The Big World of IPM

Western IPM Center
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Welcome to the big world of IPM - integrated pest management! Pests are everywhere and ways to manage them safely and effectively are as diverse as the pests themselves. Throughout the Western United States, researchers develop new methods to solve these pest problems, from plant diseases and damaging insects in agricultural fields to rats in urban spaces. Join us to learn about these IPM experts’ unique journeys and how they help protect our homes, communities and environment in the safest ways possible. Intro music: It's Your Time to Dance by K-Lo Music, under license from Shutterstock

Episodes

  1. 30 Jul

    Joanna Bloese: Perspective Shifts with Silicon

    Meet Joanna Bloese, an assistant professor and extension specialist at New Mexico State University. She has been a jack-of-all-trades both in her research (orchard and aquatic growing systems, farms of all sizes, annuals and ornamentals) and in her learning (entomology, glass blowing and Italian). In her previous job with the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Joanna found that silicon can reduce thrips damage in orchids. Instead of targeting one pest, silicon can protect plants from multiple pests and abiotic plant stressors, but its efficacy depends on the plant, the stressor and the entire system. Get the Transcript Visit our Website

  2. 28 Jul

    Tom Getts: Invasive Annual Grasses and Indaziflam

    Meet Tom Getts, a Weed Ecology and Cropping Systems Advisor with University of California Cooperative Extension. He works in rural Northern California (Lassen, Modoc, Sierra, and Plumas counties) and appreciates the vast range of geography and the tight-knit community there. Invasive annual grasses have become a major problem in most of the West, causing increased fire risk and lowering cattle feed quality. Tom has done trials with indaziflam to keep this pest at bay. Tom also tells a story that is a great reminder of why it’s important to read the pesticide label. Get the Transcript Visit our Website

  3. 17/11/2025

    Mikenna Smith + Kelsey Mitchell: Yes, There are Ticks in Wyoming

    Meet Mikenna Smith and Kelsey Mitchell, an entomologist and biologist respectively at Teton County Weed and Pest District in Wyoming. Exposure to different work tasks of the District, like its mosquito identification program, gave Mikenna her love of bugs. She started a new tick monitoring program in response to the lack of information about what tick species and pathogens are in Wyoming. Kelsey has worked many jobs in the field of biology, and one of her main jobs at the District is pathogen detection in ticks and other vector species. They have recorded both ticks and tick pathogens in Wyoming and have had great opportunities for outreach to the public when they collect ticks on hiking trails. Get the Transcript Visit our Website

  4. 17/11/2025

    Jackie Serrano: Click Beetle Chemical Communications

    Meet Jackie Serrano, a research entomologist with the U.S.Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service located in Washington state. She found the perfect overlap of two of her interests, organic chemistry and entomology, in her field of insect chemical ecology. (Though, she was afraid of bugs before getting into entomology, and there’s still a few arthropods she is not fond of.) Jackie talks about how insect chemical ecologists discover and replicate the semiochemicals that insects use to communicate and how she has been doing this for click beetles. Getthe Transcript Visit our Website

  5. 17/11/2025

    Gino Graziano + Joey Slowik: Attracting Predators of Root Maggots

    Meet Gino Graziano and Joey Slowik, who both work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. Gino entered the integrated pest management world through invasive plant management, which is still a specialty of his. Joey is “the spider guy” who started his entomology/arachnology career as an arachnid taxonomist. They’re working on a project to test if cover crop mixes can attract beneficial insects and if those insects will reduce root maggot populations. Root maggots in Alaska emerge and attack crop roots throughout the summer instead of all at once like they do in the “lower 48,” meaning Alaska needs its own best practices for this pest. Get the TranscriptVisit our Website

  6. 16/07/2025

    Andrew Sutherland: The Tip of the Iceberg for Biting Mite Management

    Meet Andrew Sutherland, the University of California Statewide IPM Program’s urban integrated pest management advisor for the San Francisco Bay Area. He took a winding path to urban IPM that started with horticulture and involved a misunderstanding that got him into entomology. He recently worked on developing monitoring traps for biting mites; very little research has been done on managing this pest. Andrew has enjoyed being involved with major shifts to better IPM practices in urban spaces, like the switch from sprays to baits for multiple pests. Get the Transcript Visit our Website   Related links: Attack of the Mystery Mites videos

  7. 16/07/2025

    Lara Amiri-Kazaz: Scaring Away Aphids with Biocontrol

    Meet Lara Amiri-Kazaz, a Ph.D. student in the field ofsustainable integrated pest management. Lara started her IPM journey hating bugs but is now loving her entomology research. A self-proclaimed “field rat,” Lara is testing if the presence of predatory insects in chile pepper fields can keep away aphids that transmit alfalfa mosaic virus. Aphids don’t stay in chile pepper fields and can give a plant the virus within minutes of feeding on it, making this a difficult pest problem to manage. Get the Transcript Visit our Website

  8. 16/07/2025

    Dawn Gouge: Equipping Urban Communities

    Meet Dawn Gouge, a Medical Entomology Professor & PublicHealth IPM Specialist at the University of Arizona. She works with urban pests of all kinds, from vultures to mosquitoes to bed bugs, including biting and stinging pests that are simply “effective communicators”. Playing in the polluted Mersey Estuary as a child inspired her to make a difference in how humans live on our planet. She has recently been equipping communities to monitor mosquitoes and equipping educators to talk about extreme weather as it becomes increasingly common. Request the Transcript Visit Our Website

  9. 16/07/2025

    Emma Kubinski: Critical Period of Weed Control and Carrots with Character

    Meet Emma Kubinski, a Ph.D. student in the field of ecological weed management. Her work in invasive weed management in natural areas led her to explore more nonchemical weed management practices in agriculture, including how weed diversity affects desirable plants. Her current work focuses on finding the critical time when weeds need to be managed in organic carrots and looking into alternate revenue streams for imperfect carrots, or “carrots with character.” Get the Transcript Visit our Website Related links: Sample IPM Triangle (source: University of Nevada, Reno)

  • 9 Episodes

About

Welcome to the big world of IPM - integrated pest management! Pests are everywhere and ways to manage them safely and effectively are as diverse as the pests themselves. Throughout the Western United States, researchers develop new methods to solve these pest problems, from plant diseases and damaging insects in agricultural fields to rats in urban spaces. Join us to learn about these IPM experts’ unique journeys and how they help protect our homes, communities and environment in the safest ways possible. Intro music: It's Your Time to Dance by K-Lo Music, under license from Shutterstock

Information

  • Creator
    Western IPM Center
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Western IPM Center
  • Show Website
    The Big World of IPM