IPM GIS Mapping: A Tale of Rats and Maps

NEHA 2014 AEC ConventionLas Vegas, NevadaJuly 10th, 2014

Joshua D. Witt, REHSEnvironmental Health Program ManagerUCLA Office of Environment, Health & Safety

www.ehs.ucla.edu

UCLA

Founded

StudentsFaculty & Academic StaffStaff PersonnelTotal Campus PopulationAcresPeople/AcreNumber of UC CampusesUCLA Population Density

1919

41,341

10,875

31,262

83,478

419

199.2

10

#1

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This rodent found a home

Our assumptions

• UCLA will always have a baseline population of rodents due to the following factors:

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Bait station analysis

• Sections include:– Building name– Bait station

number– Location– Status/condition

• Media– Pictures–Map of station

status

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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

50

100

150

200

Nu

mb

er

of

Rod

en

t R

ep

ort

sNumber of rodent reports

-67%

Average 2009-2013: 59.6

2008: 181

Year

What is a bait station?

OpenClosed

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In short:

• Where should we reallocate our rodent bait stations and focus our IPM energy to prevent rodent infestations?

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Why we want to limit rodent bait stations

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What does GIS mean to us?• Our working definition is: Addressing a complex

problem using intersecting information to create solutions

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Why should we visualize our data?

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What are our overarching goals?• Optimize our bait station placement to

reduce unnecessary rodenticide

• Demonstrate the viability and usefulness of the GIS project to:– Improve campus Integrated Pest

Management– Increase stakeholder focus and cooperation– Advocate for situation-appropriate resources

• Visualize• Question• Analyze• Interpret

What is GIS?

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How did we do it?

• Program used: ESRI ArcGIS version 10.1– To be compatible with UCLA GIS-users

–Why is that important?• We need their data and…

UCLA Interactive Map: What Could Be

Which buildings are serviced by EH&S?

• 116/265 buildings (~44%)

• We do not service medical center or housing business units

Trash Cans

• # of trash cans: 616

• Trash cans are not rodent proof

Age of Building

• Demarcated by 10 year increments

• Shows susceptibility to rodent penetration

• Oldest currently existing building built in 1921

Food Facilities

• Areas where the campus community consumes food outdoors

• 53 locations

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Dining Areas

10dining areas

Rodent Harborage: Algerian Ivy

• 11 ivy patches

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Loading Docks

35loading docks

15are

conducive to pests

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Vending Machines

49 vending

machines

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Given all of that…

• Where do you think the rodent complaints would be?

Yearly rodent incident reports:2008-2013

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5 year collection of rodent incident reports: 2008-2013

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Bait Stations

269bait

stations

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Solution: Suitability Model• A model that weights locations relative

to each other based on given criteria

• Suitability models might aid in finding a favorable location for a new facility, road, or habitat for a species of bird

• Basically, suitability models “put it all together”

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Suitability Model: How we weighted our factors

1. Rodent Report Locations: 30%2. Trash Cans: 20%3. Building Age: 10%4. Food (facilities + dining areas):

10%5. Ivy: 10%6. Loading Docks: 10%7. Vending Machines: 10%

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Suitability Model Map

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Credits

• Credit for project management and creating the GIS maps goes to Alan Chen, MPH and Airalee E. Rivera

• Special thanks to Jennie Wung, REHS

Thank you!