Regional IPM Competitive Grants Program - Northeast Region

Project Report Guidelines 2007

Report due date: August 31, 2007

Content:Reports should follow the outline below and include responses to the questions that are relevant to your project. These are guidelines. Please provide sufficient detail so that someone unfamiliar with your project could understand what you were trying to achieve, how you went about it, and what you accomplished, but please be concise.

Reports submitted to the Northeastern IPM Center will be posted to our website.

Interim Progress Reports: If you have not yet completed the final year of a multiyear grant, your report should address question categories A–F. Two to three pages should suffice.

Final Reports: If this past year was the final year of RIPM funding for this project, your report should represent a full summary of your completed project, addressing question categories A–I. Three to four pages should suffice.

Format. All reports should be 12-point type or larger, with one-inch margins.

How to submit: electronically, as an attached MS-WORD file, to ckk3@cornell.edu and to jea@psu.edu. If you have questions, contact Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, 607-255-8879.

A. Grant Data

• Category: Northeast Regional IPM Competitive Grants Program (RIPM)
• Title:
• Project Director (also know as P.I. List name, title, institution, address, phone, email):
• Team members (name, title, institution):
• State(s) involved:
• Grant number:
• Year the grant was awarded:
• Length of grant (note any extensions):
• Funding amount:

B. Nontechnical Summary. An overview of the project, briefly outlining its context and key components, written to a lay audience.

C. Introduction. An introduction to the project of approximately 500 words. Clarify the overall problem or question that led you to undertake the project. It is likely that some information for this section can be drawn from the “Problem, Background, Justification” section of your proposal. Examples of questions that could be addressed in this section are:

1. What is the economic importance of the crop? (e.g., value of industry in state or Northeast region; ranking of crop in importance to state or Northeast region)
2. What is the importance of the pest(s) you’ve studied to the crop? (e.g., economic losses on annual basis).
3. What are the environmental, health, or economic risks associated with non-IPM methods of controlling the pest(s)? (e.g., impacts of pesticide use)
4. What is the particular reason for your study? (e.g., conventional pest-control strategies no longer work; beneficial insects are being harmed by available pest-control options; lack of training or implementation of new IPM tactics)

D. Objectives. Restate your project objectives. After each objective, provide a brief (1-3 sentence) narrative about whether you’ve achieved it; if it was modified, mention how.

E. Approach. Briefly, in 1-2 paragraphs, describe your approach, the methods used, and the overall design of your project.

F. Progress. Describe, in 1-2 paragraphs, the progress made on your project during the past year.

G. Results. Provide a brief explanation of your results in 1-2 paragraphs. Include a discussion of any unexpected events that seem noteworthy.

Did this grant serve as seed money for obtaining additional, related grants? If so, please describe.

H. Impacts. Describe and assess the impacts of your work. This section of your report will help the Northeastern IPM Center highlight the value of IPM research and education and the real-world impacts of funded projects. We will use the information in news articles and reports to showcase the worthiness of projects that our program supports. Below are some questions that will guide you in assessing the impacts of your project. The relevance of each question may vary depending on whether yours is a research or extension project. Please answer as many as you can to the best of your ability, and feel free to discuss any impacts not mentioned below.

1. Safeguarding human health and the environment:

a. Are there new IPM practices that have been or could be adopted as a direct result of your project? What is the total number of acres (or homes, schools, greenhouses, nurseries) on which these practices could be implemented?
b. Has the project reduced risk (or could it potentially do so) by changing the use of pesticides on farms, or in homes, schools, etc.? For example, could it result in fewer sprays per season or a switch to lower-risk pesticides? (Since there is no unanimous definition of high and low risk, investigators selecting this indicator are asked to categorize the pesticides they are reporting on as high or low risk according to the particular situation [e.g., lower risk to natural enemies]).
c. Are there any other impacts on human health or the environment as a result of your project?

2. Economic benefits:

a. What is (or could be) the economic benefit (e.g., dollars saved) for clientele who adopt IPM strategies and systems you studied? Do you envision potential commercialization or mass production of these systems?
b. How many IPM personnel might be employed as a result of your work? (e.g., private consulting services, nursery operators, food service growers)
c. How many clients are satisfied with IPM results (such as improved yield, quality of yield, reduced pest populations, more effective pest control, greater preservation of nonpest species)?
d. Are there other financial benefits that might be realized as a result of your project?

3. Implementation of IPM:

a. How many IPM strategies and systems have been validated through this project (e.g., through on-farm trials, large plot tests, and other methods used to confirm efficacy)?
b. How many educational materials were delivered? To whom?
c. What is the number of growers/personnel trained?
d. For a website, what volume of traffic and type of use has the site experienced? (For example, # visitors per day/month; # page views; # of unique user sessions; change in volume during growing season; average viewing time)
e. How many more people adopted IPM practices as a direct result of your project, or how many people adopted new IPM practices?
f. Are there other ways in which your work will result in improved use or increased implementation of IPM strategies in your region or across the Northeast?

4. Has your project or study enhanced collaboration among stakeholders interested in the development and implementation of improved IPM strategies and systems? (For example, number of growers or other types of stakeholders that have participated in advisory committees, surveys)

I. Appendices. Please attach to your report any of the following that will enhance our understanding of your project and its impacts:

• Photographs
• Any presentations, such as in Powerpoint, resulting from this project
• Printed fact sheets or other publications resulting from your work
• Web pages and url's

Many thanks!