This collaboration occurs through a program formally titled “NEERA-1604”.  NEERA stands for “Northeast Education/Extension and Research Activities”, which administers NEERA-1604, titled the  “Northeast Region Technical Committee on IPM” (hereafter referred to as “NEERA”.  The name for this collaborative effort has changed over the years.  From 2011-2016 it was called NEERA-1004.  From 1996-2011 it was called NEREAP-IPM (Northeast Research, Extension and Academic Program Committee for IPM.  And prior to 1996 it was called NREC-IPM.

The IPM coordinators in the Northeast began meeting as a group informally in the 1980s. As the value of meeting, exchanging information and planning collaborations increased, the informal meetings grew to include representatives from other agencies (e.g., EPA, Federal USDA IPM leadership, state departments of agriculture) and other programs (e.g., SARE). With the establishment of the Regional IPM Centers in 2002, NEERA added responsibility for advising the Northeastern IPM Center.