Meet the Staff
- Russ Craber, MBA, CSCS
- Chris Cable, BS, MSF
- Paul Zimmerman, BA, MA
- Matt Smith, BS
- Jeff Pernsteiner, BA
- Tony Sousa, BS
- Jens Jenson
- Travis Ulrich, BS, MS
- Cathy Kunkel
509.780.1659 | russ@sunpest.com
J. Johnson (College Place): "Thanks for going the extra mile and spraying all my trees and shrubs as well as my four fruit trees. That was very kind of you and I appreciate your good service”
M. Dello (Pullman): "I had been using another service, but [competitor] wasn't doing a good job, and kept coming back. Russ did it right the first time."
Anonymous (Clarkston): "Russ was the friendliest service provider we've ever had. He made me feel like I was his only customer. I would whole-heartedly recommend him to anyone for weed control."
Hi! I'm Russ Craber. As the owner of Sun Pest Management, I'm especially interested to hear all you have to tell me: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'm closing in on a decade of experience in pest control personally, and I frequently tap the knowledge of Marv Jackson, my predecessor, who has over 40 years of experience.
One thing I'm especially proud of is the breadth of knowledge of our staff. I believe we are the most over-qualified and degreed pest control company anywhere. Take a look at the staff's biographies and see if you can find more college degrees in any other pest control company. When it comes to handsome geeks, we take the cake.
You can call me at the shop at the numbers listed to the right, or you can try me on my mobile phone: 509.780.1659.
License Categories:
- Aquatic
- Aquatic Antifouling
- Agricultural Weed
- Fumigant
- Livestock
- Ornamental Insect and Disease
- Ornamental Weed
- PCO General
- PCO Structural
- Public Health
- Rights-of-Way Weed
- Seed Treatment
- Stored Grain
- Structural and Turf Demossing
- Structural Pest Inspector
- Wood Treatment
509.780.9321 | chris.cable@sunpest.com
K.Elizabeth Palmer (Clakston): "I live on a cul-de-sac of new manufactured homes in the Clarkston Heights...the general consensus [of homeowners here] is that most laborers and craftsmen alike fail to take any kind of pride in their work.
This is definitely NOT the case with Mr. Christopher Cable. I know I’ve written about Chris before, but after my neighbor’s sloppy, unprofessional set-up crew, foundation workers, and landscapers left me with problems that I will have to engage a lawyer and laborers to correct, it only magnifies the excellent, efficient, timely, friendly, and knowledgeable craftsman that Chris is. I always recommend Sun Pest, and specifically Chris, to all my neighbors and family.
Thank you again for the fine work of your employee Christopher Cable. I hope his company appreciated him as much as his customers do!”
Chris Cable has over 10 years of experience in pest control. That's over a decade. That's a lot! 
With a knack for problem-solving, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better diagnoser than he. Trees, shrubs, you name it. If there's a problem with a plant in your landscape, he can usually determine the cause.
With a degree in business management, he is well-educated and as customer-oriented as they come.
*Oh, and lest he should have too much free time with his 4 daughters, a keen interest in everything scientific, and an enviable library, he's also wrapping up a master's degree in finance.
He handles the Lewiston area, and is our chief diagnostitian.
License Categories:
- Agricultural Weed
- Aquatic
- Fumigant
- Interior Plantscaping
- Livestock
- Ornamental Insect and Disease
- Ornamental Weed
- PCO General
- PCO Structural
- Public Health
- Rights-of-Way Weed
- Seed Treatment
- Stored Grain
- Structural and Turf Demossing
- Structural Pest Inspector
- Wood Treatment
509.629.0624 | paul.zimmerman@sunpest.com
Paul & Donna K.: In addition to being extremely professional, your technician [Paul Zimmerman] was absolutely thorough everywhere he sprayed.The shrubs hardly had any spiders or mites the rest of the year! He definitely takes pride in what he does.
Anita M, Walla Walla: Sun Pest Management’s representative, Paul Zimmerman gave an estimate for vole, gopher, and insect control. He was professional and knowledgeable about the various critters, their habits, and potential damage and suggested strategies that would be the most effective for year-round management. I appreciated his thorough patient explanation about the strategy, traps, and chemicals that are used. Bugs & varmits don't stand a chance!
I'm impressed with your website and appreciate the critter and owner/tennant information. I appreciate and applaud Mr. Zimmerman's past military service. If he is a typical representative, it bodes well for your company's future.
Thorough, thorough, and thorough. Those are 3 things we consistently hear about the jobs that Paul does.
Paul Zimmerman has a B.A. in Anthropology. And an M.A. in Philosophy. That helps him not only learn more about the history of your problem, but also helps reassure you intellectually that you've made the right choice in Sun Pest Management. Paul is our Walla Walla region manager.
Some of his hobbies include currency trading, blogging, investing, and anything legal that generates revenue.
Whether you're in Walla Walla, Milton-Freewater, Pendleton, or all points around, he can get to your home faster than you can say (or spell) Nietzsche. Bug is dead.
License Categories:
- Ornamental Insect and Disease
- Ornamental Weed
- PCO General
- PCO Structural
- Structural Pest Inspector
Matt Smith has a degree in Communications from LCSC, and was the ASB president in 2008. Brains? Leadership? Matt has them both to spare. Yeah, but how's his geekiness? Off the charts.
He is our SE Washington route manager, and is killing all sorts of pests all over Asotin & Garfield counties.
He has made himself incredibly valuable to the company with his marketing ideas as well as his with his amazing welding/manufacturing skills.
Oh, and if you think you can keep up with Matt when he's working, think again. You'd have to travel at roughly the speed of a crazed dragonfly.
License Categories:
- Ornamental Insect and Disease
- Ornamental Weed
- PCO General
- PCO Structural
Jeff's degree in Biblical Science may serve him better in pest control than you think--just think of the pest problems in the Bible! Locusts, lice, flies, rodents, snakes, lions...Okay, we don't do lions, but Jeff can help you with the rest.
Jeff is one our utility players. We use him when he's available, between sermons. He's the head pastor at Community Church of Culdesac, is founding Confluence Community Church in Clarkston, and is raising 3 kids with his wife.
Now if he could just stand up, hold out his hand, and make the wind stop, we could spray all year long! He says it would be an "abuse of power," but I think he should do it anyway.
License Categories:
- General PCO
- Ornamental Insect & Disease
- Ornamental Weed
- Right of Way Weeds
509.552.0068 | tony.sousa@sunpest.com
Tony's BS in Kinesiology serves him in good stead here at Sun Pest, because it takes a fit person to crawl under, over, and around houses while pulling hose 
and chasing mice. Here are a few notes Tony gave about working here:
- I never would have thought this job could be so much fun
- I want to be able to man-handle any type of snake within a 500 mile radius of Pullman, WA
- I want to be the first one for Sun Pest to identify and capture a brown recluse then bring it back to the office as a trophy (even if the facts say they are not around the area, I will try to find one!)
- Hobbies: Spending time with my awesome bride, music, running/working out, mountain hiking.
- The more I learn about this job, the better it seems to get!
- I have never worked with a more professional, kind, humorous, and just stright out awsome group of guys
Jens is our rodent-man. You remember the last time you had a piece of bread, or a wrap? The reason there are no mouse droppings in it is due directly to Jens catching mice at nearly every grainery around. He makes his monthly visits to the grain bins of the Inland Northwest between classes at the University of Idaho.
He's work
ing on a degree in physics from the University of Idaho, and works for us in the summers and when he's not blogging about bosons or querying about quarks.
Sure he looks young, but he's guilty of more counts of rodenticide than most men twice his age.
509.758.5949 | travis.ulrich@sunpest.com
Travis is a recent addition to our team, and we're stoked that he joined us. While looking through his education experience, his degrees, and the speed at which he became licensed, something became appparent:
If we had designed a cyborg to work at Sun Pest, we would give him auto repair skills (for the trucks), at least a bachelor degree in entomology (Travis also has an M.S. in entomology), and give him the ability to pass tests quickly learn the job at lightning speed.
Oddly enough, Travis meets all those critera. Hmmm. I wonder if he's a new model of Cylon.- Lewiston Native
- Lewiston HS Grad: Emphasis on Science and Auto Technology
- B.S. and M.S. in Entomology (U of I) with emphasis on pests/predators in Turfgrass and Seed Production Fields
- Lots of experience with Insect and Spider taxonomy
- Forest Entomology
License Categories
- General PCO
- Structural Pest
- Right of Way
- Ornamental Insecticide
The voice you hear when you call Sun Pest Management, Cathy runs the office and keeps the techs busy. Got a question about your cockroach problem, your bed bug bites, or your spiders? Cathy hates them as much as you do.
Cathy has strong ties to the area and two daughters in college locally. Trying to manage them has given her crazy skills to manage the schedules for our team of geeks. Oh, and if you call after hours, and she answers the phone, tell her to hang up and let it go to voicemail...tell her to know when to quit working.
LC Valley | 509.758.5949
Pullman/Moscow | 509.332.5555
Walla Walla | 509.529.9150
Toll-Free | 800.422.4803
Text Us | 50955PEST1
- Is this stuff safe?
- Are you a landlord? Hand these out.
Bed bugs, termites, spiders, wasps, thistles, dandelions, and everything else that drives you crazy gets us excited!
We are proud to be the geeks of pest control--we aren't content to simply spray pesticides. We want to know what motivates the bugs, what keeps the weeds going, and all the best ways to stop them. You won't find bigger nerds in the industry. Rest assured we can provide the most up-to-date methods and chemical or chemical-free treatments available.