CONGRATULATIONS TO Dr. Juliet Carroll, Fruit IPM Specialist. Vital. Invaluable. These are words used to describe Julie Carroll’s IPM contributions by her colleagues. Carroll spearheaded the expansion of NEWA, a website and network which allows growers to understand how the weather will affect fungal and insect pests, and takes the guess work out of their…
Boxwood Blight is Breaking the Bank
Boxwood blight, Cylindrocladium buxicola, was first identified in 2011 when submitted samples were examined at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. This marked the first confirmed cases outside of the UK and New Zealand. Since then, it’s been found on many cultivars of boxwood, Buxus spp., up and down the east coast. Now, it’s not only…
The low-down on ticks. Part 1A, Biology Q&A
Ticked off about ticks? You are not alone. And knowing the what, where, why, etc. is critical to knowing how to deal with them. So here it is, the first in a series: the low-down on that pest we love to hate. May you, dear reader, stay tick-free and healthy. 1. What, exactly, is a…
The Craziest of Worms
They sound kind of cute, right? “Crazy worms” that could actually amuse you? Gyrating in a box of soil, say, sort of like disco dancers? (I’m showing my age here.) Oh. And trust me; I’m not going off topic here: for many kinds of fish, fishing season started a few days ago. A date that…
Pests, Pesticides and Proposals: Funding IPM Community Projects
Pests and pesticides—both can pose problems to our health, our environment, and our economy. At the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM), we help New Yorkers address those problems safely and thoughtfully. How? Through innovative biological, cultural, technological, and educational practices. IPM, in a word. Community IPM takes place in settings as…
Of pollinators and postage stamps — forever
Protect Pollinators. With these new Forever stamps, released on August 2nd, It’s all about the bees and the butterflies. Here, the monarch butterfly and western honey bee symbolize the thousands (yes, thousands) of native bees, hover and flower flies, beetles, wasps, butterflies, and moths at work throughout the Northeast, and across the continent on behalf…
Informing on Invasives: a Conservation Ethic
“The blending of the natural world into one great monoculture of the most aggressive species is … a blow to the spirit and beauty of the natural world.” — Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior The year was 1997. I’ll tell you right off what our tally was. Of white pine, red oak, and…
Peeper Season, Earth Day, and Scouting With Your Ears for a Healthy Watershed
It’s that lovely time of year when an explosion of song rings from every valley and echoes from every hillside. This is the song of spring peepers, tiny frogs (actually, hundreds or thousands of tiny frogs). Their song carries a mile or more. It might even alert you to small wetlands or vernal ponds you…
Earth Day: What It Means to Me — and the IPM Connection
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together … all things connect.” — attributed to Chief Seattle I’m an environmental educator. Have been one all my life. Among my goals? To erase the…
Hiring Now: Four New NYS IPM Posts
The New York State IPM Program seeks four new staff to amplify our IPM outreach and research for farms and communities around New York. Here are the positions (three of them new) we seek to fill: Biocontrol Specialist (Extension Associate) Alternative Weed Management Specialist (Extension Associate) Coordinator for the Network for Environment and Weather Applications…