Description
This course will provide an overview related to the management of a commercial beekeeping operation. This course will provide an overview of the ways to generate
revenue in beekeeping, the steps of creating an effective business plan and many of the rules and regulations of which beekeepers should be aware.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
- Compare the types of beekeeping operations and the different ways to generate revenue in
beekeeping. - Create a business plan according to the goals, revenue streams and interests of the beekeeper.
- Identify the federal and state requirements associated with operating a beekeeping business.
- Summarize the steps of hiring and managing employees.
- Describe the transportation requirements of hauling honey bee colonies and the considerations
for commercial pollination services.
Description
Learners uniquely explore dynamic plant health regulatory issues through lectures, reading materials, engaging assignments, one substantial written assignment, and two course exams. By the conclusion of the course, students will be more familiar with policies and procedures related to plant health regulation, key case study examples, and learners will have specifically developed their own pest risk assessment. This course will also assist students in critical scientific thinking and the pursuit of career opportunities related to plant pest regulation.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the importance of plant health, international trade, and plant pest regulation.
- Explore invasive species issues related to plant health from a Florida, U.S., and international perspective.
- Synthesize and relate plant pest regulatory concepts to real-world case studies.
- Apply plant pest regulatory terminology to scenarios.
- Apply terminology to problem-solving, pest risk assessment, and the development of a survey and a response plan.
Description
This course examines the basic and applied concepts of biological control. This includes an overview of the diversity and biology of biological control agents, current philosophies, strategies, and tactics of classical, augmentation and conservation biological control. Specific cases of applied biological control are studied. Methods for monitoring and evaluating natural enemies are studied, and Federal laws, and public education are addressed. Narrated slide presentations and readings provide information for weekly discussions. An independent project on a topic directly related to biological control and a class project on biological control are key elements of the course.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
In this course, students will learn:
- Definitions of biological control.
- History of biological control.
- Diversity and biology of natural enemies
- Applied biological control strategies: classical, augmentation, and conservation.
- Natural enemy monitoring and evaluation.
- Federal laws affecting biological control.
- Current issues in biological control
Description
This course provides intensive and in-depth lecture and hands-on training focused on the identification of adult and larval mosquitoes as well as a review of current and historical mosquito taxonomy and biology topics.
Prerequisites
Students should have basic knowledge of insect morphology, experience and familiarity with stereo and compound microscopes and the use of taxonomic identification keys are highly desirable.
Course Format
In-Person
Course Goals
- Use mosquito taxonomic keys to identify adult female and larval mosquitoes.
- Recognize morphological features used to identify adult female and larval mosquitoes.
- Identify and recognize mosquito genera and a minimum of 50 species that occur in North America.
- Synthesize information on mosquito biology and taxonomy through an in-depth writing assignment.
Description
The course will cover the principles and practices used in insect pest and vector management and will also emphasize the arthropod pests affecting crops and ornamental plants, humans and livestock. Students will explore content using narrated PowerPoint presentations and assigned readings.
Prerequisites
- An introductory course in entomology.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
After completing this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the philosophy of integrated pest management.
- Evaluate the ecological and economic basis for the attainment of pest status.
- Assess the management approaches available to pest managers, including the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Formulate the most appropriate pest management tactic for each pest situation.
Description
This course will provide an in-depth look into the fascinating world of honey bee biology. We will explore topics including honey bee sociality, taxonomy, biogeography, behavior, anatomy, physiology, reproduction, nutrition and genetics. Additionally, these topics will be discussed via the paradigm of the honey bee superorganism.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
- Compare the life-history strategies of different honey bee species and contrast the different traits of honey bee subspecies.
- Differentiate between the techniques used to discriminate honey bee subspecies and discuss how they could be used more broadly in apiculture.
- Describe the different tasks of honey bee workers and distinguish how these might change depending on conditions within the colony.
- Organize the different vectors of influence that affect honey bee social behavior based on their level of influence.
- Identify the different structures of the honey bee anatomy and discuss how these function together as physiological systems.
- Critique the concept of the honey bee superorganism and argue whether or not honey bees fit this paradigm.
- Interpret the findings from recent honey bee biology research publications and discuss the relevance they have in other scientific disciplines.
- Summarize how feedbacks between nutrition and pathogens can possibly create a stress cycle that negatively impacts honey bee health
- Explain the implications that a particular pest and/or pathogen might have on honey bee behaviors.
- Create extension documents that will teach honey bee biology to non-scientific audiences.
Description
This course will provide more depth on topics introduced in Apiculture I including beekeeping styles, colony stressors and yearly management. This course will also explore issues affecting the beekeeping industry including integrated pest management, pests/diseases, African bees, commercial pollination, queen production, bee removals and pesticides.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
- Compare abiotic and biotic stressors of honey bee colonies and describe how to mitigate these issues.
- Create a management plan applying the principles of integrated pest management to control honey bee pests and diseases.
- Recognize the nest conditions that promote the establishment of pests and diseases and their associated symptoms.
- Identify the many ways in which commercial beekeepers can make a profit and what is required to be successful for each commodity.
- Interpret the findings from various pesticide research publications and discuss the implications they may have on honey bee colonies.
- Produce a video that will teach correct beekeeping best management practices to non-technical audiences.
Description
This course will examine interactions between animals and the plants that they pollinate, current threats to pollinator populations and the conservation of pollinators worldwide. We will explore these topics through readings, discussion, outdoor observations, and a research proposal.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
- Describe the role of pollinators in both natural and agricultural systems, and the breadth of animal pollinator taxa.
- Explain basic concepts of pollination ecology and relate these concepts to observable phenomena in nature.
- Diagnose factors affecting pollinator populations today, and assess the consequences of pollinator declines for biodiversity and global food production.
- Analyze, interpret and critique scientific literature.
- Develop a research proposal.
- Communicate science in written and oral formats.
Description
Principles of Pesticides will provide opportunities for students to gain a basic knowledge of pesticides and their use. The course is not designed for students to memorize chemical structures, but to gain a practical working knowledge of all types of pesticides used primarily in agricultural and horticultural settings. Emphasis will be placed upon major classes of agricultural pesticides used on commodities grown in Florida. Students are expected to be able to associate common names of pesticide active ingredients with chemical families, modes of action, and use patterns.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
To have a thorough knowledge of the history of pest management, particularly the specific role pesticides have served in the development of management strategies.
- To have a knowledge of pesticide families and be able to differentiate among families based on their specific modes of activity.
- To evaluate specific pest scenarios caused by arthropods, nematodes, pathogens and weeds in order to develop appropriate pesticide management strategies.
- To be knowledgeable of the laws and regulations governing the proper use of pesticides.
- To obtain a working knowledge of the equipment used to apply pesticides and to understand the factors involved in calibrating application equipment for pesticide applications and be able to make accurate calculations for these purposes.
- To understand the potential hazards to humans, wildlife, and the environment by the use of pesticides.
Description
Insects and other arthropods play critical roles in the environment. In this course, we will focus on the role of arthropods as vectors of disease and learn how to identify to the species level the major arthropod vectors of human diseases.
Prerequisites
- No specific coursework is required, but students should have a good general knowledge of biology and basic entomology from undergraduate work.
Course Format
Online
Course Goals
- Define a vector and compare/contrast the different types of disease transmission.
- Discuss insects’ external and internal structures that are essential for arthropod identification.
- Identify the major arthropods the family, genus, and/or species level that transmit pathogens, causing disease in humans.
- Employ databases to find relevant journal articles related to insects and vector-borne diseases.
- Judge and critique scientific literature related to insects and human health.
- Create, judge and critique PowerPoint presentations on insect-vectored diseases.
- Create an arthropod surveillance tool targeting mosquitoes and ticks.
- Conduct a surveillance study during the course of the semester.
- Use Excel to compile data from the surveillance study.
- Report and assess surveillance data using iNaturalist.
- Create a short scientific report on the diversity of mosquitoes or ticks in the student’s geographic area.
- Design a PowerPoint presentation which discusses the scope and result obtained during the study
