Building Roads and Bridges for Integrated Pest Management in Florida: A Tribute to Madeline and Charles Mellinger of Glades Crop Care

Abstract

linger in recognition of their extraordinary accomplishments in pioneering integrated pest management (IPM) in Florida agriculture. The Mellingers are owners of Glades Crop Care, so named because of its proximity to the Everglades. Established in 1972 and headquartered in Jupiter, Glades Crop Care was the first privately owned crop scouting and consulting firm in Florida. Due to the Mellingers' expertise and determination, Glades Crop Care has become the largest independent crop consulting firm in the southeastern United States, overseeing more than 60,000 acres of high value specialty crops. Glades Crop Care promotes IPM and sustainable agriculture to help Florida growers produce crops profitably with minimal risk to human health and the environment. In recognition of their pioneering pest management programs, the Mellingers have received several prestigious awards, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USD A) Award of Merit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Champ Award, Florida State Horticultural Society President's Award for Industry, and most recently the First IPM Achievement Award from the National IPM Symposium. Madeline Mellinger grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia, where her father was a professor of chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech). Her entomology experience began when she worked with Dr. Mary Ross at Virginia Tech dissecting cockroaches and staining microscope slides for genetic research. Her promise was evident early, as she won the Junior Science Award at Virginia Tech the same year that her father coincidentally received the Senior Science Award at the Virginia Academy of Sciences. Most of her college coursework was at Virginia Tech in biology, and she also spent a summer at the University of Virginia's Mountain Lake Biology Station. She described the place as Spartan, requiring a television to be brought in to watch the moon landing. Madeline studied entomology at the University of Georgia and subsequently graduated summa cum laude from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. After graduating, she worked as a junior entomologist at an analytical pre-harvest laboratory, J&W Agro-eco Labs. This company became bankrupt but fortunately Madeline was asked by 6 celery and sweet corn growers in Belle Glade to continue the service. She accepted their request and established Glades Corp Care. As Madeline's stature grew, she served as an advisor to the U.S. Congress, National Academy of Sciences, EPA, and Cooperative Extension Service at several universities. She has been appointed by 3 consecutive U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture to the National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Committee and was the chairman from 1995 to 1997. She also was