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 schools in 2007. We organized school IPM outreach workshops for rural Adirondack school districts, an underserved audience. We worked on bedbug outreach within the New York City educational environment. The NYS IPM Program initiated contacts with the state’s non-public schools and interacted with the US EPA concerning asthma connections with school building conditions. We participated in a nation-wide group preparing a USDA-funded Pest Management Strategic Plan for school IPM and were involved in plans to implement the Plan’s recommendations. NYS IPM Program staff organized a meeting of the Statewide School IPM Committee and interacted with numerous school districts and others about school IPM via presentations and site visits.