academics of the resources, answer questions, and get feedback.AGRONOMIC AND/OR SPECIALTY CROPSMyIPM is a login system that allows users to quickly access the specific information they need. We have done much of the backend coding to support MyIPM and will initially launch the system with risk alerts from the grape powdery mildew weather-based risk model. We will compile the alerts for fire blight by determining key times when pest management decisions could be made and getting these reviewed by stakeholders. Once finalized, users can sign up to receive the alerts. Feedback from users via a survey will be analyzed and used to make improvements.For the webinars, UC IPM staff will work with collaborator Rijal to identify speakers and determine scheduling. We work closely with the speakers to ensure the webinar is interactive (polls and chat questions) and meets the requirements for continuing education units (active participation in polls throughout the webinar and a final test). We will promote and facilitate the webinar, ensuring live transcript for accessibility. We edit the recording and correct the closed captions (e.g., punctuation, synchronization, and 99% accuracy). Webinar recording will be posted on our YouTube channel.For the vertebrate online quick course, we will follow our standard online process using a prerecorded presentation: draft learning objectives with collaborator Baldwin and draft review and final exam question, followed by compiling the online course, and technical review. Once the online course is finalized, continuing education units will be requested, a feedback survey implemented, and the course published on Extension Foundation's online course platform.For the Date Palm Pest Management Guidelines, we will follow our standard publication process: draft content with the authors (Krueger, Mauk, Perring, and Roshausen) and gather resources such as images, conduct blind peer review process followed by responding to peer review comments, pesticide review by Office of Pesticide Information and Coordination to check the regulatory appropriateness of pesticides mentioned for California, and work with the UC IPM Production/IT Team to publish online.POLLINATOR HEALTHFor the pollinator webinars, UC IPM staff will identify speakers and schedules. We work closely with the speakers to ensure the webinar is interactive (polls and chat questions) and meets the requirements for continuing education units (active participation in polls throughout the webinar and a final test). We will promote and facilitate the webinar, ensuring live transcript for accessibility. We edit the recording and correct the closed captions (e.g., punctuation, synchronization, and 99% accuracy). Recordings will be posted on UC IPM's YouTube channel.To develop the image resources for the Bee Gallery, we will work with Cooperative Extension academics throughout the state to visit commercial agricultural fields and orchards to document bee visitors to the crop (e.g., caneberries, apple, almond, sunflower, safflower, cherry, and cucurbits). Bees will be photographed and identified by Krystle Hickman, with the assistance of resources such as Hymenoptera of the World: An Identification Guide to Families and other experts as necessary, such as Gordon Frankie. Bee galleries will be drafted using resources such as Common Bees in California Gardens. The Bee Gallery website will be developed using our standard process of mockup development by our web designer, review by experts and other users, prototype development based on feedback received, another round of review, and then the final design developed, followed by coding. The Bee Gallery will go through several rounds of review with improvements before publishing online.To add new pesticide active ingredient ratings to the Bee Precautions Pesticide Ratings UC IPM staff will review several data sources such as the label, US Environmental Protection Agency research, and scientific literature. Proposed ratings will be reviewed by subject matter experts. When consensus is reached, ratings will be added to the current database and presented online via the Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings online tool and in the Pest Management Guidelines.COMMUNITIESUrban and Community IPM topics covered will range from pests of public health concern, pesticide safety, and weed control and turf care in school grounds, parks and recreation sites, and other landscapes. This effort will leverage activities from previously funded CPPM EIP grants. The updated resources will be used and distributed during trainings. We will update existing, develop new, and promote relevant UC IPM Pest Notes and Quick Tips to serve as the primary source of written information for pest management professionals, housing managers, and residents dealing with pests. Materials developed will also include two long-standing newsletters: Green Bulletin for licensed pest management professionals, and the Home & Garden Pest News aimed at the general public including UC Master Gardeners.For the webinars, UC IPM urban staff will identify speakers and develop schedules. We work closely with the speakers to ensure the webinar is engaging, timely, and suitable for the target audiences. We will promote and facilitate the webinar, and also ensure live transcript for accessibility. We edit the recording and correct the closed captions (e.g., punctuation, synchronization, and 99% accuracy).For each training workshop, we will gather a team of experts and other stakeholders to plan the activity timeline, develop learning objectives, and gather resources. Most planning will begin in Year 2, with materials finalized and delivered in Year 3. Materials such as the newsletters, Pest Notes, and Quick Tips will be worked on throughout the course of the grant period and will be incorporated into the appropriate training activity and audience outreach.We will rebuild the UC Guide to Healthy Lawn web pages to incorporate updated, relevant practices consistent with IPM principles. For the lawn guide update, we will compile a team of subject matter experts to review, update, and finalize the content. We will add information that will be of greater use by groundskeepers at school sites, maintenance gardeners, professional landscapers, as well as the general public. We will focus on lawn replacement and newer practices for lawn and turf care and weed management.