Advisory Committee 5 Year Review 2015-2019 EDDMapS CONTENTS EDDMapS 5.0 History of the Center 4 EDDMapS State/Provincial Integration 5 Strategic Plan Florida Invasive Species Partnership Invasive Species Data Standards 6 Center Faculty and Staff Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey 10 Advisory Board IPCConnect Rose Rosette Disease 16 Media Distribution Encyclopedia of Life and iNaturalist Integration 21 Social Media Campaign Wetland Training for Farm Service Agency 22 Project Highlights North American Invasive Species Forum Whitefly Biology and Distribution in Georgia The New Bugwood Website seID - Seed Identification Smartphone App for Toxic Plant Seeds and Fruit Wild Spotter 44 Publications Southern IPM Center Books and Book Chapters ImageID Outreach Publications EDDMapS IPM Journal Articles Bugwood Image Database First Detector Network in Georgia 50 Presentations Invasive.org 52 Professional Service and Awards iBiocontrol 53 Grants AgPest Monitor PAMF (Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework) ISMTrack Healthy Trees Healthy Cities Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health Annual Report Highlights 2015-2019 / 2 Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health Annual Report Highlights 2015-2019 / 3 History of the Center STRATEGIC PLAN 2016-2025 The Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health (www.bugwood.org) was formed in 2008 as a University I. Promote, publicize, and improve awareness of the Center and its programs of Georgia Extension and Outreach Center. The Center is jointly housed in the College of Agricultural and Within the University: Environmental Sciences and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. In 2014, the Center’s mission • Produce annual reports, impact statements, newsletters, and press releases • Provide training and updates for Agriculture & Natural Resources and 4-H County Extension Agents, Program Development was expanded to include a linkage with graduate student teaching and research. In the 2020 Center budget, 72% Coordinators, and Specialists came from grants and cooperative agreements and 28% from State funds. An outside review of the Center’s • Collaborate and engage with UGA Commodity Teams programs was conducted in August 2015. Findings and suggestions of the review committee are included in the Strategic Plan on the next page. Within the State: • Provide trainings, educational materials, and updates for stakeholders • Collaborate and engage with state agencies • Serve on state non-profit organization committees Situation & boards • Maintain the Memorandum of Understanding to Agricultural, forested, and natural systems are under increased stress due to problems caused by invasive species and continue Invasive Species Task Force operation some native pests. Invasive species cost the United States economy more than $120 billion each year. These include with Georgia state agencies plants, insects, plant pathogens, nematodes, and wildlife in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Management National and International: decisions have wide-reaching impacts on ecosystem health and the people interacting with them. • Actively participate in advisory committees, networks, forums, commodity groups, professional societies, organizations, and grant panels Vision II. Influence policy and development of We support efforts to prevent new infestations, detect pests, respond to new introductions, document changes, and programs manage the health of our ecosystems. Solutions to these problems require collaborations that transcend disciplinary, • Contribute ideas and serve on national councils, committees, and grant panels as requested by departmental, institutional, and agency approaches, as well as state and national borders. By providing ready access external agencies and technical committees to relevant information and tools, we empower stakeholders to make cost-effective management decisions that • Participate in the development of standards, formats, and protocols for exchange of invasive species, pesticide resistance, and pest minimize disruptions to non-target organisms in the ecosystem and effectively control pest organisms. management data • Increase involvement in development of the U.S. Farm Bill and other Federal programs • Provide expert witness, whitepapers, and commentary for policy setting groups, agencies, and congressional staffers III. Leverage connections with the Southern IPM Center • Coordinate development and use of information technology tools Mission Stakeholders • Enable rapid information exchange and management response to new and emerging pests • Utilize communications, marketing, and program evaluation services associated with the IPM Centers The Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem State: • Share staff and resources that support the mission of both organizations Health exists to develop and utilize partnerships and State agencies, Master Gardeners, garden clubs, IV. Infrastructure: resources and needs information technology to advance invasive species FFA, 4-H, K-12 educational professionals, green management, integrated pest management, and forest industry representatives, homeowners, agricultural Work with UGA administration to: producers, native plant societies, commodity • Develop a framework for assessing impact of Center products and programs health. • Secure appropriate facilities and space to accommodate Center staffing and programs commissions, extension specialists, county agents • Replace, retain, and promote staff Specific objectives include: • Acquire dedicated FTE time to improve Center promotion, communications capabilities, and outputs National: • Develop long-term funding strategies to keep the Center fully functional and relevant to Georgia stakeholder needs • Developing collaborations among university, state, • Develop independent Center advisory committees to focus on Georgia and national-level stakeholders regional, national and international, governmental and Commodity promotion boards, • Develop policy and procedures to appoint affiliate and adjunct faculty to the Center non-governmental partners Federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations Center administration will: • Integrating information, conducting applied research, • Produce an annual report including user statistics, impact assessment, and productivity goals and developing programs • Evaluate proposed new projects for continuity and congruity with the Center’s mission • Producing websites, smartphone applications, International: • Adopt life cycle management guidelines for all websites, applications, and publications • Develop and implement consistent branding across all Center products publications, videos, presentations, and other Regional and continental non-governmental organizations, African Union, European Union, • Establish written policy on authorship of grants, presentations, and publications that require substantial Center involvement information technology tools • Providing a clearinghouse for content and resources foreign governments, Food and Agriculture V. Secure funds needed to fulfill mission Organization of the United Nations • Continue to pursue a diverse funding portfolio • Conducting outreach and training to promote public • Seek increased private donations awareness • Support web server and database infrastructure maintenance through combination of grant and state funds • Increase state salary, travel, and operating budgets 1. to increase programming to Georgia citizens 2. to use as state-matching funds to secure additional federal grants and cooperative agreements Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health Annual Report Highlights 2015-2019 / 4 Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health Annual Report Highlights 2015-2019 / 5 CENTER FACULTY & STAFF CENTER FACULTY Chuck Bargeron, MS Computer Science Co–Director – Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources Chuck was promoted to Senior Public Service Associate and Co-Director at the Center in July 2019. Chuck was appointed by the Secretary of Interior to the National Invasive Species Advisory Council in 2013, reappointed in 2016, and elected chair in 2018. He is currently Chair-Elect of the North American Invasive Species Management Association (NAISMA). During his 21 year tenue, Chuck has led the development of countless web applications, smartphone applications, interactive CD-ROMs, databases and outreach publications. Websites he designed have received regional awards for content and design and have over 2 billion hits in the last decade. Chuck designed and developed the infrastructure behind Bugwood Images. Recently, he has focused on mapping invasive species and tools for Early Detection and Rapid Response using EDDMapS and smartphone applications. Michael Toews, PhD Entomology Co–Director – College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Michael is a native of Salina, KS and obtained a Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Toews arrived at UGA in 2006 as the cotton research entomologist. In addition to mentoring graduate students and post docs, he has secured more than $16 million in competitive grant funding, published 75 peer reviewed journal articles and holds a patent issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Toews is involved in grant writing and programmatic content to support Georgia agricultural stakeholders. Together with Center staff, he has developed and released smartphone apps and content for invasive species such as the kudzu bug and brown marmorated stink bug. He is currently leading a project to integrate proper pest thresholds,