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About functional ecology
Response from growers
Measurement tools
Project activities
References
The project team
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| Mark Whalon, Michigan State University, Professor, Department of Entomology, Pesticide Policy Liaison, Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. Mark Whalon has been extensively involved in developing alternatives to conventional pesticides, designing and implementing IPM systems in fruit and vegetables for over 24 years. Over the past six years, Whalon has been actively involved in researching and implementing ecosystems management approaches to cherry and apple production. As a research entomologist, he is internationally recognized as a world authority on pest resistance to control measures and pesticide policy. Whalon initiated many of the baseline concepts for this project, contributed to the design, and is responsible for overseeing and evaluating the entomological component of this project. He is contributing to overall project evaluation and is a liaison with NRCS, state agency and industry organizations. |
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| George Bird, Michigan State University, Professor, Department of Entomology. George Bird is a research nematologist, nationally recognized as a pioneer in the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and a leader in the field of sustainable agriculture. His research program is focused on an ecosystems approach to agriculture and soil biology. Bird has recently focused his research on the effects of orchard management practices on soil microbial life, and on how diversity of microbes can be used as a measure of soil quality and tree health. He contributed to the project design and is responsible for overseeing and evaluating the soil microbial component of this project. |
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Jim Flore, Michigan State University, Pomologist, Professor of Horticulture. Jim Flore is a horticulturist specializing in whole plant physiology, photosynthesis and fruit-load dynamics in tree fruits. He has investigated the physiological bases of yield and quality of tree fruits, especially vegetative response to biotic and environmental stresses, and has used carbon assimilation and carbon partitioning as the basis for many of his studies. His ultimate research goal is to solve whole plant problems that will optimize crop productivity and product quality in the field. Flore is responsible for design and evaluation of carbon assimilation as a measure of biotic and abiotic stresses. |
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Larry Gut, Michigan State University, Associate Professor of Tree Fruit Entomology. Larry Gut is an internationally recognized researcher and implementer of pheromone technology in tree fruits. He is an outstanding applied ecologist with 18 years of tree fruit pest management experience. He is recognized for his effective implementation programs in western and Midwestern tree fruit IPM, and his research has facilitated the transition of theoretical semiochemical research to viable implementation programs on three continents. He is responsible for design and evaluation of the lepidopteran ecological index. |
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Jean Haley, Haley Consultant Services, Evaluation Consultant. Jean Haley has over 10 years of program evaluation experience in agriculture and natural resources. Her experience includes conducting client needs assessments and program analysis, developing evaluation frameworks to conduct efficient and effective program evaluation on an on-going basis, conducting survey research, interviews and focus groups, strategic planning services for turning evaluation results into action, and providing conflict resolution facilitation and training. Haley has worked with several nationally recognized IPM projects, including the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, Sun-Maid Raisin Growers, and the World Wildlife Fund/Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association/University of Wisconsin Collaboration. She is responsible for developing and implementing an overall program evaluation strategy that includes a metric for measuring IPM adoption among growers. |
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David Epstein, Michigan State University, Tree Fruit Integrator, Integrated Pest Management Program. David Epstein's research has focused on the effects of insecticides on beneficial organisms in orchard systems, mating disruption, and biological control of orchard insect pests. As coordinator of the Michigan Apple IPM Implementation Project, Epstein has valuable experience working with growers and industry in the implementation of IPM practices, and in IPM education and training. He contributed to project design and proposal development. He is acting as project manager, coordinating field and workshop project activities, disseminating project results to the industries, and coordinating educational workshops. |
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Jim Laubach and Romain LaLone. Each of these highly credentialed technical service providers has their own private sector consulting businesses. Collectively, they have over 40 years of orchard consulting experience, represent approximately 30 to 40 percent of cherry, 15 percent apple and 60 percent of the peach acreage in Michigan, and are well respected in the tree fruit industry. They are the project's key independent, private-sector conscience, and represent the potential for the continuation of the functional ecology indices system in Michigan. Both have worked with county NRCS conservation specialists. |
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Phil Korson, President and Managing Director, Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI, a national research and promotion organization that represents U.S. cherry growers. Phil Korson is also the executive director of the Michigan Cherry Committee and the Michigan Association of Cherry Producers. He has been instrumental in planning the strategic direction of the industry through the Tart Cherry Industry Planning Council and is a member of the National Cherry Growers and Industries Foundation, a promotion organization for sweet cherries that recently contracted with CMI. Korson is a key player in the Minor Crop Farmer Alliance, a national organization of commodity groups that focuses on minor crop pesticide problems. In 1997, he was appointed to the national IR-4 Commodity Liaison Committee, which works to re-register materials for minor crops. |
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