2018 Partnership Grants to Protect Honey Bees in New England, Control Mice in Multi-Family Housing, and Improve Turfgrass

The Northeastern IPM Center partners with stakeholders for integrated pest management.

In 2018, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded more than $300,000 for research and outreach through its IPM Partnership Grants, a competitive funding program.

The Northeastern IPM Center began funding projects through the IPM Partnership Grants Program in 2004. Applications have come from public and private institutions or organizations, businesses, commodity groups, and private individuals.

This year, the projects include efforts to mobilize existing monitoring infrastructure to obtain baseline tick prevalence data. Other researchers will test ground barriers for swede midge on small-scale brassica farms. In another project, investigators will improve strawberry transplants. A fourth team will conduct outreach about varroa mite among New England beekeepers. In three additional projects, scientists aim to improve turfgrass in urban environments, assess infestation and effective control methods of mice in multi-family housing, and develop tools for prioritizing, listing and visualizing invasive plant range shifts in connection with climate change.

Through the 2018 IPM Partnership Grants, the Center has funded working groups, studies on issues, and communications projects. The projects advance the Center’s Signature Programs in Climate Change and Pests and Rural and Urban IPM.

“Our regional partners have put forward a diverse range of potential solutions to pest problems in the Northeast and beyond,” noted Mike Hoffmann, interim director of the Northeastern IPM Center. “From dealing with range shifts in connection to climate change, to protecting honey bees, this year’s awards reflect the innovation and ability of the project directors to tackle vexing environmental, health, and economic problems. It was a competitive year. We honor several outstanding individuals and institutions with these awards.”

The Projects

Through the 2018 Partnership Grants Program, the Center funded three Communications grants totaling $59,959 and five Issues grants totaling $259,832.

Rural and Urban IPM – Vectors

• Mobilizing existing infrastructure to obtain baseline tick surveillance data, Dina Fonseca, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Communications)

Rural and Urban IPM – Agriculture

• Testing ground barriers for swede midge IPM on at-risk small-scale brassica farms, Yolanda Chen, University of Vermont (Issues)
• Improving strawberry transplant vigor with bio-rational treatments for managing black root rot complex, Mahfuz Rahman, West Virginia University (Issues)
• A varroa mite IPM program for New England honey beekeepers, Kim Skyrm, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (Communications)

Rural and Urban IPM – Landscape

• Exploring methods to enhance biocontrol of turfgrass diseases in the urban landscape, John Inguagiato, University of Connecticut (Issues)

Rural and Urban IPM – Structural

• Assessing and controlling house mouse infestations in multi-family dwellings, Changlu Wang, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Issues)

Climate Change & Emerging Pests – Invasive Species Models

• Invasion Watch: tools for listing and visualizing invasive plant range shifts with climate change, Jeff Garnas, University of New Hampshire (Communications)
• Prioritizing the impacts of range-shifting invasive plants for prevention, monitoring, and management, Bethany Bradley, University of Massachusetts (Issues)

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The Northeastern IPM Center covers twelve states from Maine to West Virginia and the District of Columbia. It is one of four regional IPM centers in the nation. Collectively the four centers will award just over a million dollars in 2018.