| Students and educators with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture and UMass Extension received awards at the fourth annual meeting of The Integrated Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (iPiPE) at North Carolina State University. Jon Clements with UMass Extension was the only educator to receive an award for his work as an outstanding student mentor, and undergraduate intern Nicole Foley received third place for outstanding engagement with her poster titled, “Innovating Apple Pest Incidence Data Collection.”
The Integrated Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (iPiPE) is a website designed for researchers, extension agents, and growers that stresses the importance of data sharing in the agricultural community. The platform was created with the hope of increasing public accessibility to time-sensitive information relating to economically significant crops such as apples, blueberries, wheat and corn. The iPiPE Mixer, which the UMass representatives attended, focuses on training researchers, extension agents, and student interns on using this information platform. Through this platform, stakeholders and growers are equipped with pertinent information to prevent and control damaging pest incidents. The information shared through the platform prepares users to monitor, predict and respond to blights while reducing the environmental and economic impact of pesticide use, thus increasing food security. The platform also alerts users to pertinent pests found in their counties, thus working to prevent damaging pest incidents. To learn more about iPiPE and the University of Massacusetts, Amherst, read more here. |
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