Posted on August 31, 2016 by southernipmcenter
Aquatic Vegetation Management will be the topic of a Sept. 1 natural resources webinar conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service ecosystem science and management unit.
The webinar is a part of the Texas Range Webinar Series scheduled the first Thursday of each month, said Pete Flores, AgriLife Extension webinar coordinator in Corpus Christi. The webinar will be from noon to 1 p.m. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: aquatic weeds, integrated pest management, Texas AgriLife, webinars, weed control | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 31, 2016 by southernipmcenter
The United States Department of Agriculture and Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS) are looking for two PhD students to help run and grow the Invasive Mosquito Project (www.citizenscience.us). The Invasive Mosquito Project (IMP) is a partnered citizen science project that pairs schools with local professionals to teach about scientific research and recruit the next generation of STEM students while conducting mosquito surveillance and public health education. The project is summarized well by this ABC national news report (http://www.wcvb.com/politics/usda-launches-nationwide-project-to-track-invasive-mosquitoes/39871684). Continue reading →
Filed under: employment | Tagged: APHIS, graduate student opportunities, Invasive mosquito project, Kansas State University, usda aphis, Zika | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 31, 2016 by southernipmcenter
These days, we can’t turn to TV, radio, or social media without hearing alarming stories of Zika virus. Mosquito-borne diseases have been responsible for much suffering throughout human history. Today, the diseases they transmit in the United States and its territories, including Zika virus, Dengue, chikungunya virus, and several forms of encephalitis, are continuing threats.
Join us as we learn about the mosquitoes that are of concern to schools and the interim guidance the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers for district and school administrators to help schools keep their students, faculty and staff safe from Zika virus. Also hear firsthand the steps a school district in Florida is taking to reduce mosquito populations in an effort to prevent mosquito-borne illness. Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: CDC, Centers for Disease Control, EPA, mosquitoes, School IPM, Zika | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 31, 2016 by southernipmcenter
Posted on August 31, 2016 by southernipmcenter
Three years of funding is available for a PhD student to study forest responses and vulnerability to climate change and natural disturbances (wildfires and bark beetles) as part of an interdisciplinary NSF-funded project in the Pacific Northwest. The overarching goal of this integrated ecological and socioeconomic project is to support policy and other decision-making processes at the local, regional, and national scales to reduce the risk of wildfire becoming a disaster and increase community and ecological adaptive capacities. Specific objectives include incorporating a model of bark beetle outbreaks into ecohydrology models, determining responses to climate change and management actions, assessing interactions with wildfires, and quantifying impacts to water, carbon, and other ecosystem processes and services. Desirable qualifications include quantitative skills, familiarity with ecosystem modeling and computer programming, excellent written and oral communication skills, and a research-based MS thesis. Students have the opportunity to receive a degree in either Geography (www.uidaho.edu/geography) or Environmental Science (www.uidaho.edu/envs). Outstanding applicants for an MS degree will be considered. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV, GPA, GRE scores, and a statement of interest (all materials) to Dr. Jeffrey Hicke (jhicke@uidaho.edu). Inquiries via email or phone (208-885-6240) are welcome.
Filed under: employment | Tagged: bark beetles, graduate student opportunities, University of idaho | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 30, 2016 by southernipmcenter
Come see cover cropping in action! No-till vegetable production, which uses a cover crop mulch to suppress weed growth during the vegetable growing season, offers a more sustainable approach to weed management than the frequent use of herbicides and tillage. This is an especially valuable tool for organic farmers who do not use synthetic herbicides and therefore must rely on frequent cultivation and tillage for weed control. In this workshop the focus will be on summer or warm-season cover crops for use in no-till production of fall vegetables. Participants will learn about selecting and managing cover crops for no-till vegetable production. They will also have an opportunity to view different summer cover crops in research plots at Clemson’s Coastal Research & Education Center Farm, and see termination of cover crops using a roll-crimper attachment. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: Clemson University, cover crops, sustainable agriculture | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 30, 2016 by southernipmcenter
by Mick Kulikowski
In the first large-scale and comprehensive study on the impacts of transporting honey bees to pollinate various crops, research from North Carolina State University shows that travel can adversely affect bee health and lifespan. Some of these negative impacts may be reduced by moving bee colonies into patches with readily available food or by providing supplemental nutrition when there are few flowers for honey bees to visit, the researchers say.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are among the country’s most important agricultural pollinators. They are frequently trucked around the United States – in short and long distances – to pollinate crops like apples, almonds and berries. But the impact of that travel remains unclear and ripe for study, says Hongmei Li-Byarlay, a National Research Council senior research associate in NC State’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and co-first author of a paper describing the research, which aimed to be the first to directly measure stress in these types of colonies. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: bee health, david tarpy, honey bees, migrating bees, pollinator protection | Leave a comment »
