Michael P. Hoffmann, Cornell associate professor of entomology, has been appointed as director of Cornell's New York State Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. He succeeds the first director, James P. Tette, who has retired after 26 years in the position.

For a quarter century, Tette educated and encouraged agricultural producers to grow crops and raise animals using environmentally sound methods that reduce or replace synthetic or organic pesticides. These techniques pose minimal risk to human health and maintain a supply of high-quality, safe, and economical foods for consumers, while providing growers with a reasonable return on their investment.

By 1996, under Tette's leadership, about 90 percent of the state's agricultural producers used at least one form of an IPM strategy, according to the annual report released by the program three years ago. "Agriculture isn't the same as it was 10 years ago," Tette said at the time the report was released. "Producers understand IPM and biological control, and they want to incorporate these practices into their production systems."

As the new director, Hoffmann plans to carry on the program's mission. "While we continue to serve New York agriculture, the opportunities to address pest management issues for our non-agricultural clintele is almost unlimited," says Hoffmann. For example, he says that educational efforts for IPM in the state's schools are already underway. "Working in both agriculture and community IPM offers us a unique opportunity to improve communication and understanding between the various sectors of our state."

Hoffmann says that New York's IPM program is recognized as one of the best such programs in the nation because of his predecessor's leadership. "Thanks to Jim Tette we have an excellent program in place," he says.

Hoffmann came to Cornell in 1990 as an assistant professor. Before that he had been a researcher at the University of California, Davis; the University of California, Riverside; and the University of Arizona in Tucson. Hoffmann earned his bachelor's degree in ecosystems analysis from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, his master's degree in entomology from the University of Arizona, and his doctorate in entomology from the University of California, Davis. He has years of IPM experience in such commodities as cotton, pecans, avocados and several vegetable crops.

In 1993, Hoffmann authored with researcher Anne C. Frodsham "Natural Enemies of Vegetable Insect Pests," a handbook published by Cornell Cooperative Extension. He also wrote "Integrated Pest Management for Onions" in 1996 with Frodsham and Curtis H. Petzoldt, assistant director of the IPM program.