UC IPM advisor keeps pests at bay—and out of the bay—in Port of
San Diego UC IPM has cast its net wide to encourage others to
consider integrated pest management as the preferred method of
controlling pests in an effort to reduce pesticide use. The Port
of San Diego oversees San Diego Bay and the surrounding
tidelands, and one of its primary roles is to serve as an
environmental steward. One of the Port’s concerns is pesticide
use, a source of water pollution in the bay. Pesticides and
fertilizers can be transported from parks and yards to the
storm-drain system and eventually into creeks, lagoons, bays,
and the ocean. One way that the Port is working to prevent water
pollution in San Diego Bay is through an IPM program. Since
1997, UC IPM Advisor Cheryl Wilen, UCCE, South Coast, has served
on the Port of San Diego's IPM Task Force to oversee the
implementation of this program. "Cheryl helps us coordinate the
Port's annual IPM seminar that is open to the public and
generally attracts about 200 people from the