In 2010, The Citrus Research Board (CRB) established a task force to help tackle an invasive insect pest called Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a serious threat to the $3 billion California citrus industry. The pest, which is as small as a grain of rice, can infect backyard citrus trees (and potentially commercial orchards) with a bacteria that causes a serious plant disease called Huanglongbing, HLB, or citrus greening disease. There is no cure for this disease, which is always fatal to trees. Instead of relying solely on conventional pesticides to fight this insect pest, the CRB Joint Agency Biological Control Task Force developed a program, in 2010, to harness the use of natural predators as a means for managing the spread of ACP. The Task Force has imported from Pakistan, raised and released a parasitic wasp—Tamarixia radiata—that feeds on ACP. This biocontrol program was the first to successfully target and reduce ACP populations in urban areas and citrus orchards while replacing large-scale, pesticide-driven campaigns in sensitive urban sites. This multi-agency project has been successful in Imperial, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties among others. The award categories are for innovation and leadership. More information is available at http://citrusresearch.org/ or by contacting: Carolina Evangelo, Director of Communications Email: [email protected] Since the inception of the IPM Awards program in 1994, DPR has presented more than 100 IPM awards to honor California organizations that emphasize pest prevention, favor least-hazardous pest management, and share their successful strategies with others. website: https://bit.ly/2ugTTzY USED WITH PERMISSION