- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
- Author: Andrew Sutherland
- Author: Tunyalee A. Martin
California requires that pest control companies providing services in schools and licensed child care centers comply with a series of laws called the Healthy Schools Act (HSA). The HSA promotes IPM and seeks to minimize pesticide exposure to children in all public K–12 schools and licensed private child care centers.
Providing Integrated Pest Management Services in Schools and Child Care Settingsis the new free online training module available from UC IPM that explains the history of the Healthy Schools Act and details what schools, child care centers, and pest control companies are required to do to follow the law.
IPM Advisor Andrew Sutherland, Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (CERCH) Associate Director Asa Bradman, UC San Francisco Staff Specialist Vickie Leonard, and Luis Agurto Jr. from Pestec IPM Providers developed the training module with the input of dozens of California's pest management professionals and child care providers, using surveys, focus groups and pilot courses. The Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health is also developing a database of individuals who complete the course so that schools and child care centers can connect with pest control providers familiar with IPM and the Healthy Schools Act.
The online course is divided into three narrated presentations. The first presentation is about the Healthy Schools Act. The second is a section on IPM and how it can be applied to control common pests in schools and child care environments, such as ants, rodents, spiders, and roaches. The third presentation discusses how pest control companies can prosper by incorporating IPM principles and practices within their business model. IPM effectively and efficiently manages pests, builds professionalism within providers, and captures value for the customer while minimizing unnecessary pesticide applications, pesticide exposures, and associated negative impacts on children's health, the environment, and the larger community.
The course includes the latest Healthy Schools Act requirements that went into effect on January 1, 2015. If child care and public K-12 school staff plan to apply any non-exempt pesticides, they are now required to do the following:
1) Develop an IPM plan for the school site or school district and post it either on the school's or district's web site or send it out to all parents and staff with the annual pesticide notice.
2) Send pesticide reports at least once a year to the Department of Pesticide Regulation for all non-exempt pesticides applied by school employees. The first reports are due January 30, 2016 and cover the period from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015.
Beginning July 1, 2016 any professional applicator, school IPM coordinator, and school or child care employee or other unlicensed person applying pesticides must complete annually a Department of Pesticide Regulation-approved training on school IPM and safe use of pesticides.
Licensed pest management professionals can receive two continuing education units by completing the online course: one “Rules and Regulations” and one “IPM” from the Structural Pest Control Board; and one “Laws and Regulations” and one “Other” from the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
To take the course, see the UC IPM web site. For more information on the Healthy Schools Act requirements or forms, visit the Department of Pesticide Regulation's School IPM web page.
- Author: tunyalee martin
Identifying nontarget crop and ornamental plant damage from herbicides has become much easier, with the launch of a new online photo repository by the Statewide IPM Program, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Dr. Kassim Al-Khatib, weed science professor at UC Davis and director of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), has gathered nearly a thousand photos of herbicide-damaged plants, drawn from his own and others' research. The images are cataloged to show damage that can occur from 81 herbicides in more than 14 specific herbicide modes of action, applied in the field to demonstrate the symptoms or when known herbicide spray has drifted onto the plant.
Each image is characterized with the name of the plant, mode of action of the herbicide, and notes the specific symptoms of damage. Together these photos provide a comprehensive archive of damage to over 120 different crops and ornamental plants by known herbicides, which users can easily compare with what they see in the field.
Also included in the repository is information about the modes
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- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
Environmental Scientist position for someone who specializes in IPM. See: http://jobs.spb.ca.gov/wvpos/more_info.cfm?recnoW7330. The deadline for application is November 10. It is not too late for an applicant to submit an application even if they have not taken the State Env. Sci. Exam, which can be taken online https://jobs.ca.gov/Bulletin/Bulletin/Index?examCD=B09. Can contact Mark Robertson directly for more information about the position: Mark.Robertson@cdpr.ca.gov
- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
There is a new online course from UC IPM designed primarily for PCAs and licensed pesticide applicators. This course is based on a series of pesticide resistance workshops held in Davis, Fresno, and Kearney in 2014.
The course explains how resistance has developed among fungi, insects, and weeds and how it can be managed.
2.0 "Other" CEUs are available from the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
The course contains:
- Narrated modules with short quizzes throughout.
- A final test for each module.
- Resources
- Selection Pressure, Shifting Populations, and Herbicide Resistance and Tolerance
- Glyphosate Stewardship: Maintaining the Effectiveness of a Widely Used Herbicide
- Preventing and Managing Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds in Orchards and Vineyards
- Managing Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds in Glyphosate-Resistant Crops
You can find this course on our web site at:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/training/pesticide_resistance.html
As a reminder, this course does NOT run on Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) or later versions of IE and will not accurately track your scores in those browsers. Please use IE8, Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
/span>- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
Press Release from USDA:
Release of Endoparasite for the Biological Control of Asian Citrus Psyllid
APHIS published a draft environmental assessment on September 18, 2014 for the proposed release of Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis for the biological control of the Asian citrus psyllid in the United States.
We will consider all comments that we receive on or before October 20, 2014.
For further information or to make a comment on this assessment, refer to
http://www.regulations.gov/index.jsp#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0078