INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) What is Integrated Pest Management? Suggestions for an Effective Program The IPM Program at the Peabody Image descriptions What is Integrated Pest Management? IPM is "a valid operational strategy for managing pest problems. IPM is an ecosystems approach to the control of pests. IPM for museums employs a variety of techniques to prevent and solve pest problems in an efficient and environmentally sound manner without compromising the safety of collections, museum staff or visitors." From the cover article by Wendy Claire Jessup in the May 1997 issue of AIC News (bimonthly publication of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works). Consult Conservation On-Line <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/pest/> for further information on IPM.
	Suggestions for an Effective Program 1. Develop good exterior building maintenance and appropriate landscaping. 2. Moderate the interior climate; reduce extremes, especially high relative humidity and temperatures. 3. Develop and maintain good interior housekeeping practices. 4. Develop and maintain appropriate food restrictions and food/trash removal practices. 5. Set up and maintain an insect monitoring program (for example, utilizing sticky traps and other monitoring techniques). 6. Inspect all incoming museum objects and paper materials for evidence of prior or current pest activity; inspect stored collections periodically for insect activity. 7. Isolate infested materials; consult necessary expertise. 8. Learn all you can about the pests affecting the museum or collections, and choose the most appropriate control method(s) for eradication.
	The IPM Program at the Peabody The current IPM program at the Peabody Museum was first introduced in 1987 with the expertise of the University's entomologist, Gary Alpert. The implementation of the insect monitoring component of the IPM program is a collaboration between an outside pest control firm who services the public areas, offices, and seminar spaces, and the Museum staff who monitor the museum's collections located in the work-processing areas, in storage rooms, and on display in exhibit cases.
	1. Insect Monitoring Trap ("sticky") with larval and adult stages of various insects. 2. Mould on a recently accessioned wool dress decorated with carved bone previously housed in a very humid environment. 3. Mould as viewed under magnification Click on images to see them larger. All material copyright © 1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College, all rights reserved Programs and Services | Preventative Conservation | Research and Treatment Departments | Peabody Museum http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/conservation/