Agricultural educator Amanda Crump has been named the new director
of the Western Integrated Pest Management Center, bringing a lifelong interest
in extension education to the job.
“I grew up on a dairy and forage farm in southeastern Idaho,
and my dad always had University of Idaho researchers and extension agents on
the farm,” Crump said. “I really wanted to become an extension educator because
of my dad. We farmed at 6,000 feet elevation, which is very challenging and the
margins were low, so he was always looking for ways to farm better.”
As director of the Western IPM Center, Crump will lead the
Center’s efforts to protect human health and the environment by promoting the
development, adoption and evaluation of integrated pest management in 13 Western
states and the Pacific Island Territories. She leaves the Horticulture
Innovation Lab, a federally funded program located at the University of
California, Davis, where she was associate director.
“I look forward to joining the Western IPM Center because I
feel that the work the Center does to support integrated pest management
research and advocate for IPM policies is important not just for growers, but
also for the communities and natural areas of the West,” said Crump, who begins
her new job on May 2. “I’m really interested in the question of how to best
disseminate IPM information and get growers and others to adopt IPM practices.”
Jim Farrar, the former Western IPM Center director who left
the position to become the head of the University of California Statewide IPM
Program, said Crump’s background made her a perfect fit for the job.
“At the Horticulture Innovation Lab, Amanda had a lot of
experience with a similar program, although its focus was international and the
Center’s is regional,” he said. “She has good skills in interacting with
stakeholders and collaborators, and brings experience in evaluation and change
theory that will really benefit the Center.”
The Western IPM Center is one of four regional centers
funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of
Food and Agriculture to promote integrated pest management to reduce the health
and environmental risks of both pests and pest management practices. The Center
makes grants to IPM researchers and extension specialists to develop new IPM
techniques and promote their adoption.
IPM is a science-based approach to pest management that
encourages a multi-faceted approach to controlling pests. In integrated pest
management, growers use techniques like crop rotations, plant-variety
selection, natural enemies and biological controls and selective pesticides to
keep pest populations at levels that don’t cause economic harm.
Crump was a state FFA officer in college and graduated from
the University of Idaho with a degree in agricultural education. She received a
master’s degree in plant pathology and weed science from Colorado State
University and was an environmental horticulture farm advisor in California’s
Fresno County before coming to the Horticulture Innovation Lab in 2009. That
program builds international partnerships for fruit and vegetable research that
improves livelihoods in developing countries.
Crump is now working to finish a doctorate in agricultural
education at UC Davis.
“I’m still fascinated with understanding how people learn,
especially how they learn new ideas or techniques in agriculture,” she said. “I
think it’s an important aspect of this job.”
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