Integrated Pest Management

Overview

Integrated pest management (IPM) can be described as the intelligent selection and use of pest-control actions to promote favorable economic, ecological, and sociological consequences. Scientists involved in agricultural pest management programs try to optimize pest control by using multiple pest-control tactics. By maintaining pests below economic injury levels, scientists strive to provide protection against pest damage, ensure a competitive agriculture, and enhance environmental stewardship.

The Department of Crop Sciences offers expertise in the pest management arena through faculty in entomology, plant pathology, and weed science.

Opportunities for Study

Research programs may lead to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees with course requirements and thesis research arranged to meet students' objectives. Student research may be largely lab oriented or involve intensive field research. Specific IPM research efforts may involve:

• optimizing management programs for insect, disease, and weed pests of field, fruit, and vegetable crops;
• increasing our knowledge of the ecology and biology of insect, disease, and weed pests;
• designing management strategies for pests with transgenic varieties of crops;
• designing sampling strategies and economic thresholds for pests, and evaluating the economics of pest control strategies;
• evaluating alternative (non-chemical) pest management strategies; and
• improving the safe and efficient use of pesticides.

Career Opportunities

Opportunities exist for M.S. And Ph.D. graduates with companies in the seed and agri-chemical industry, universities, government agencies, and crop consulting firms.

Faculty Researching Integrated Pest Management

Specific areas of study are listed below by faculty member. More extensive information on these research programs is readily available from faculty web pages or through personal contact with faculty members.

Name	Specializations
Entomology Faculty
Catherine E. Eastman	vegetable entomology
Michael E. Gray	extension IPM, sampling of field crop insect pests, economic entomology
Susan T. Ratcliffe	entomology, extension ipm
Joseph L. Spencer	entomology
Kevin L. Steffey	extension entomology, field and forage crop entomology, insect management with transgenic crops
Richard A. Weinzierl	extension entomology, fruit and vegetable entomology, alternative control strategies
David W. Onstad	entomology
Plant Pathology Faculty
Darin M. Eastburn	control of vegetable crop diseases, soil-borne fungal pathogens, biological control
Terry L. Niblack	nematology
Jerald K. Pataky	epidemiology and control of diseases of sweet corn, host resistance
Weed Science Faculty
Martin M. Williams II	crop/weed ecology, integrated weed management systems, vegetable crops
Dean E. Riechers	weed physiology
Patrick J. Tranel	molecular weed science, weed biology, competition, genetic diversity, herbicide resistance
Adam S. Davis	crop/weed ecology, integrated weed management systems, field crops