IPM Coalition Meeting

Yesterday we had our second IPM coalition meeting of 2011. We had around 15 participants either in person or through teleconference representing LPS and OPS, Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), EPA, UNL Extension, Nebraska Health and Human Services, and tribes.

We had two speakers--Allen Grell from Keep Nebraska Beautiful, and Craig Romary, from NDA, who gave presentations about chemical cleanout programs/responsible chemical management in schools and household hazardous waste disposal programs in Nebraska. The goal is to get rid of hazardous chemicals, such as pesticides and science class chemicals that are either outdated, dangerous, or not used/needed by schools. Many of these chemicals have been kept in storage because the school didn't know how to dispose of them. These programs, through grant dollars or through established locations like "Under the Sink" in Omaha hope to reduce the amount of these chemicals and thus improve human health and safety and protect the environment.

We also discussed our demonstration school projects at LPS and OPS. The fifth visit for both schools is coming up--June 1 for OPS and June 2 for LPS. At that time we will do our final walkthrough and discuss more details about IPM STAR. Even though the demonstration project is ending, Clyde and I will be available to help the schools prepare for and receive IPM STAR certification.

Mike Daniels updated the group on our efforts in the tribal schools. He is still working on setting up the second visit.

Finally, we promoted our half day educational coalition meeting on July 27 that will include presentations on pests,pesticides and health, the tribal IPM project, bed bugs (including an appearance from Spots), and PMP work with facility managers.

Third OPS IPM Visit

Clyde and I visited our Omaha Public Schools IPM demonstration school for the third time on Dec 9th. The school has recently employed a new pest management company, and a representative from that company was in attendance. We spent some time initiating him on the project, and also talked with the whole group more about IPM Star Certification. In addition, we provided the head custodian with a box of sticky traps so that he can continue monitoring on his own, and gave recommendations of where to purchase more traps when he needs them.

After a short meeting, we consulted the written recommendations we had provided after the second visit and looked at locations such as the kitchen, staff lounge, custodial closets, boiler room, and home ec room where there had been issues. The school had definitely paid attention. Some highlights included:

• Wallpaper removal in the staff lounge, which had been a concern because it could harbor cockroaches. Although German roaches have been found in the room before (especially near the pop machine and fridge) and we found new ones on traps, the school is taking measures towards reducing the conducive conditions that attract these pests and will continue to monitor.


• The kitchen had Oriental roaches, but no Germans! This was great news since in earlier visits we had found Germans in the kitchen. We continue to emphasize the importance of deep cleaning...both floors, under appliances, and in drains, and the reduction of moisture to discourage the Orientals.


• The boiler room was especially impressive...no Oriental roaches were seen on traps as they had been in the past. The dirt pile in the corner of the back room had been cleaned up and moisture issues had been addressed.


• In the main custodial office, all the pesticides had been removed.

With all of these improvements, the school is well on its way to fixing issues mentioned in the recommendations.

Finally, Clyde and I also reminded the group that they are welcome to attend the Urban Pest Management Conference coming up February 7-8. They thought both school reps as well as people from the pest management company would be interested in going. With topics covering various pests, research, and IPM, this conference should provide some good information for the school staff and their pest management company as the move forward in the IPM process.

October 6th Coalition Meeting

We had our fourth IPM coalition meeting of 2010 yesterday. We were joined by OPS and LPS, as well as EPA, UNL Extension, tribal, Nebraska Department of Ag, and pest management professional representatives.

Our guest speaker was Tom Green, who is president of the IPM Institute in Madison, WI. He discussed details about the process for a school to become IPM Star Certified, including maintaining records, working with the PMP to use IPM methods rather than routine spray applications, and generally controlling pests such as cockroaches and mice and improving conducive conditions to discourage pests. The IPM Star certification includes an on-site visit from a 3rd party professional who evaluates the school and provides them with a written list of recommendations. The school then addresses any deficiencies the evaluator has noted and contacts the IPM Institute for certification. Schools must score 70% on the evaluation to be certified, and certification lasts for 3 years. It must be renewed with a follow up visit after that time.

Tom also talked about Green Shield certification, which is an IPM Star approach to certifying pest management professionals. For more information about IPM Star and Green Shield, visit http://ipmstar.org and http://www.greenshieldcertified.org/providers/

After Tom's presentation, we discussed the August in-service presentations Clyde, Barb, Stephen and I did for LPS and OPS (custodial and/or food service staff), the second visits (Sept 9 for OPS and Sept 23 for LPS) and the planned third demonstration visits (Dec 9 for OPS and Feb 2, 2011 for LPS) Additional IPM and pest (bed bug) training are slated for November 11 (IAQ group) and November 19 (Infection Control group) for LPS.

Mike Daniels then gave a brief overview of the Healthy Tribal Communities training that was held in Sioux City. He said there were 32 attendees and he felt it was a success.

Coalition meetings for next year have been set: Feb 7/8 (Urban Pest Management conference), April 27, July 27, and Oct 26. There was discussion about possibly having half day educational events rather than the two hour meetings we have been doing. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach, so we'll be evaluating coalition member thoughts and suggestions before making a decision.

Bed bugs were also a topic of discussion (when is it not these days, especially with New York City practically overrun and many other places not far behind!).Barb mentioned that she and Clyde will be giving three bed bug workshops for landlords in October and November. Oct 20 will be in Lincoln, Nov 15 in Grand Island, and November 17 in Omaha. See http://ianrnews.unl.edu/static/1010040.shtml for sign up information. As part of the training (at the Omaha and Lincoln location), they will be featuring Spots, a bed bug sniffing dog owned by James and Amy Pelowski in Lincoln. To learn more about Spots' services, check out their website, K-9 BedBug Detection at http://www.k9bedbugdetect.com/ .

Upcoming NE IPM Events

It is going to be an exciting year for Nebraska IPM! June 22, 23 and 29 we'll be conducting our first IPM assessments at the Omaha and Lincoln schools.

July 7 Mark Shour from IA state will be with us at our Nebraska IPM coalition to speak about his experiences with IPM in schools in Iowa.

The first week of August, as part of the North Central IPM Working group meeting, we'll be doing a walkthrough at a Nebraska City school.

Oct 6 Tom Green from the IPM Institute is joining our coalition meeting to talk about IPM Star Certification.

Stay tuned for more details about these important and educational IPM events!