People
The North Central IPM Center is dedicated to helping you reach your integrated pest management (IPM) goals. With a strong focus on collaboration, our team works closely with IPM professionals and national partners to fulfill our mission of promoting IPM in the North Central region.
Feel free to reach out and we’ll be happy to help you connect with partners, resources and funding opportunities.
Center Staff
Laura Iles, Director
Dr. Iles directs the North Central IPM Center, overseeing the grant programs and working with regulatory agencies. She coordinates national pest alert publications, helps develop crop profiles and pest management plans, and represents the center to stakeholders.
Daren Mueller, Co-Director
Dr. Mueller, coordinator of the Iowa IPM program, serves as co-director of the North Central IPM Center. With a focus on field crop diseases, his research involves studying their biology and developing effective management strategies.
Damon Smith, Co-Director
Dr. Smith serves as a co-director for the Center. He will lead the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contributing expertise in modeling, data science, decision-support systems, and economic analysis.
Lynnae Jess, Co-Director & Working Group Liaison
Lynnae has been a key member of the North Central IPM Center since 2002. She serves as a liaison between the center and its working groups, advocating for its interests and fostering collaboration.
Jacque Pohl, Communications Specialist
Jacque specializes in communication and outreach, promoting IPM initiatives and distributing newsletters and pest alerts to inform stakeholders about national pest issues.
Kelsey Mueller, Research Administrator
Kelsey manages grant administration by coordinating grant programs, ensuring proper financial management, and handling post-award reporting.
Steering and Advisory Committees
The North Central IPM Center (NCIPMC) engages Steering and Advisory Committees to guide its priorities, strategies, and activities.
Together, these committees bring a wide range of expertise, knowledge, and stakeholder perspectives to support regional collaboration and strategic partnerships, identify emerging pest issues, inform regional pest management priorities, and strengthen integrated pest management (IPM) capacity across the 12-state North Central region.
Steering Committee
The NCIPMC Steering Committee serves as the Center’s primary strategic planning and oversight body. It provides guidance on NCIPMC priorities, resource allocation, evaluation activities, and long-term organizational direction.
The Steering Committee meets quarterly to review Center activities, provide strategic guidance, and support informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
Steering Committee members also review annual progress toward the Center’s goals, milestones, outcomes, and impacts, and advise on using evaluation findings to refine program activities, inform strategic planning, and strengthen the regional IPM network’s long-term effectiveness.
Overall, the work of the Steering Committee is central to shaping the Center’s vision for IPM in the North Central region.
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee provides input on regional pest management priorities, emerging pest issues, communication needs, workforce development opportunities, and strategic partnerships.
The Advisory Committee ensures robust regional representation across the entire agricultural spectrum, composed of Extension personnel, researchers, farmers and commodity board representatives, industry professionals, Federal partners and NGOs, and agricultural communications specialists.
Through an annual survey, regular communications, and opportunities for stakeholder input, Advisory Committee members help identify regional priorities, emerging issues, and future needs.
The Committee members’ input informs the Center’s priority-setting process, strategic planning, competitive funding programs, and other regional and inter-regional IPM activities. The Committee members’ feedback also helps the Center understand how well its priorities, programs, and resources respond to regional stakeholders’ needs.
To strengthen inter-regional coordination, the NCIPMC also collaborates with the Northeastern and Southern IPM Centers to conduct a shared annual Advisory Committee activity that includes a “State of IPM” session focused on emerging issues, future opportunities, and feedback that informs NCIPMC priorities and strategic planning.
Overall, the Advisory Committee plays an important role in facilitating two-way communication between the Center and regional stakeholders, helping ensure that stakeholder perspectives inform the Center’s priorities and activities.
Committee members contribute to this exchange by sharing relevant Center information with their stakeholder networks and bringing emerging pest management concerns, needs, and priorities to the Center’s attention.