04/04/2025 | Blog

Highlights from the IPM Achievement Awards

On February 26, 2025, DPR rolled out the green carpet to honor this year’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Achievement Award recipients for their leadership in the adoption and promotion of safer, more sustainable IPM practices in agricultural, urban, and wildland settings in California.

DPR welcomed attendees to a ceremony and networking event at the CalEPA Building in downtown Sacramento. The networking session, which took place before the ceremony, featured previous award recipients and partner agencies displaying resources showcasing their IPM and Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) activities. The exhibitors included:

California Department of Food and Agriculture Biocontrol Program
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Human-Wildlife Conflicts Program
California Invasive Plant Council
California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways Aquatic Invasive Species Program
Structural Pest Control Board
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban IPM Advisors
University of California Statewide IPM Program

Left: An attendee talks with an exhibitor during this year's IPM Achievement Awards networking event.
Right: 2025 IPM Achievement Awards winner, UC Santa Cruz – Grounds Services showcased their environmental stewardship work for attendees during this year's networking event.

To kick off the awards ceremony, DPR Director Karen Morrison moderated a keynote panel session focused on implementing safer, more-sustainable pest management practices in California. The conversation included:

Karen Cowan, Executive Director, California Stormwater Quality Association
Scott Park, Founder, Park Farming Organics
Lisa Worthington, Chief, Office of Natural Resources Management, Caltrans

Sapna Thottathil, DPR Deputy Director of Sustainable Pest Management, emceed the ceremony and presented awards to:

Pollinator Partnership, for protecting pollinators and biodiversity through IPM-focused programs providing practical pest management resources, certifying farmers that practice IPM, and funding research.
UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County, for expanding IPM knowledge and practices for gardening through extensive, multilingual outreach and hands-on support and guidance.
UC Santa Cruz – Grounds Services, for demonstrating environmental stewardship and the protection of endangered species and preserving its developed and wildland spaces while managing pests on a university campus.

All 2025 IPM Achievement Awards posing for a photo with DPR Director Karen Morrison and Deputy Director Sapna Thottathil.

The ceremony also featured remarks from Yana Garcia, Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency, and Christine Birdsong, Undersecretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture, congratulatory videos from University of California President Michael Drake, Assemblymember Steve Bennett, Assemblymember Matt Haney and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, and Senator John Laird.

Visit the DPR YouTube Channel or the DPR website for videos from this event and information about the IPM Achievement Awards.

For more information on DPR’s IPM Achievement Awards, see our webpage.