Friday will be the last day the Western IPM Center is located on the UC Davis campus. Over the weekend, we're moving into the new UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Building about two miles away.
We learned today that during the move, our website may be down. If it is and you need to download the 2014 Center Grants RFA, please log into the proposal management website to access it. We'll post updates about the status of our website as we get them here on the IPM West blog.
By Tuesday, we hope to be back in business at our new location. The address is:
Western IPM Center
UC ANR Building
2801 Second Street
Davis, CA 95618-7774
Here are our new phone numbers:
Kassim Al-Khatib: (530) 750-1249
Jim Farrar: (530) 750-1271
Carla Thomas: (530) 750-1270
Steve Elliott: (530) 750-1269
Sorry for the inconvenience, and please bear with us during the transition!
Are you planning new IPM research, or applying for a Western IPM Center grant, and want to know how to assess the impact of your project?
The Western IPM Center’s IPM Adoption and Impacts Assessment Work Group, a collection of natural and social scientists from across the country, has created online resources showing IPM researchers how to conduct basic impact assessments.
Two webinars are being held to introduce researchers to those assessment tools: November 6 at 1 p.m. Pacific and December 3 at 1 p.m. Pacific. The training will be conducted by Dr. Al Founier, University of Arizona. (Please RSVP for the webinars by emailing Carla Thomas to specify which date you plan to attend.)
The webinar address is http://uc-d.adobeconnect.com/rfaevaluation/
“The aim is to provide a toolkit that will allow people who don’t have training in impact assessment methods to do basic impact assessments,” said Neil McRoberts, a plant pathologist at UC Davis who coordinates the group. “We recognize that impacts can be measured in lots of different ways – economic impacts, changes in social networks, or changes in environmental effects – and that different approaches will be relevant in different contexts. So the aim is to provide people with the means to do a range of different types, at an introductory level.”
The online resources include an introduction to impact assessment, and modules on surveys, economic analysis, social network analysis, focus groups and observation data. Chapters within each module include when a measurement or method is appropriate, what to collect, how to collect it, how to analyze it and how to report it.
“I think the core techniques we’re suggesting people use are likely to remain valid for a long time,” said McRoberts, who stressed that the modules are careful to warn users when they’ll need to call in economists or social scientists.
“We’re taking pains to define the limitations of what’s on offer so that people don’t over-reach,” he said.
One goal is to get researchers thinking about impact assessment at the beginning of their projects so they can include assessment plans in their initial proposals. Another benefit is that IPM researchers will become more proficient in basic social science methods.
“We’re hoping that the modules will be recognized by funders as a viable proxy for having actual economists or social scientists do simple impact assessments,” McRoberts said. “That would help reduce something of a bottleneck that has been developing in impact assessment.”
Instead of social scientists teaching the basics over and over, it frees up time to collaborate with IPM researchers with more sophisticated datasets.
“We support project directors to better plan their project assessment,” said Center Director Jim Farrar. “This effort leverages social science talent from all regions.”
Access the assessment training here. Download the Center RFA at www.wripmc.org
The Western IPM Center's 2014 Competitive Grants program is open and the RFA is posted.
(Download the RFA.)
Around $200,000 will be available in four grant categories: project initiation grants, work group grants, outreach and implementation grants, and pest management planning documents. Funding details and restrictions are in the RFA.
The deadline is 5 p.m. pacific Standard Time on December 18. Good luck!
Also available on the Western IPM Center website today is the fall issue of our regional newsletter, The Western Front. This issue spotlights urban and community IPM programs in the West, and features updates on several other Center-sponsored efforts, including the IPM assessment work group and the invasive species signature program. Download the newsletter.
