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Research and IPMGrants Programs: Exotic/Invasive Pests and Diseases Research
Important
Announcement—Call for New Proposals, March,
2007
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Goals and priorities |
Goals and priorities |
Exotic pests and invasive species threaten California's agricultural, urban, and natural environments, particularly the state's $27 billion agricultural industry. Exotic pest damage to California agriculture amounts to an estimated $3 billion annually. Among the exotic pests of great concern to the agricultural industry are the Mediterranean fruit fly, red imported fire ant, and the glassy-winged sharpshooter.
In the urban and natural environments, insect-vectored diseases such as West Nile virus pose public health threats and also target horses and native birds. Another threat is sudden oak death, responsible for tens of thousands of dead oak trees in California. The disease also infects coast redwood and Douglas-fir trees and was recently discovered in nursery stock.
The long-term goal of the grants program is to develop a systematic methodology to address critical problems with exotic, invasive pests and diseases, involving exclusion, prevention, management, and eradication strategies. An important role is to foster cooperation and coordination of research efforts among the UC campuses, USDA, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and the agricultural industry. The grants program is linked with informational programs to disseminate research results.
Scientific review panels review and rate individual proposals on scientific merit and quality in three research areas:
Research projects given priority are those designed to lead to a better understanding of the basic and applied biology of exotic pests and diseases that impact California or are likely to do so in the future. Special consideration is given to interdisciplinary projects dealing with important pests that have received minor attention and pose a threat to California. Proposals should also address extension or outreach of information. See the research projects database for examples of projects funded. The current research areas are:
Research in this area focuses on exotic pests and diseases that have, or are anticipated to have, an effect on California agriculture. The projects may be either basic or applied, but they should clearly demonstrate their potential impact on agriculture in California.
Research in this area focuses on exotic pests and diseases, and invasive species that affect or could negatively impact the quality of life in urban communities. This might include parks and recreation areas, landscape and ornamentals, schools, residences, businesses and industry, and other urban areas. The projects may be either basic or applied, but they should clearly demonstrate their potential impact on human activities in the urban environment.
Research in this area focuses on exotic pests and diseases that affect natural communities. These include aquatic and terrestrial areas outside of agricultural and urban developments. The projects may be either basic or applied, but they should clearly demonstrate their potential impact on natural systems.
Proposal and approval processes |
The EPDRP issues a request for proposals annually. Projects may span (last for) up to three years, but are distributed on a year-by-year basis, subject to acceptable progress reports. Progress and/or final reports are requested midway through the funding year. Final reports are submitted approximately six months after the project ends.
Investigators are scientists affiliated with public research institutions in California and outside the state. Funding is not restricted to UC investigators, although projects are strongly encouraged to include at least one career academic member of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR). This is to ensure relevance to exotic pests and diseases/invasive species of particular importance to California, and linkage to the Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension systems.
Multidisciplinary and multi-institutional proposals are encouraged to address specific issues and to allow broader use of the results.
Program structure |
The EPDRP program structure includes the principal investigator, program director, co-investigator, program advisory committee, three scientific review panels, and the technical committee.
Principal investigator. The principal investigator of the grant that funds EPDRP is the UC IPM director, who leads the program (along with the program director) and makes final funding decisions. Other duties include chairing both the program advisory and technical committees, and appointing members of the technical committee and scientific review panels, based on the program director's nominations. The principal investigator also nominates members of the program advisory committee, who are appointed by the UC vice president—ANR.
Program director. The program director is the CISR director. Duties include coordinating and encouraging proposal submissions, responding to scientific issues that may arise, and recommending members of the scientific review panels, technical committee, and the program advisory committee to the principal investigator.
Co-investigator. The co-investigator is the UC ANR program leader for agricultural policy and pest management. Duties include assisting with the development of the annual proposal, coordinating and promoting EPDRP activities, and serving on the technical committee.
Program advisory committee. This key committee, comprised of approximately 13 members, includes the UC IPM and CISR directors, UC faculty, USDA and CDFA staff, and representatives from the pest control and agricultural industries. Responsibilities include evaluating the status of the research; identifying priority areas (research or information needs); determining areas of need not under study; and making recommendations to the program director and principal investigator on program operation and funding.
Scientific review panels. The three review panels, each with six to eight members, review and rate the proposals in their research area: agricultural, urban, or natural environments. They submit funding recommendations and priorities, based on the following criteria, to the technical committee:
Technical committee. The technical committee is comprised of the six review panel co-chairs, and the principal investigator (UC IPM director), who chairs the committee. Serving as ex-officio members are directors of the UC Viticulture Consortium Program, UC IPM, the Western IPM Center, the Western Plant Diagnostic Network; and the ANR program leader for agricultural policy and pest management, plus a representative from both CDFA and USDA-CSREES with expertise in pest management. Duties include reviewing the recommendations of the scientific review panels and ranking the proposals across all subject areas; and meeting with the program advisory committee to evaluate the proposals and recommend funding.
Reporting |
Progress reports and final reports. Principal investigators submit a progress report annually. The final report is submitted approximately six months after the project ends. Progress and final reports are included in the research projects database.
Research projects database.The research projects database can be searched by crop/site/habitat, exotic pest or disease, year funded, and principal investigator. Included are objectives, funding information, and progress summaries.
Research workshop. The program sponsors an annual research workshop where principal investigators present the results of their research. The location alternates between southern and northern California.
