Getting Ready

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In 2006, I took a course in Ecology instructed by Dr. Jeremy McNeil and subsequently chemical ecology instructed by him the next year. In this course, we learned about the  interactions between plants and plants, plants and insects, and insects and insects using chemicals in the air. For example, we learned a plant could respond to an insect feeding on it by releasing chemicals that attract the herbivores predators, ultimately helping protect the plant. He provided examples of how such natural interactions between plants and insects had been used for very economic and sustainable pest management practices in regions where insecticidal or monetary resources were limited. His courses inspired me to pursue a career in entomology, specifically in the area of crop protection, and the ability to travel internationally to aid in crop protection is a wish come true.

In two days I fly to Guyana for the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer program. I will be spending two weeks there: most of the first week will be spent visiting the farms, getting to know them and plant protection challenges. Week two I will be on a workshop/training spree, providing programs every morning and afternoon on topics ranging from scouting/monitoring, recognizing pests, recognizing beneficial insects, how to prevent pest outbreaks, physical and mechanical controls, biological control, and chemical control.

Before traveling overseas, you always need to check what kinds of vaccines or shots you need to take. Our local “travel” nurse practitioner in Tyler TX followed the CDC guidelines for travel to Guyana. I must admit, the Typhoid pills were a bit unpleasant, especially since I did not anticipate the side-effects of twisting/turning stomach and subsequent increased frequency to the porcelain throne for a few days. Interesting fact: apparently the vaccine for yellow fever is in limited is temporarily depleted, apparently due to manufacturing delays from the only supplier. An alternate is available (Stamaril) if I had time to book an appointment in Dallas. So… I’ll be rolling the dice on that one! I started taking my Malaria pills yesterday (two days before travel) – hopefully that are no unpleasant surprises with that one.

Malaria actually describes a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells and transmitted by mosquitoes. Interestingly, the parasite alters the feeding behavior of mosquitoes in two distinct ways: larger blood meals and more blood meal hosts (Koella et al. 1998).  More specifically, they found that the mosquito takes larger blood meals when the parasite is in a stage in which the parasite can infect humans. When malaria infects humans, it can occupy both the blood (human blood cell stage) and the liver (human liver stage) (Medicines for Malaria Venture), sometimes remaining dormant in the liver for months or years before coming back in the blood and resurfacing symptoms. Speaking of symptoms, malaria infection can cause fever, chills, headache, nausea & vomiting, and muscle pain and fatigue (Mayo Clinic). In 2016 alone, it was estimated that 445,000 people died from malaria, most young children in sub-Sahara Africa (CDC: Malaria). One potential mechanism to reduce malaria is the use of transgenic mosquitoes – that is, mosquitoes that are genetically engineered to be unable to harbor the parasite, and thus, unable to vector it to humans. Marrelli and colleagues (2007) demonstrated that not only was their transgenic mosquito no longer able to vector malaria, but it actually had a fitness advantage compared to the wild mosquitoes – an important requirement if you’re going to replace all the wild mosquitoes with ones that don’t vector the virus (i.e. Gene Drive).

I finished packing and look forward to learning a lot on this trip, and hope to share what I learn, my experiences at the farms, and a bit about Guyana itself here – so stay tuned!

 

 

Greenhouse and Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop 2018 – Notes and Resources

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If speakers provided permission to provide PDFs of their presentations, they are found at the end of the notes associated with that section.

Speakers:

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2018 Greenhouse and Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop

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Greenhouse and Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop

When?

November 30th, 2018

Time: 8:30 am – 3:00 pm

Lunch is included.

Where?

Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center,
1710 N. FM 3053, Overton, TX
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Beneficial Insects and BioControl Presentation

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A recent presentation given for the Master Volunteers Entomology Specialty Training in College Station on September 12, 2018. Topics covered include basic introduction to integrated pest management, concepts in biological control, and several commercially available and naturally occurring biological control agents for managing common garden pests.

Download the PDF: Biological Control_MG_2018_handout

Movement of Invasives

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This article was published in TNLAGreen September/October (2018) Issue. The below contains the contents of the article and additional resources pertaining to each pest.

Page index: Emerald Ash Borer | Asian Citrus Pysllid | Asian Gypsy Moth | Cactus Moth | Redbay Ambrosia Beetle | Asian Longhorn Beetle | Read-Headed Flea Beetle

The same old annual pests, such as aphids, thrips, twospotted spider mites, and whiteflies, can be rather annoying and a constant uphill battle to manage. For the most part, however, we have a good handle of these pests and can maintain them below economic threshold levels. We run into trouble when an irregular pest, such as a quarantine international invasive pest or a pest from a neighboring state, show up on the operation. We can fail to identify the species, and as a result, fail to act quickly to keep the pest under check. In this article, we try to provide a list of some of the rising pests and how to recognize them.

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Dr. Francine Soares – Ext. Demonstration Technician

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Dr. Francine Soares joined the Six Legged Aggie Team near the end of May as an Extension Demonstration Technician. She is a true asset to the team as we continue to research solutions to common and upcoming pest problems impacting the greenhouse and nursery industry in Texas.

Francine Soares is a graduate of Santa Catarina State University (2006, Brazil) with a B.Sc. in Agronomy; she has a M.Sc in Genetic, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology of Plants from Agronomic Institute of Campinas (2009, Brazil) and Ph.D in Plant Genetic Resources from Federal University of Santa Catarina. She previously worked for 2 years as technical manager of in vitro micropropagation of banana plants at Flora Biotecnologia Company (Brazil) before she moved to USA. She has a strong research background in cell biology and physiology of plant development, biotechnology of plants, plant breeding and conservation of plants. During her Ph.D research she studied cellular and biochemistry parameters associated with development of somatic and zygotic embryos of Brazilian pine (Araucaria angustifolia) gymnosperm species native from Brazil.

Dr. Soares is very happy to be a part of our team and she is very excited to improve her knowledge in this new field as well as share her previous knowledge and experiences. In her free time Dr. Soares likes cooking and enjoys time with her family.

Dr. Soares will be assisting Erfan Vafaie as an Extension Demonstration Technician on the project of crapemyrtle bark scale, biological control of Bemisia tabaci in poinsenttia production, as well as assisting in projects to test the impact of new pesticides on plant health and insect management.

Notes from 2018 Ornamental & Turf CEU Meeting

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Below are some notes taken from some of the speakers at the 2018 Ornamental & Turf CEU Meeting held by Helena Chemical Company at the Rose Center, Tyler TX on June 26th. Disclaimer: the notes below do not represent endorsement, research, or vetting by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and the AgriLife IPM Program Specialist Program. Notes below as provided as is from the speakers who provided the information.

Full program, including sponsors, is attached at the end of this document.

Rotation Strategies in Turf & Ornamentals – Kathie Kalmowitz, BASF

Irrigation Pond Management – Clint Formby, SePro

Key Turfgrass Insect Pests – Gary Brooks, Bayer

Laws & Regulations Update – Don Renchie, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (additional links and resources included)

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Seville In-house Full-day Educational Program

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Mr. John Wilson arranged with the help of some sponsors a full day of green industry professionals to provide talks for their growers on June 15, 2018 in Mansfield TX. John was kind enough to invite me and allow me to share detailed notes from the meeting with other grower in the industry. Below are the notes provided as taken. Disclaimer: the notes below do not represent endorsement, research, or vetting by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and the AgriLife IPM Program Specialist Program. Notes below as provided as is from the speakers who provided the information.

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Master Gardener Entomology Training

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Most up-to-date half-day Master Gardener Entomology Training Handouts, 4 slides per page. A total of three different presentations. The PDFs are rather large (up to 35MB), so download may take a little while depending on download speed. Two of the presentations were rather large, so they have been split into two separate parts.

1_Intro_to_insects

2_Insect_Identification Part 1
2_Insect_Identification Part 2

3_IPM Part 1
3_IPM Part 2

Greenhouse & Nursery Regulatory Compliance Workshop 2017 – Notes and Resources

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Another year and another successful greenhouse and nursery workshop here in Overton. We had many great speakers and are very grateful for our sponsors. I have included some summaries and resources from some of our speakers down below. I have created links below that will direct you to information pertinent to each speaker below. In the case where the speaker has given consent to share their presentation, I have also included that too.

Dr. Shaadi Khademi, MD & Dr. Vanessa Casanova, PhD – Pesticides: Exposure, Health Effects, and Safety Education
UT Health Northeast

Mrs. Kathy (Katherine) Newton – How to Comply with WPS Revisions
Texas Department of Agriculture

TDA Compliance Resources

Dr. Steven Arthurs – Integrated Pest Management for Greenhouse and Nursery
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University

Mr. Daniel Cunningham – Water U Doing for Texas Horticulture?
Department of Horticulture, Texas A&M University


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