2015 Partnership Grants to Tackle Regional, Global IPM Issues

Map of the Northeast overlaid IPM-related words

The Northeastern IPM Center has awarded over $400,000 for research and outreach through the 2015 IPM Partnership Grants, a competitive program supported by funds from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Northeastern IPM Center began funding projects through the IPM Partnership Grants Program in 2004. Project types include communications, working groups, and research addressing regional issues. Applications have come from public and private institutions or organizations, businesses, commodity groups, and private individuals.

“We view these grants as true partnerships where we help investigators reach a wider audience with their projects,” said Steve Young, director of the Northeastern IPM Center. “This is one way our Center supports collaboration in the Northeast.”

This year’s projects address the priorities of the region put forward in the Center’s new Signature Programs: IPM and organic systems, rural and urban IPM, climate change and pests, next generation education, and advanced production systems. Projects funded this year include efforts to control the spread of ticks, investigate techniques that could reduce managed honey bee colony loss, help growers create better soil conditions for crops, and prevent antibiotic resistance in the pathogen that causes fire blight, a serious concern for growers of apples and pears.

Through the 2015 IPM Partnership Grants Program, the Center has funded:
Communications: three grants, $43,499
Working groups: five grants, $140,539
Research addressing regional issues: five grants, $216,712

The projects:

IPM and Organic Systems

Rural and Urban IPM – Livestock

Rural and Urban IPM – Agriculture

Rural and Urban IPM – Landscape

Rural and Urban IPM – Structural

Next Generation Education – General Public

Next Generation Education – Professionals/Landowners