Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Arizona is characterized by extremely productive irrigated agricultural lands, unique flora and fauna, extreme and sensitive environments, large urban centers made-up of transplanted people and cultures, and often remote tribal communities. Our diverse stakeholders require information on the safe and effective management of pests, including ways to reduce risks to human health and the environment while sustaining economically viable industry in our state. The Arizona Pest Management Center, formed in response to stakeholders' demands for greater transparency, engagement and relevance in our programs, encompasses the full set of University of Arizona research and Extension resources involved in the implementation of IPM in Arizona.Our Extension IPM programs are organized within the Arizona Pest Management Center, which coordinates programs, communication, planning, stakeholder engagement and IPM team building, through a stakeholder IPM Coordinating Committee that advises the IPM Coordinator (Ellsworth, P.D.), and directs the IPM Program Manager (Fournier, co-PD). Transdisciplinary Leadership Teams for each Priority Area direct activities of Assistants in Extension that synergize program outputs and enhance our capacity to support IPM implementation including by underserved/Tribal end-users. An IPM Assessment Leadership Team develops resources and approaches to measure adoption and economic, environmental, and human health impacts of IPM across all program areas.Through this project, we support adoption of high-impact IPM programs addressing priority stakeholder needs in three EIP Priority Areas: IPM Implementation in Agronomic and Specialty Crops, IPM Implementation in Communities including Housing and Schools, and IPM in Public Health.Our overall goal is to support and advance IPM implementation by end-users in Arizona through coordinated multidisciplinary education and outreach that empowers pest managers to put IPM knowledge into practice. Team supporting objectives are to design, implement, teach, demonstrate and evaluate tailored IPM programs in diverse settings to help clientele reduce economic, environmental, and health risks from pests and pest management practices, addressing Crop Protection and Pest Management focal areas and National IPM Roadmap goals.We systematically measure the learning outcomes and the economic and environmental impacts of our programs. The APMC provides proven support for stakeholder engagement, needs assessment, strategic planning, outreach and evaluation of IPM in all our systems.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Project GoalsOur goal is to increase adoption and effective use of proven IPM tactics by Arizona citizens and professions in diverse environments, thus reducing environmental, human health and economic risks. Across all focus areas, the structure and support of the Arizona Pest Management Center enhances our capacity to develop, implement and evaluate high-impact IPM programs consistent with stakeholder-identified priorities in the following emphasis areas: IPM Implementation in Agronomic and Specialty Crops, IPM Implementation in Communities including Housing and Schools and IPM in Public Health. The goal of our IPM programs is to support and advance IPM implementation by diverse end-users in Arizona through a coordinated systems approach to education and outreach that empowers pest managers to put IPM knowledge into practice. Our programs identify clientele needs, deliver targeted outcomes, and seek to measure reductions in economic, environmental, and health risks from pests and pest management practices in these diverse environments among diverse end-users.ObjectivesOur objectives are consistent across the three Priority Areas in the project:(1) Engaging stakeholders to identify IPM priorities(2) Customize existing or develop new evidence-based solutions through leveraged, mission-focused applied research (< 20% of EIP effort)(3) Promote IPM adoption and implementation with audience-appropriate educational outreach(4) Assess and document IPM adoption and impacts
Project Methods
MethodsThe Arizona Pest Management Center (APMC) was conceived to encompass and enhance the full set of University of Arizona research and Extension resources involved in the implementation of IPM in Arizona. The APMC Director / State IPM Coordinator (program leadership & administrative contact for this grant;Dr. Peter C. Ellsworth) in consultation with the APMC Associate Director / IPM Program Manager (Dr. Al Fournier) and a 20+ member multidisciplinary stakeholder advisory group (the IPM Coordinating Committee) administer the APMC and serve as resources across all program areas. The IPM Coordinator has statewide responsibility for all IPM programs, manages resources, convenes the IPM Coordinating Committee, and submits federal reports. The IPM Program Manager manages the daily APMC activities, including communication and faculty support for needs assessment activities, proposal development and program evaluation.Our proven approach is centered around full-time Assistants or Associates in Extension (AiE; i.e., Extension educators funded up to 50% through EIP) who interact with County Agents, Extension Specialists, other disciplinary faculty and collaborators who provide the full range of IPM expertise to support program development and delivery. Each EIP Priority Area has a dedicated AiE, and an additional AiE coordinates our IPM Assessment Team. Each AiE is managed and supported by a unique Leadership Team of appropriate subject experts.Leadership Teams oversee IPM program development (priority setting, activities, outputs, deliverables & assessment) and guide and manage AiEs to ensure efficient functioning and delivery of IPM programs. AiEs then form operational teams for implementation and deployment of Extension programming. They coordinate team meetings and communications via email and conferencing technologies, and coordinate development of priority outputs as identified by stakeholders and discussed at team meetings. The AiE serves a coordinating function, catalyzing outputs and impacts of each IPM effort. Each Leadership Team Chair sits on the IPM Coordinating Committee, which provides stakeholder input and serves as the advisory body for the APMC. This ensures accountability.Our methods for implementing the objectives of this grant can be generalized across priority areas as consisting of 4 types of activities: stakeholder engagement, program development (including translational research), program delivery through outreach and education, and program evaluation. Stakeholder engagement occurs across all emphasis areas and includes open discussion at meetings, advisory groups and committees, focus groups, participatory research, and informal dialog with stakeholders, as well as through our Crop Pest Losses and Impact Assessment Signature program (described below). Program development includes applied research activities (<20%) engaged in by Specialists and Agents to develop science-based solutions to stakeholder needs. Development of specific program outputs and outreach education plans are facilitated through our IPM Leadership Teams.EffortsOur outreach approach emphasizes use of field demonstrations; stakeholder-engaged translational research projects; and delivery of short, effective and graphically rich publications, presentations and advisories. We maintain constant contact with stakeholders via IPM Newsletters, email lists and social networking. Program delivery occurs through workshops, field days, demonstrations, cooperative extension meetings, educational presentations, websites, online videos, smart phone updates, radio broadcasts, newspaper articles, blog entries, newsletters, trade publications, extension publications, reports, stakeholder dialog sessions, needs assessments, crop pest losses surveys, informal discussion groups, one-on-one consultations, scientific publications, presentations and symposia, short courses, database development to track outcomes.EvaluationThe APMC has demonstrated a high capacity and history of documenting outcomes and impacts of Arizona IPM. Assessment is fully integrated into program planning for all teams, and is supported by a dedicated IPM Assessment Team. Dr. Fournier (Co- PD) with AiE Wayne Dixon develops tools, data and approaches to assess IPM adoption, outcomes and impacts across all program areas. Fournier, who has expertise in program evaluation methods, advises and supports all teams to develop effective evaluation plans and instruments. Milestones and indicators of success we measure include advances in IPM knowledge and attitudes, adoption of new IPM tactics and reduced-risk approaches, reductions in pesticide use and associated risks, and environmental and economic outcomes.Methods are customized to each program and target audience, and specific methods for each Priority Area are listed in the Expected Outcomes section of this document. Changes in knowledge, attitudes and skills are often assessed in live meetings using audience response technology to implement self-assessments or pre-then-post questionnaires. We also use online survey tools to collect information more broadly across the state for specific target audiences, including changes in knowledge and changes in practice (e.g., adoption of IPM). An example is online surveys of participants in Vegetable IPM programs, which measured changes in knowledge, adoption of reduced-risk practices, and economic impacts. Surveys can be implemented live or via Zoom meetings or participation solicited through team email newsletters. Follow up surveys to measure adoption can be sent to a subset of program participants who agree to be contacted in the future.In addition, we have developed the following unique data resources and approaches to measure the adoption and impacts of IPM, and the reduction of risk as outlined in the IPM Roadmap.1.The APMC Pesticide Use Databasecontains >30 years of Arizona agricultural pesticide use reports submitted by growers for all custom applications. These data allow us to measure changes in pesticide use for all Arizona crops.2. Crop Pest Losses and Impact Assessment surveysdocument real-world impacts of key insect, weed and disease pests and their management on crop yields and grower economic outcomes. We conduct annual stakeholder interactions to facilitate impact assessments in cotton and lettuce. Through a Western IPM Center Signature Program, our approach has been adapted to conduct assessments in several Pacific Northwest crops, in partnership with Oregon State University. These surveys help document economic risks to growers from pests and the costs associated with their management.3. Measuring Reductions in Pesticide Risk. We recently used the Pesticide Risk Tool (https://pesticiderisk.org) along with EPA pesticide risk assessments to identify environmental and human health risks of insecticides used in US cotton production, and pesticide use data to show that these chemistries are used on <1% of Arizona cotton acres.