Center Awards 2020 Grants Supporting IPM in the Northeast

The Northeastern IPM Center has announced the recipients of its IPM Partnership Grants for 2020.

This year’s funded projects run the gamut from novel methods for detecting and managing specific pests to ways of better informing the public on the use of IPM methods, helping them to make informed decisions when dealing with pests.

The Program

The IPM Partnership Grants Program provides resources to individuals and organizations proposing projects that further the mission of the Northeastern IPM Center, address or identify IPM priorities for the Northeast, and benefit the region at large. This competitive grants program, begun in 2004, is a key component of how the Center fulfills its obligations to foster greater awareness and adoption of IPM in the Northeast.

Each year’s grant cycle starts the previous fall with a request for applications (RFA) disseminated throughout the region. Applicants have included public and private institutions and organizations, businesses, commodity groups, and private individuals.

Project Types

Projects fall under one of three categories: applied research, communications, and working groups, reflecting the multi-pronged strategy key to IPM: managing pests in a way that is effective while also maximizing environmental, human health, and economic benefits.

Center Resources Facilitate Project Success

Funded project leaders partner with Center staff to coordinate ongoing evaluation and communication about their work, its importance, and its results and benefits to stakeholders. In some cases, Partnership Grants function as seed money that project leaders later use to leverage additional funding sources, greatly expanding the scope of their work.

“This year’s Partnership Grant applicants represented an impressive array of proposals,” said Deborah G. Grantham, Center director. “It’s never an easy process to determine which submitted projects will receive funding. But the consistent quality of the applicant pool demonstrates the wealth of expertise and dedication for furthering the field of IPM. We look forward to working with this year’s grant recipients and seeing where their work leads.”

Newly Funded Projects by Type

Following is each project receiving Partnership Grant funding for 2020 along with its project director and their host institution.

Applied Research

Early detection of potato leafhopper damage using unmanned aerial systems (Chandi Witharana, University of Connecticut)

Necessity is the mother of invention: innovative approaches to northeastern hemp disease management (Heather Darby, University of Vermont and State Agricultural College)

Slug and natural enemy phenology in Mid-Atlantic field crops (David Owens, University of Delaware)

Communications

Developing multimedia materials to educate health care providers on bed bug IPM (Changlu Wang, Rutgers University)

Knowing is half the battle: Increasing awareness of biocontrol as part of IPM through digital outreach (Amara Dunn, Cornell University)

Working Groups

A working group on tarping and soil solarization (Sonja Birthisel, University of Maine)

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For more information on the IPM Partnership Grants Program, visit www.northeastipm.org/rfa/partnership.

For those interested in seeking funding through this program, the Center has just released an RFA for the 2021 round of grants. A quick summary of the program is shown in the table below.

IPM Partnership Grants Program (2021)

Mission	To foster the development and adoption of integrated pest management, a science-based approach to managing pests in ways that generate economic, environmental, and human health benefits.
Total Amount Available	Approximately $200,000
Range of Awards	Max. $50,000. ($60,000 if includes an 1890 institution)
Application Deadline	5:00 p.m. eastern time, Thursday, November 12, 2020
Start Date and Length	March 1, 2021; projects may be 12–24 months
Narrative Length	8 pages plus budget, references, and required forms
For More Information	Visit www.northeastipm.org/rfa/partnership