About the IPM Institute
About
Us
We're an independent non-profit organization formed in
1998 to foster recognition and rewards
in the marketplace for goods and service providers who practice Integrated
Pest Management, or IPM.
IPM is an approach
to managing pests that protects health and the environment, and improves
economic returns. IPM practitioners in agriculture and communities
learn pest biology and use that knowledge to reduce pest control costs and
hazards.
IPM relies on
inspection and monitoring - to detect and correct conditions that can lead
to pest problems. They act against pests only when necessary, and
use the least-hazardous methods when action is needed.
The Institute’s mission is to accelerate adoption of IPM in agriculture and communities
by using the power of the marketplace: Consumers want to support suppliers
of goods and services who work to preserve the environment and reduce
health hazards.
Consumer support for IPM
can be a powerful incentive for increasing IPM
adoption in agriculture, grounds maintenance and public and private
facilities! The number and size of eco-label and certification
programs which use IPM as a requirement for participation continue to grow
in response to participant and consumer demand.
The Institute is funded by grants from government, private foundations and industry, memberships and fees for services and programs. The IPM Institute provides services to ecolabel programs
and others including IPM research, standards development, program management and inspector training and certification. The Institute operates certification programs for IPM professionals, schools and other organizations and IPM products and services.
How
can we help you?
Our services include:
(1) develop general guidelines
for IPM product and service identification and offer endorsement,
membership and support to labeling programs meeting the guidelines;
(2) develop crop
and region-specific specifications and assessments for IPM food and fiber production and
service delivery;
(3) offer practice-based IPM
certification to IPM professionals, organizations, and pest management
service and product providers;
(4) maintain a national
network of professionals to verify compliance with IPM standards;
(5) maintain a registry of
reduced-risk pest control options;
(6) provide expertise and
support to ecolabel and certification programs which use IPM as a
requirement for participation;
(7) increase producer and
supply chain awareness of the potential for IPM labeling to meet
environmental, health and economic objectives; and
(8) increase consumer
awareness of and support for IPM-produced goods and services.
The Institute is available to assist
companies and organizations assess their IPM performance, or incorporating an IPM component in their
quality control, sustainability initiative, certification program or
eco-label. The Institute can assist at all stages, from concept
evaluation and development through implementation. The Institute
offers a presentation/discussion program for those interested in exploring
IPM labeling, including an overview of existing label programs and
identification of key issues.
The Institute is experienced in creating
and maintaining IPM standards, or qualifying criteria, for rewards and
incentives.
Board of Directors
Our directors include experts from Land-Grant Universities,
environmental organizations and industry, including the following members:
James M. Cubie, J. D.,
is former chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee.
He has played a decisive role in the reform and
development of farm-related conservation programs including 1990's-era farm bills.
He developed the concept of using
risk management instruments to replace inputs used for risk management
purposes as a result of his work on Federal crop insurance reform and
conservation program reform. He is also founder and former director of the Agricultural Conservation Innovation
Center, Inc., now a project of American Farmland Trust.
Dr. Dawn H. Gouge is an Urban Entomologist at the University of Arizona, Maricopa Agricultural Center.
At the MAC, Dr. Gouge is working to expand the current IPM in Schools and Child Care Facilities Program promoting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the urban environment. She is currently evaluating whether entomopathogenic nematodes are biocontrol agents of scorpion, cockroach, ant and subterranean termite pest species. Gouge also manages an urban IPM Web site, ag.arizona.edu/urbanipm/ and conducts regular IPM clinics.
Dr. Thomas A. Green is President of the IPM Institute Board of Directors. Green is also President of IPM Works in Madison, WI, providing consulting services to
businesses and non-profit organizations on broadening adoption of IPM and
other conservation-enhancing practices. In 1980, Dr. Green founded an IPM supply
business, which has been part of GEMPLER’S, Inc., a national agricultural product
supplier since 1995. Dr. Green holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of
Massachusetts. He currently serves as co-chair of the Sixth National
IPM Symposium and as director of the National Foundation for IPM
Education.
Dr. Barry Jacobsen,
Professor of Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, and
former National IPM Coordinator, USDA. Dr. Jacobsen’s research focuses
on development of disease management strategies and IPM programs for crops
grown in Montana with emphasis on potatoes and sugar beets.
Mr. Robert S. Kallen
is President of RSK Strategies, LLC, Chicago, IL, providing expertise and
capital to small growing companies in the food industry. Mr. Kallen also
serves as an adjunct professor of economics at Roosevelt University,
Chicago, and formerly served for nine years as Vice President of
Operations and General Counsel to a 900-employee private label bakery, and
a member of the 1992 Clinton/Gore transition team for economics. Mr.
Kallen holds a law degree and an M.A. in Economics from Washington
University.
Dr. Curtis H. Petzoldt serves as Assistant Director of the New York State IPM Program and as
Vegetable IPM Coordinator at Cornell University. Dr. Petzoldt’s
responsibilities have included managing Cornell’s IPM-labeling effort,
including working with organizations such as Wegmans Food Markets and the
New York State Berry Growers Association to establish their
Cornell-licensed IPM labels. Dr. Petzoldt’s publications include IPM
systems for onions, sweet corn, snap beans, potatoes and cabbage. Dr.
Petzoldt holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of
California at Davis.
Dr. James P. Tette,
Former Director, New York State IPM Program, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY. Dr. Tette established a pheromone research and development program for
Zoecon Corporation of Palo Alto, California, before returning to Cornell
to coordinate the first Integrated Pest Management Program in 1973. Jim
has been twice honored by the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society
of America with the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension. Dr.
Tette holds a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the State
University of New York in Buffalo.
Current IPM Institute Staff
Kelly Adams, May 2008, Financial and grant administration, employee services management, former School IPM Project Coordinator. Kelly has a communications/research background as an Art History major from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also attended certificate classes at the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, which fueled an interest in sustainable agriculture and environmental health issues, particularly school and community-based projects.
Mark Adelsperger, July 2011, Resource Management Specialist - Great Lakes Protection Fund Project. Mark has a degree in Business Administration from Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio and a background in agriculture, sales and customer service. Mark's immersion in agriculture and enjoyment of the rural lifestyle reinforces his viewpoint that farming is an ever-evolving way of life.
Matt Anderson, August 2009, School IPM 2015 and North Central School IPM Working Group. Matt is currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in International Studies with an Environmental focus in Water Resources Management.
Zach Bruns, May 2008, School IPM 2015, general IPM Institute Information Technology work. Zach earned a B.A. in Communications and Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a background in instructional technology support. He is currently a graduate student at UW-Whitewater in the Counseling Education program. He is an active member of Blackhawk Church and participates in the Wisconsin Track Club.
Wade Moder, March 2011, IPM & NRCS Working Group: Growers' Incentives for IPM, Great Lakes Protection Fund. Wade completed his B.S. in Environmental Policy & Planning from UW-Green Bay in 2009. He has been involved in a variety of environmental projects, including watershed management, public land use, invasive species control, urban tree identification and GIS. Currently, Wade serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Yahara River Grocery Cooperative in Stoughton, WI. As a lifelong Wisconsin native, Wade enjoys cooking, playing sports, traveling and being outside.
Leigh Presley, January 2010, Project Assistant: Sysco Sustainable Ag/IPM Initiative, IPM Voice, IPM Symposium and PRiME. Leigh received a B.S. in Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009. Natural resource studies in landscape architecture and a summer internship in a county land and water conservation department piqued her interest in sustainable agriculture and conservation.
Wade Pronschinske, November 2007, PRiME Project Manager. After working in airborne intelligence for the U.S., Army, Wade earned a B.A. from Northern Illinois University in Philosophy, followed by a M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science from Florida State University . His interest in environmental ethics led him to his position as a project assistant in 2007, advancing through project coordinator to project manager in December 2009.
Rebecca Ressl, November 2010, Project Assistant: BMP CHALLENGE. Rebecca is a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student in Water Resources Management, with a certificate in Business, Environment and Social Responsibility. Her interest in sustainable risk management led her to this position working with corn producers to implement conservation measures while optimizing net returns.
Jodi Schmitz, June 2011, Administrative assistant, Green Shield Certified and IPM STAR, School IPM 2015 and IPM Institute Newsletters. Jodi is originally from Helena, Montana and received a B.A. in English Writing from Carroll College. She then went on to complete the publishing program at the University of Denver Publishing Institute. She is passionate about reading, writing and yoga.
Caitlin Seifert, May 2011, Green Shield Certified and IPM STAR Project Coordinator. Caitlin has a communications background as a Media Communications major from Webster University and an outreach background as a Madison community organizer. Prior to joining the IPM Institute, she worked in K-12 education for two years, which sparked an interest in school IPM.
Peter Werts, May 2009, Apple IPM Program, NRCS-IPM Working Group: Growers' Incentives for IPM, Red Tomato Eco Apple Project and NRCS TSP services. Peter has a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Before coming to the IPM Institute he worked as one of the regional interns with the Wisconsin Eco-Apple project in the Bayfield region. His interest in IPM has been a natural progression building upon his knowledge and skills from his days working on the fruit farms in Bayfield, Wisconsin while in college.
Frequently Asked Questions
about IPM
