IPM News and Events Roundup 6/17/21
A weekly collection of IPM news, webinars, employment and funding opportunities and more from the NE IPM Center. If you have IPM-related research, events or other IPM news you would like to have included, please email me at nec2@cornell.edu. If you would like to subscribe to the weekly Roundup, please email northeastipm@cornell.edu. Past Roundups are archived here.
Northeastern IPM Center News:
We would like to notify the Northeast IPM community that the upcoming Partnership Grant cycle RFA will include a limitation that all projects must be 1-year projects. This will allow us to fund projects that will be completed before our NIFA Center grant ends. We wanted to let you know so that you can start thinking about potential 1-year projects before our RFA is released in early-mid September.
More IPM News:
Maine Residents Fend off Poisonous Caterpillars
The caterpillars, known as browntail moths, have tiny hairs that can cause skin rashes and even breathing issues for some people. Browntail moths are most common along Maine’s coastline and Cape Cod but they’ve been spotted this year in all of Maine’s 16 counties.
Genetically Altered Mosquitos Target Deadly Dengue Fever and Zika
Using genetic-engineering techniques, the company altered the male mosquitoes to pass down a gene that makes females need a dash of the antibiotic tetracycline to survive. Without it, females that spread the disease die as larvae. Altered males, which don’t bite, seek out wild females to mate and spread the lethal trait to future generations. Gradually, more females die. The swarms dwindle and disappear, with no need for chemical insecticides.
Organic Weed Control Strategies for Apple Growers
No single organic weed control option works particularly well alone to control weeds in apple orchards during establishment. But strategies combining techniques do work well, particularly using wood chip mulches with organic herbicides. Article here.
Summer options for controlling San Jose scale in Michigan tree fruit crops
Concerns of San Jose scale damage on many Michigan tree fruits have grown as pest management programs have changed in recent years. San Jose scale has traditionally been seen as a pest of apples as it causes direct, unsightly damage to the apple fruit. Add cherries to the list now as well.
Research:
Insights into How Spinosad Seed Treatment Protects Onion From Onion Maggot (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)
While spinosad protects onion seedlings from D. antiqua, very little is known regarding how protection occurs. The main objectives of this study were to assess susceptibility of 1- and 2-wk-old larvae to spinosad through two different modes of exposure: ingestion and contact, and to evaluate larval feeding behavior in choice and no-choice tests with onion seedlings grown from treated and untreated seeds.
In this study, we used soil emergence tents to characterize potential natural enemy communities (i.e., predacious beetles, wasps, spiders, and other arthropods) overwintering in cultivated organic crop fields and adjacent field borders. We found a greater abundance, species richness, and unique community composition of predatory and parasitic arthropods in field borders compared to arable crop fields, which were generally poorly suited as overwintering habitat. Article here.
Webinars, Conferences, Meetings and more:
Pollinator Partnership Facebook Live Series, June 21-23, 1pm ET
Obscure Pollinators; Live from the Bee Yard; and Behind the Seeds – Seed collection 101 are the 3 topics.
Employment Opportunities:
Professor and Director, Invasion Science Research Center, University of Florida, Gainesville
A primary aim of the position is to establish a leading global research program on invasive species. The programmatic emphasis of the selected candidate should be on biology, ecology, evolution, management and/or socioeconomic dimensions of invasive species. The candidate’s research should address both basic and applied research questions to better understand invasive plants, animals, microbes, and/or their environmental interactions; and to develop reliable knowledge that informs policy decisions regarding eradication, mitigation and/or management of invasive pests.
The Soil Health Institute has two positions open in Morrisville, North Carolina
Assistant Soil Scientist: The individual selected will report to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), performing a wide range of tasks, from administrative to scientific, to advance development of new projects and manage existing projects.
Project Manager & Communications Coordinator: The Project Manager will lead deployment of a national sampling project to quantify soil health baselines across dairy regions of the United States. The successful candidate will also coordinate soil sampling, laboratory analyses and data management between eight partnering research intuitions, the Soil Health Institute, and Dairy Management Inc.
Rodale Institute's Consulting Program also has two positions open, Kutztown, PA
The Organic Livestock and Dairy Consultant will assist conventional dairy and livestock farmers transition to certified organic and certified regenerative organic in Pennsylvania and beyond. The ideal candidate would have experience in organic livestock management, pasture management, rotational grazing, silvopasturing and multi-species grazing.
The Small & Diversified Organic Farm Consultant will assist small farms (~5 acres of less in production) transition to certified organic and certified regenerative organic in Pennsylvania and beyond. This position will also work closely with urban farmers and new farmers, and our farmer education programs. The ideal candidate would have experience in managing pests, weeds and diseases in organic systems, greenhouse and high tunnel production and building crop rotations on small acreage.
Senior IPM Specialists, City of San Francisco, Sunol and Burlingame locations
San Francisco’s Natural Resources and Lands Management Division is hiring for two Senior Integrated Pest Management Specialists for their Sunol and Burlingame work locations.
Under direction, the Senior Integrated Pest Management Specialist is responsible for the assignment and supervision of a crew of integrated pest management specialists engaged in the inspection trees, shrubs, grass, rights of way (roads, flood control channels, transportation corridors, lots, landscaping and easements, etc.), bodies of water and structures for evidence of various pests and related damage, and taking appropriate steps to resolve problems.
Ag and Natural Resources County Agent, Rutgers University, Cape May County NJ
This tenure-track faculty position will provide leadership and support for the commercial agricultural industries in Cape May County and throughout the southern region of NJ with specific emphasis and expertise in direct marketing, agritourism, agribusiness planning, and risk and financial management, with a working knowledge of general crop production systems.
Funding Opportunities:
Catskill PRISM RFP available up on request
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking proposals from qualified proposers for administration of the Catskill Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM). The RFP is for administration of the Catskill PRISM, one of 8 PRISMs across New York State. The geographic are within this PRISM boundary includes Otsego, Schoharie, Delaware, Ulster, Greene, Sullivan and a small part of Orange County. The mission is as follows “To Promote education, prevention, early detection and control of invasive species to limit their impact on the ecosystems and economies of the Catskills”. To request the RFP, email Dave Adams dave.adams@dec.ny.gov