“Impressive.” “The best workshop I’ve ever been to.” “She was committed to my success every step of the way.”
Accolades like these have earned Elizabeth Lamb the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program’s (NYS IPM) Excellence in IPM award. This award honors people who make outstanding contributions to preventive and least-toxic tactics for dealing with pests.
As ornamentals coordinator for NYS IPM since 2006, Lamb has provided scores of workshops for 2,000-plus nursery and greenhouse growers, Christmas tree farmers, and landscapers — people working in industries collectively worth nearly $200 million per year to New York’s economy, and that at wholesale prices.
“Betsy’s workshops are always full with waiting lists of people who’d like to attend,” says Mark Bridgen, director of Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center. “These people don’t hesitate to speak their minds. It’s a true indicator of Betsy’s success when the leaders of New York’s ornamental plant industry go out of their way to let it be known that they’re impressed.”