What is IPM?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an environmentally friendly, common sense approach to controlling pests. IPM principles and benefits can apply to any type of structure or other setting. Principles of IPM include:
- Making a proper pest identification and designing all control efforts around knowledge of the pest’s biology
- Maintaining an ongoing pest monitoring program,
- Applying a proper treatment based on pest numbers (thresholds)
- Keeping appropriate and complete records of pest levels and pest control actions
- Using multiple control tactics (integrated control) whenever possible
- Working together with clients and customers to maintain communication and cooperation
Why IPM Experience House?
Pest management professionals (PMPs) provide critical services to our communities by controlling pests like termites, fire ants, cockroaches, bed bugs, rodents and other important pests. We believe that IPM offers the best way to do this. IPM Experience House is dedicated to providing the best hands-on, science-based training to PMPs in Texas.
Although pest mangement professionals in Texas have strict requirements for certification and continuing education (CEUs), until now the industry has few venues for hands-on learning experiences. Despite the importance of hands-on learning for adults, most pesticide applicator CEU classes involve passive learning, such as listening to lectures and viewing slides.
Experience House is a former dormitory building that has been converted into a series of small, rooms that simulate actual work sites–ideal settings for hands-on training. We have attempted to design IPM House to provide a realistic, controlled environment where it is safe to practice the skills and craft of IPM. Courses use a mix of classroom and field training to provide new and experienced PMPs with the skills they need to excel in their profession.
This work is supported in part by the Crop Protection and Pest Management, Extension Implementation Program [award no. 2021- 70006-35347/project accession no. 1027036] from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.