Current grant projects:

Creating Impactful Education with Producer Co-Educators Project, I serve as PI for this Western Region SARE Professional Development Program funded project to support educators across Oregon from 2022 to 2024. Cohort members are from OSU Extension, Oregon Tilth, Oregon Climate Action Network, and Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Cover Cropping and Reduced-Tillage Systems for Onion in Eastern Oregon, I am a co-PI for this Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funded work from 2023 to 2026. This project aims to identify and test potential cover crops with a conservation tillage system in an onion crop rotation in eastern Oregon.

Increasing Climate Change Related Mental Health Awareness and Resiliency Strategies for Producers, I am a co-PI for this Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance Program funded project to develop and pilot a climate stress module with three groups of farmers in fall 2023. The goal is to increase producers’ awareness of climate change-related mental health impacts, brainstorm strategies for developing greater resilience, and provide resources for mental health services and stress management.

Recent projects:

Western Region IPM Center article on this work in Oregon Building Community Partnerships to Improve IPM Outcomes (October 2021)

Gain insights from the first three partnerships in Increasing the Reach of Integrated Pest Management through Community Partnerships (July 2021)

• Biologically-based IPM for NE Oregon Cropping Systems with Darrin Walenta (Extension Agronomist), state and local NRCS, NRCS West Technical Support Center, Xerces Society, PlantWorks, and local farmers began in 2017.
  
• Middle Rogue Pesticide Stewardship Partnership (PSP) with Gordon Jones (General Agriculture) and Rick Hilton (Extension Entomologist) at SOREC, Rogue River Watershed Council, Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District, and local stakeholders and growers. See the Middle Rogue PSP Strategic Plan for details about this ongoing work.
  
• Cranberry Pesticide Resistance Prevention Program with Cassie Bouska (General Agriculture), OceanSpray, Oregon Cranberry Association, and local farmers in 2018-2019.
  
• Smallholder Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Program was co-developed through a successful train-the-trainer program with vegetable farmers in Senegal from 2013 to 2016. The resulting scaled-up pesticide risk management reduced the use of highly hazardous pesticides and increased the adoption of protective mitigation practices that minimized exposures.