Cornell Pesticide Program Adopts New Name
Updated identity aligns with counterparts in other states
Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Pesticide Management Education Program (PMEP) includes an outreach arm serving New York State that, until recently, also operated under the PMEP name. Late last summer, the program rebranded its outreach activities as the Cornell Cooperative Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program (CCE-PSEP).
This change brings the New York program more in line with other states’ counterparts, which frequently identify as PSEPs.
What’s a PSEP? And How Is It Relevant to IPM?
Per federal mandate, most states have PSEPs, based at land-grant universities and operating under the auspices of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The programs “provide pesticide applicator training on the safe use of restricted-use pesticides by applicators in agricultural, commercial, and residential settings.” (See www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/pesticide-safety-education-programs-0.)
Since Cornell University is New York’s land-grant institution, its cooperative extension organization houses the pesticide program as well as the state integrated pest management (IPM) program and the Northeastern IPM Center—three units with distinct missions but overlapping interests.
Contrary to some misconceptions, IPM is not opposed to traditional chemical pesticides; it simply seeks to minimize their use when alternate methods produce better economic, environmental, and human-health outcomes. But pesticides are an important part of the IPM toolkit.
For IPM to succeed, growers and applicators must have access to the guidance to make informed decisions about when and how to use pesticides, which pesticides to use, and how to use them safely. PSEPs provide a critical resource and service.
Benefits of Name Change, Related Updates
According to CCE-PSEP, “The new name will let our constituents know to come to us for pesticide safety training and information and for general pesticide questions.” In conjunction with the name change, CCE-PSEP has launched a new web address and redesigned website at psep.cce.cornell.edu.
Learn more about the changes and their benefits to stakeholders at psep.cce.cornell.edu/announcements/. (Because the preceding is CCE-PSEP’s general announcements page, the story about the new name and website may not remain at the top of the page indefinitely.)
The Northeastern IPM Center promotes integrated pest management for reducing risks to human health and the environment. If republishing our news, please acknowledge the source (“From Northeast IPM Insights”) along with a link to our website.