School IPM Outreach and Research Activities, NYS IPM Program

Abstract

Integrated pest management in schools is needed to reduce risks to children and others from both pests and the overuse of pesticides. The NYS IPM Program was involved in several outreach activities at and for schools in 2011. We organized and conducted on-site assessments of the pest management programs of four NYS school districts that are interested in being IPM Institute STAR certified or re-certified. We conducted an alternative-practices turf management demonstration project at an Albany-area school and organized 5 school IPM outreach workshops throughout the state. In 2011, NYS IPM Program staff organized a meeting of the Statewide School IPM Committee and had significant outreach concerning bed bugs in schools. We also began planning a repeat of the statewide survey of school pest management policies and practices and collaborated regionally and nationally toward the goal of having verifiable IPM in all of the nation’s schools by 2015.