Friends of IPM Awards

FoIPM 2025 Square Photo

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 Pulling Together Award, 2025

The Pulling Together Friends of IPM Award is presented to a group that has been successful in any aspect of developing, teaching about, and implementing IPM, and is based on the management of a high-priority pest.

MyIPM for Vegetables team

The MyIPM for Vegetables team, led by Rebecca Melanson, Tom Kuhar, Thomas Bilbo, and Inga Meadows, comprises twenty-three Extension specialists, laboratory technicians, and students. Members of the MyIPM for Vegetables team are experts in entomology, plant pathology, cucurbit crops, and tomatoes. 

Dr. Melanson and her team sought to expand the impact and outreach efforts of the Southeastern Vegetable Extension Workers (SEVEW) group and create a mobile disease and pest management resource, an app called MyIPM for Vegetables. Available on Apple and Android devices, MyIPM for Vegetables supplies producers with IPM information for disease and insect management in cucurbits and tomatoes. The app also provides visual and audio content to facilitate pest and disease identification in the field. 

Accurate diagnosis is critical for implementing effective pest management strategies. The MyIPM for Vegetables app enables commercial vegetable stakeholders across and beyond the Southeast to correctly identify and manage pests, improving vegetable yields and profits. MyIPM for Vegetables sufficiently increases user knowledge of integrated pest management techniques and equips growers to successfully implement IPM programs on their farms.

MyIPM for Vegetables was launched in December 2023 with over 40 pest profiles, including 10 cucurbit disease profiles, 12 tomato disease profiles, 10 cucurbit insect profiles, and 10 tomato insect profiles. By October 2024, the MyIPM for Vegetables app had gained 734 active users, with one or more users in 44 states across the U.S.

Dr. Melanson’s team surveyed users to assess the impact of the MyIPM for Vegetables app. Participants reported that the app greatly increased their understanding of disease and insect pest management in vegetables. Many admitted that they intend to use the app as an integrated pest management program tool. 

The MyIPM for Vegetables team conducted extensive outreach to promote the benefits of the MyIPM for Vegetables app, including presentations, publications, and promotional postcards. As a result of their educational efforts, the team has engaged over 9,800 people with information about the MyIPM for Vegetables app.

The MyIPM for Vegetable team’s effective multidisciplinary collaboration among Extension specialists led to high impacts, creating a valuable mobile resource that increases user knowledge of disease and insect pest management for vegetable crops. The MyIPM for Vegetables app supports effective IPM strategies by providing growers and stakeholders with reliable, practical pest identification and management information.  

Team Members

Members of the MyIPM for Vegetables team are: 

  • Edward Sikora, Auburn University 
  • Aaron Cato, University of Arkansas 
  • Megan Hennessey, University of Florida 
  • Hugh Smith, University of Florida 
  • Gary Vallad, University of Florida 
  • Nicole Gauthier, University of Kentucky 
  • Raghuwinder Singh, Louisiana State University
  • Rebecca Melanson, Mississippi State University
  • Hunter Collins, North Carolina State University 
  • Erin Eure, North Carolina State University 
  • Adrienne Gorny, North Carolina State University 
  • Lorena Lopez, North Carolina State University 
  • Inga Meadows, North Carolina State University 
  • Leighann Murray, North Carolina State University 
  • Lina Quesada-Ocampo, North Carolina State University 
  • Yara Rosado, North Carolina State University 
  • Jim Walgenbach, North Carolina State University 
  • Lucy White, North Carolina State University 
  • Thomas Bilbo, Clemson University 
  • Anthony Keinath, Clemson University 
  • Kimberly Cochran, Texas A&M University 
  • Benjamin Aigner, Virginia Tech 
  • Thomas Kuhar, Virginia Tech

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

Other 2025 Recipient Stories

Sonja Swiger

Sonja has provided valuable training courses on vector identification, disease...

Read More
Tagged , ,