ENT5211 - Insect Pest Management Online, Fall Semester 2008: 3 cr.  Our intent is that this course will be delivered online.  Prerecorded lectures will be available online and available for purchase as DVDs.  A weekly, online, interactive discussion section for enrolled students will be scheduled once a week from the first week of September to mid-December. Watch this this page in spring 2008 for further details.  Instructors: Edward B. Radcliffe and William D. Hutchison. If you have comments or questions relative to this course or the materials posted on this site, send us an e-mail message. View class syllabus for Fall Semester 2008.

Course Description: In ENT 5211, we examine the philosophy and implementation of insect pest management, an essential component of most Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Sustainable Agriculture systems. Insect pest management can be defined as the practice of preventing or suppressing damaging populations of insect pests by application of the comprehensive and coordinated integration of multiple control tactics. The tactics are the various control methodologies, e.g., biological, chemical, cultural. The strategies are the planned manipulations undertaken to optimize the dynamic integration of control methodologies in the context of their economic, environmental and social consequences. The philosophy is holistic, but deeply rooted in applied ecology. In this course, we survey various control tactics and consider strategies for optimizing their integration into insect pest management programs. Our primary emphasis is on the management of insect pests of agricultural crops.

Text: Chapters from an in preparation Cambridge University Press IPM textbook, to be edited by Edward B. Radcliffe, William D. Hutchison and Rafael E Cancelado  (publication anticipated in 2008) and Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook and other IPM resources on the WWW will serve as the textbooks  for this course.  Enrolled students will be expected to participate in the weekly, online discussion group.

Intended Audience: Upper division undergraduates and graduate students, and agricultural professionals with an interest in crop protection. Both majors and non-majors are welcome.

Class time: This course is only taught on-line.  Enrolled students will be expected to participate in the weekly, online discussion group.

Workload: Approximately 20 pages of assigned reading per week (3-4 h per wk). Prior to each meeting of the discussion, participants will be expected to have familiarity with the week's reading assignments.

Weekly Assignments: Most weeks there will be open-book, problem solving assignments (estimated 1-2 h per wk). Problems requiring essay responses are to answered in 500 words or less. 

Term Paper: Students will critically review some aspect of IPM implementation, e.g., IPM for a commodity or key pest(s).  Reviews should be approximately 3000 words of text plus a reasonably extensive bibliography.  Students may choose to write their reviews of subjects in which they have a personal interest, but should consult with the instructor in advance to assure that the proposed subject and scope will satisfy course requirements.  

 

Final Exam:  There will be no final examination in this class.  The entire grade will be based on written assignments ("quizzes") and the term paper.

Grading: In total 14 "weekly" assignments ("quizzes") will be given, each will be graded on a 1-5 scale, the 12 highest scores will contribute 67% to  the final grade.  There will be loss of a letter grade for answers to assignments not returned for grading within two weeks of assignment. The term paper ("review") will contribute 33% of the final grade.  For a more detailed explanation of scoring see 2008 Grading Standards.

Key References: 1) Anticipated Cambridge University Press IPM textbook (in prpearation), editors Edward B. Radcliffe, William D. Hutchison & Rafael E. Cancelado, 2) Radcliffe's IPM Textbook and other pages on the WWW. Recommended printed references include:

Dent, D. (2000), Insect Pest Management, C.A.B. International.

Metcalf, R. L. and W. H. Luckmann [eds.] (1994), Introduction to Insect Pest Management, 3rd edition, Wiley-Interscience.

Pedigo, L. P. (1996), Entomology and Pest Management, 2nd Edition, Prentice-Hall.