Impact of Integrated Pest Management on Academia in Entomology in the United States

Events leading to integrated pest management (IPM) have been addressed in depth (e.g., Bottrell 1979, Flint and Van den Bosch 1981, Metcalf and Luckmann 1994), allowing a truncated treatment here by way of introduction. World War II (1939-1945) mobilized the intellectual and industrial efforts of scientists and engineers to devise solutions to a wide range of problems. Breakthroughs in chemistry and engineering proved especially important to agriculture by developing and delivering chemicals to protect human-valued resources. DDT and 2-4-D were the harbingers of a wave of pesticides that appeared to herald the end of pest problems and the need for specialized scientists to study them. The success of these pesticides lasted about a generation before spectacular failures chronicled problems of pesticide resistance and pollution for the general public. Familiar milestones in this journey are the seminal papers on integrated control (Stern et al. 1959, Geier and Clark 1961), Silent Spring by Carson (1962), the Mrak Commission Report (USDHEW 1969), the NAS Report (Anonymous 1969), and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency by Executive Order in 1972. IPM emerged to resolve these pesticide problems, and significant funding for the development and delivery of these IPM programs through research and Extension began with programs such as the Huffaker project in 1972 (P.L. Adkisson, personal communication). Entomologists were at the forefront of developing IPM because insecticides lost efficacy and public confidence due to resistance and pollution before fungicides and herbicides encountered similar difficulties. This was leadership born of desperation with a failed chemical control paradigm compounded by unanticipated adverse effects on