Eddie McGriff

Friends of IPM Awards

The mission of the Southern IPM Center is to champion the development and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM), the science of managing pests while protecting people, the environment and economy. Each Regional Center engages broadly with stakeholders to identify and address regional pest priorities in agriculture, communities and natural areas.

Since 2003, the Southern IPM Center (SIPMC) has worked with USDA, Land Grant universities, Extension, and many other partners in promoting and facilitating the development and implementation of IPM in many settings across the region.

Many of these partners have contributed to the region’s well-being for years or even decades.

IPM Hall of Fame

The Southern IPM Hall of Fame award recognizes individuals who have contributed to any important aspect of Southern IPM over many years with a documented history of career achievements in IPM.

Along with authorship of educational materials, research papers, manuals, books, and presentations of IPM material, Hall of Fame award candidates have greatly impacted IPM in the Southern region over the lifetime of their career.

Eddie McGriff, Auburn University

Eddie McGriff is an Agronomic Crops Extension Specialist for Alabama Extension. His work has primarily focused on integrated pest management for row crops, such as cotton, peanuts, and soybeans.

Eddie has worked in Extension since 1983, when he took a position as an Extension agent at the University of Georgia. In 1985, Eddie was promoted to County Extension Director and oversaw the Calhoun County Pest Management Association, which scouted 15,000 acres of cotton, peanuts, and soybeans annually. He was named Decatur County Extension Coordinator in 1987, where his educational efforts expanded cotton acreage from 350 to 44,000 acres in four years.

Eddie served in several Georgia Extension roles until he became the Alabama Regional Extension agent for agronomic crops in February 2016. In this position, Eddie teaches growers and stakeholders about the role of beneficial insects through Extension bulletins and magazine articles. He has also initiated large-scale cotton variety trials to evaluate new ThryvOn technology that has helped reduce automatic insecticide applications for thrips.

Over the course of his career, Eddie’s research has significantly impacted IPM in row crops through a diversity of projects and programs. He strongly advocated for IPM implementation as he trained Extension scouts to monitor growers’ fields and make appropriate pest control decisions based on economic thresholds. Eddie fostered the adoption of a soybean production system, which featured IPM as a key management component, that led to two world record soybean yields. In addition, Eddie’s on-farm research program contributed valuable information about peanut varietal resistance and twin rows in the tomato spotted wilt virus index.

Eddie has authored over 100 informative newsletters, including The Peanut Patch and The Cotton Patch from 1987 to 2002, and On The Farm in Alabama, which he began writing in 2016 and updates annually. On the Farm in Alabama notifies growers about pest issues and provides updates on local farm research trials. Eddie has written over 25 national research publications and 75 research reports, greatly influencing the implementation of IPM practices in the southern region.

Eddie has also worked tirelessly to train the next generation of IPM practitioners. From 1991 to 2002, he taught the cotton, peanut, and soybean scout schools in southwest Georgia, equipping 587 scouts with IPM techniques for management of row crop pests. His outreach efforts emphasize how beneficial insects contribute to effective pest management in cotton production. Eddie also partnered with Alabama Extension entomologists to produce eight insightful cotton and soybean scouting videos on YouTube.

It is evident that Eddie has made outstanding contributions to IPM in row crops during his career and is well deserving of this honor.

2025 Friends of IPM Awardees

Bright Idea Award: Dr. Nupur Sarkar, Dr. Lina Bernaola, and the Bernaola Lab, Texas A&M University
Pulling Together Award: MyIPM for Vegetables team, led by Drs. Rebecca A. Melanson, Tom Kuhar, Tom Bilbo, and Inga Meadows
IPM Educator Award: Dr. Sonja Swiger, Texas A&M University
Future Leader Award: Dr. Scott Graham, Auburn University
IPM Hall of Fame Award: Eddie McGriff, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Doctoral Student Award (2 winners):
- Rogan Tokach, Auburn University
- Caitlyn Lawton, Auburn University