2024 Neonics Conference
‘Neonics: The New DDT—What You Need to Know About the Pesticides Harming Connecticut’s Birds, Bees, Wildlife and People’ was organized by Pollinator Pathway, Rivers Alliance, and the Connecticut Audubon Society, under the auspices of the Connecticut Coalition for Pesticide Reform (shortened to Connecticut Pesticide Reform or CPR).
The conference was aimed at educating environmental advocates, state residents, and government officials to join forces to reduce the use of the neonicotinoids (neonics) in Connecticut by passing a bill strictly regulating them.
In Connecticut, neonics are most used on residential and golf course lawns, by certified landscape professionals and on non-organic coated corn seed. Connecticut has roughly 300,000 acres of turf grass and 24,000 acres of corn.
Watch video of the conference below. List of speakers after.
Welcome to CT Coalition for Pesticide Reform’s Neonics Conference
Joyce Leitz, Executive Director, The Connecticut Audubon
Neonics and Birds: A Match Made in Hell
E. Hardy Kern III, Director of Government Relations, Pesticides and Birds Campaign for American Bird Conservancy
An Overview of Neonics and Associated Problems Including Ecosystems and Natural Solutions
John Tooker, Professor & Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology at The Pennsylvania State University
Reduction of Neonics: the Québec Experience
Louis Robert, Agronomist and grain crop specialist for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries of the Province of Québec for 35 years
The Toxic Truth: Emerging Science Linking Neonics to Human Health Harms
Kathleen Nolan, MD, MSL, Pediatrician, President of the Physicians for Social Responsibility NY Chapter
Policy Solutions: State Action to Curb Overuse of Neonics
Ann Gadwah, Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator, Sierra Club Connecticut
Panel: Water Contamination, Declines in Biodiversity & Where to Go from Here
Karen Beaulieu, US Geological Survey; Richard Harris, founder of Harbor Watch; Victor DeMasi, lepidopterist and affiliate of the Yale Peabody Museum; Dina Brewster, owner of The Hickories organic farm in Ridgefield, CT, former CT NOFA director; and Burton DeMarche, LIC LEED AP, president of LaurelRock Landscaping.