General Description of the Northeastern IPM Center

• Goals, Mission Statement, and Strategic Plan
• Funding of the Center
• Organization
• Host Institutions
• Advisory Council
• Steering Committee
• IPM Working Groups
• State Network Projects
• IPM Grant Programs
• IPM Center Publications and Products
• Review of IPM Centers

Goals, Mission Statement, and Strategic Plan

The broad mission of the Northeastern IPM Center is to provide all people who make decisions related to IPM with appropriate and reliable information so that they can make the best possible decisions. To this end, the Center gathers input from IPM stakeholders, including IPM users (e.g., farmers), public policymakers, regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, public interest organizations, taxpayers and voters, and the research community. We harness their expertise for the purpose of establishing research, education, and regulatory priorities in the region, and we will actively support and promote efforts to address these identified priorities. Ultimately, the Northeastern IPM Center strives to organize new and existing information and to make it available to the stakeholders it serves. Accessibility and ease of use are maximized for all information users. We work closely with IPM Centers in other regions to address topics of common interest.

Our Mission Statement: The Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center fosters the development and adoption of IPM, a science-based approach to managing pests in ways that generate economic, environmental, and human health benefits. We work in partnership with stakeholders from agricultural, urban, and rural settings to identify and address regional priorities for research, education, and outreach.

In the fall of 2005, the IPM Center created a strategic plan that was adjusted and approved by the advisory council and steering committee. This document is meant to outline the general direction of the work addressed by the IPM Center. The strategic plan was revised in early 2008.

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Funding

Funding for the national network of Integrated Pest Management Centers was authorized by Section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998. As the result of a competitive process, four Integrated Pest Management Centers across the United States were first funded in FY 2003. Management of the Northeastern IPM Center is a partnership between the Pennsylvania State University (PI John Ayers) and Cornell University (PIs: Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, and Michael Hoffmann).

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Organization

The Northeastern IPM Center is designed to maximize collaboration among individuals and groups with diverse perspectives across the northeastern region. Broad-based regional participatory leadership assures stakeholder needs are being met. The Center is organized into five key structures: the Center staff, a Steering Committee, an Advisory Council, IPM Working Groups, and States Network Projects. Each structure fills a unique role, but all roles are complimentary.

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Host Institutions

The Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University jointly administer Northeastern IPM Center. Penn State serves as the lead institution and is ultimately responsible for satisfactory completion of the project. The information network competitive grants program is managed at Penn State. Co-Director John Ayers is a member of the Penn State faculty and is housed on the Penn State Campus in State College, PA.

Cornell University is funded via a subcontract with Penn State to undertake important project components. Co-Director Carrie Koplinka-Loehr and other Center staff are employees of Cornell University. They are responsible for daily Center operations including building and managing the online database, producing and distributing publications, and facilitating communications.

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Advisory Council

The Advisory Council provides a broad vision and guidance to the Steering Committee and Center staff. Members represent a wide range of stakeholders and link the Center to stakeholder needs and priorities for pest management programs. Moreover, Advisory Council members are an important avenue for Center outreach, providing marketing and promoting awareness of the Center to their own constituencies and beyond. Finally, the Advisory Council affords its members the opportunity to communicate with and learn from each other.

• See the Advisory Council Roster
• See the Advisory Council Membership Guidelines

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Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is the Center's policy-setting body. It must gather input from stakeholders (including but not limited to the Advisory Council), determine broad policy goals and priorities, and provide direction for timely and effective Center management. The Steering Committee meets annually and holds conference calls as needed. Members of the Steering Committee are indicated on the Advisory Council Roster with an *.

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IPM Working Groups

IPM Working Groups (IWGs) have been integral to much of the Northeastern IPM Center's work since 2001. Each IWG consists of researchers, extension educators, and IPM practitioners involved with IPM in certain settings and participation of other stakeholders is strongly encouraged. A primary goal of the IWGs has been to develop IPM priorities for specific commodities and IPM settings. At one time, the Center supported six IWGs through noncompetitive funding: fruit; vegetables; livestock and field crops; greenhouse and ornamentals; community; and public health (addressing insects as vectors to human and animal diseases). In 2005, the Center began to fund IWGs competitively, which led to continued support of the Community and Vegetable IWGs. IWGs no longer need to be organized around a commodity or setting, but can be issue oriented instead (addressing topics such as water quality, pest modeling, regional workshops, etc). We anticipate funding additional workgroups in the future.

IWGs will also suggest ways in which the national IPM Center architecture might evolve to best serve the pest management needs of the setting and the region. Each IWG consists of approximately twelve people.

See a list of Current IPM Working Groups.

See a list of Past IPM Working Groups.

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State Network Projects

The Northeastern IPM Center supports State Networks Projects across the region. Funded through the IPM Partnership Grants Program, SNPs serve as the primary state-based node of engagement among state stakeholders, the Center, the federal government. The are the primary information source for federal and state regulatory agencies and other agencies regarding use and usage of all IPM tactics, including pesticides, in all IPM settings in the state. They serve as a liaison among the Northeastern IPM Center, the land grant institution, and other key agencies in the state. SNPs provide information such as release of RFAs and meeting dates in a timely fashion to all appropriate contacts.

Details about each State Network Project:

CT

DE

MA

MD

ME

NH

NJ

NY

PA

RI

VT

WV

USDA/CSREES database of key state and federal contacts

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IPM Grants Program

Link to complete information about the IPM Center Grants Program

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Review of IPM Centers

• Press release about IPM Centers Review
• Full Report
• Response to Review comments