- There were 114,737 sessions created by 99,725 users of the IPM website (www.ipm.uconn.edu) during 2020, representing 145,137 page views.
- Vegetable integrated pest management education was delivered to over 600 vegetable growers and stakeholders every week from May to September 2020 through 19 weekly vegetable pest alerts focusing on pests, pest management and decision making, and safe pesticide use.
- In spring of 2020, our Vegetable Extension Program launched an online Vegetable Production Certificate course for the first time with an objective to effectively deliver information to beginner vegetable producers, especially when in-person interactions are limited. The course had seven online modules, each module with a self-paced video, supplemental materials, and a short quiz. In the post-course evaluation survey (total number of course participants = 23), respondents indicated on average 34% increase in their knowledge from the course.
- Over 400 invasive plant activities occurred in over 50 Connecticut towns, reaching over 8,700 Connecticut citizens in 2020, including agency and municipal staff. A minimum of 13,406 hours of intensive invasive plant training sessions and management activities was provided, as well as technical educational outreach.
- School and municipal grounds managers, nursery managers, and landscape professionals from 169 CT towns received 10 emails with information, educational materials, and best management practices, and a survey regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their management practices was completed.
- CT Invasive Plant Working Group biennial symposium, Realistic Solutions to Managing Invasive Plants, was delivered to 386 people, including grounds managers, landscape professionals, town conservation commission members, educators, master gardeners, arborists, and government officials.
- 482 fruit growers and industry members received 104 fruit messages covering pest information, management strategies, cultural practices, meetings and educational programming updates.