IPM in the Press

Want to know more about the people involved and the kind of work done with the Colorado Center for Sustainable Pest Management? Check out the stories shared here to get a better idea.

Meet a few of CSU’s leading female researchers

Punya Nachappa

Growing up on her family’s coffee farm in India, Punya Nachappa quickly grew accustomed to the humungous flies and beetles buzzing around the fields. It was no surprise that she became obsessed with bugs.

“Entomology was by far my favorite subject,” Nachappa said. “We had to do insect collections in college; I was so enthusiastic that I would do the collections for all my friends. That’s how I met my husband.”

CSU researchers find new wheat disease in eastern Colorado

Diego Gutierrez and Robyn Roberts

Growing up in Peru, Diego Gutierrez, a graduate student at Colorado State University, formed a deep connection to agriculture. His grandmother owned a potato farm in the Peruvian highlands, and his father worked at a facility that processed the country’s sought-after coffee beans. Those close ties meant that Gutierrez also learned early on about the disastrous impact an uncontrolled plant disease can have on a crop and a community.

How a Colorado Extension Entomologist Wrangles Pests and Protects Biodiversity

Melissa Schreiner

Melissa Schreiner is the extension entomologist for Colorado State University, where she leads an applied research and education program focused on pest management in tree fruit, wine grapes, row crops, and invasive species monitoring in western Colorado. 

Testing the ecology of fear in Colorado chile pepper fields

Lara Amiri-Kaziz and Ada Szczepaniec

Tiny aphids are causing outsized losses for chile pepper growers in Colorado, even though the insects don’t feed on that particular crop and don’t linger in it.

Instead, aphids move through chile fields, especially after nearby alfalfa fields are cut. That wasn’t a problem until 2019 when alfalfa mosaic virus appeared in southern Colorado. 

Story of Impact

Todd Gaines

Growing up on his family’s dryland wheat farm near Flagler, Todd Gaines was made aware at a very young age of the challenges weeds present to modern farmers. 

“We had puncturevine, or goat heads as they’re sometimes known, around our farm,” he said. “Whenever my siblings and I would get into arguments we had to chop a bucket full of them. It proved the value of a long-term weed management plan – after about 20 years of arguments, the farm was mostly rid of puncturevine!”