Author Archives: Debra E. Marvin

About Debra E. Marvin

Community IPM Program Assistant for Schools, Daycare and Horticulture. New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, 630 W. North Street, Geneva, NY 14456 Email: dem35@cornell.edu

“How to’s”… more School BMP tools for Indoor Pests

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Our Best Management Practices for School website holds a lot of practical help for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge of IPM. This post focuses on Indoor IPM and includes the links to:

An Ounce of Prevention: IPM for Schools and Childcare. A resource for staff and parents, because everyone has a role in pest reduction.

Air Quality and IPM– Asthma Concerns from EPA Asthma is the most chronic illness affecting children.

Asthma and Cleaning Products: What workers need to know  Cleaning products can cause breathing problems in custodians and other staff, as well as students.

BMPS for Indoor Non-Food Areas  Here’s a checklist for yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily practices to reduce the chance of pests in areas such as boiler rooms, locker rooms, gymnasiums.

BMPs for Kitchens, Cafeterias and Storage Areas  A checklist for custodians, administrators and food service staff. Number 1 on the list:   An IPM policy is in place that gives specific plans of action to both deal with pests, and to improve pest management

Cockroach Identification  It does make a difference, you know…

Introduction to IPM for School Faculty.  Here’s an easy way to spread the word!

General_Poster_Faculty_IPM

Slide 1

University of California IPM: Green cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting, A Curriculum for Early Care and Education

IPM Poster for Custodians

“How To” …Our IPM Tools for Managing School Pests

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The IPM Resources menu on the Best Management Practices for School IPM website provides ‘tools’ to help practitioners, experienced or new, practice IPM. And that’s the point.

Integrated Pest Management uses science- based knowledge to reduce pest problems. But as good as your practices might be, communication between custodians, groundskeepers, school staff, teachers and administrators, as well as the school board, and greater community is crucial. As with students, pest management works best when everyone is ‘on board’.

From our experiences in schools, and discussions with school staff and pesticide control officers, we created a list of resources to help in the everyday practice and that important cooperative effort.

General IPM:

Action Thresholds in School IPM Programs

Basis Steps in IPM Implementation

Colorado Coalition School IPM Policy Statement Template

University of California IPM: A curriculum for Early Care and Education Programs

EPA Citizen’s Guide to Pest Control and Pesticide Safety

EPA Pest Control in the School Environment: Adopting IPM

IPM for Pennsylvania Schools: A How-To Manual

IPM for School Administrators and Principals

sample of IPM for admins

Notice of Pesticide Application

Pesticide Application Record Form

Integrated Pest Management Literacy Plan for K-12 Education

Simple Inspection Form (generic indoor or outdoor)

sample generic inspe form

Long-Term Management of Structural Squirrel and Bat Problems.

 

Next time, we’ll focus on Resources specific to Indoor Pest Management.

Best Management Practices – IPM for Schools

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Today’s post discusses a few of the resources available on the BMPs for School website housed on the Northeast IPM Center homepage.

(IPM Basics and more were discussed here last week.)

The Steps of IPM Anyone concerned with reducing pest problems while regarding the health and safety of humans and animals should consider these simple steps:

Step 1: Sample for Pests (Inspect and Monitor): Is there a real problem?
Step 2: Proper Identification: Is it really the pest you think it is?
Step 3: Learn the Pest Biology: Will it be a long-term problem or will it be gone next week?
Step 4: Determine an Action Threshold: Do you need to act?
Step 5: Choose Tactics: What’s the best treatment?
Step 6: Evaluate: How did it work?

Common IPM Terms

BMP webpage homepage

Related IPM Websites – there’s a lot to choose from.We’ve pulled them together to save you time.

wasp_bee

IPM action for ticks from EXtEnsion

What would you like to see included in our Best Management Practices resource?

Best Management Practices – School Pests

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What can you find on the BMPs for Schools website?

IPM Basics: be prepared, think prevention, stay alert, consider your options, choose wisely, evaluate

Why is IPM important in schools and childcare? simply said: health.

students-377789_1280

How can your school benefit from using IPM? Over time, you can expect to see fewer pests, fewer pest-related incidents, and spend less money than traditional treatments.

The use of pesticides on school property: the hows, whys and whens are very important, and the rules vary from state to state, district to district.

IPM protocol and policy: Here, we offer you simple policies to get you started, and more details if you need to update.

sample IPM contract

This introduction is just a portion of the resources created to help you and your school or childcare use IPM. Our online resource provides easy-to-use information to assist implementation of Integrated Pest Management on school property and facilitate reduced dependence on pesticides.

Integrated pest management, or IPM, is a science-based approach to dealing with pests, and uses sensible methods that both protect human health and the environment, and generally reduce the cost of traditional pest treatments. Remember…Pests can be insects, plant diseases, weeds or animals.

Best Management Practices for Pests in Schools and Childcare

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As we find our way out from under snow and slush, so too, the four- , six- and eight-legged creatures (as well as pest plants) that emerge with spring’s warmth.  Today begins a new blog series focusing on a great IPM resource for you.

“Housed” on the Northeastern IPM Center’s website,  the Best Management Practices for School IPM offers a full range of information to help you better fend off building and grounds pests

The Northeastern IPM Center promotes the development and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM), a sound, sensible approach to dealing with pests and pesticide problems. Working with partners in agricultural, urban, and rural settings, we identify—and address—regional priorities for research, education, and outreach throughout the Northeast. Competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture fund our programs, and the Center is administered at Cornell University.

NE IPM homepage front page

 

On the Northeastern IPM Center’s website, or the NYSIPM’s site, or this link, you’ll find the BMPs.

BMP webpage homepage

Over the next few posts, we’ll highlight parts of this website such as IPM Basics, The Steps of IPM, IPM Resources (here’s where you’ll find great communication tools for your staff, parents, athletic dept., and community), inspection forms for indoor and outdoor areas, and links to specific pests.

Try it out: Carpenter Ant

Sample of Carp Ant BMP page

Each pest ‘fact sheet’ continues on through the six steps of IPM to provide best management practices.

We hope you will find the BMP website a valuable tool to both understand and enable the best ways to prevent or reduce pest infestations and the need for treatments.