Progress 04/01/24 to 03/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project is High school students Higher education students Youth Government officials Community stakeholders Pest management professionals Pesticide company owners How are they reached? Webinar Field Days Community Outreach Short course/Boot Camp Internship Summer Camps Changes/Problems: Urban entomology is not a well-understood or valued subjectwithin some communities, often being confused with pest control or seen as a "dirty" job rather than a scientific discipline. Cultural beliefs or taboos about insects can also deter interest. Minority groups are underrepresented in entomology and related STEM fields. A lack of visible role models could reduceinterest and confidence among youth from these communities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Mosquito ID training was offered to the undergraduate students as a Special Research Problem (ENY 4907) in Fall 2024. One undergraduate student completed the training. 2. Two undergraduate students are currently working on Mosquito ID. 3. The tour was organized to the Anastasia Island Mosquito Control District and Public Health Education Science Center, and Museum Tour. Ten students from FAMU visited and learned about mosquito management strategies. Quote from one of the students:"The Anastasia Mosquito Control tour was an incredibly informative and engaging experience. It offered valuable insight into mosquito control operations, covering key aspects such as drone technology, rearing methods, insecticide applications, and more. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about career and internship opportunities for those interested in pursuing a future in mosquito control. Overall, the tour was well-organized and highly enriching, making it a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in engineering, mosquito management, or urban entomology."--Jacquez Daniels, masters student, FAMU 4. FAMU Entomology students volunteered at Entomology Field Day, Nov 6-7, 2024. This event provided opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to meet and establish contacts with people in the pesticide industry. 5. One student (Beatrice Obungu) from Entomology, FAMU attended PestWorld annual conference (Oct 2024) as anintern, sponsored by PestWorld. 6. PI, Anamika Sharma, is participating in the steering committee of FAMU Developmental Research School (located at 400 W Orange Ave, Tallahassee, FL 32307; initiated on September 16, 2024). The first meeting will be on November 13. The focus will be on improvement and collaboration to enhance the educational experience for all students. I plan to build a sustainable relationship with FAMU-DRS by adding VBD material to their curriculum to build a dual enrollment course, potentially. 7. Entomology Open House was organized at the FAMU campus, Tallahassee, Florida on March 28, 2025. Leon County members spoke about mosquito management. HomePest Defense team showcased their products for mosquito management. Dr. Anamika Sharma and her students demonstrated mosquito traps along with termite and stored product pest trapping. 8. PI, Anamika Sharma is working on certification that could be offered to the undergraduate and graduate students after going through a rigorous training to identify and monitor urban arthropods pests and can be offered after completing 2-3 weeks training and passing the exam. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?PI, Anamika Sharma, has spoken at various venues about the utilization of IPM strategies in the Urban landscape for urban arthropods. Organized the annual Entomology Field Day event at FAMU. The 48th Annual Field Day was held Nov 6-7, 2024, with 100 registered pest control specialists, another 10 invited guest speakers, and other assistants and students. The course provides recertification credits to professional pest control operators in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina. Sharma, A., 2024. IPM for urban landscape and agriculture, National Conference in Urban Entomology, May 19-22, on May 21, 2024, in Mobile, Alabama. Sharma A., 2024. IPM for urban landscape and agriculturePresented in ARD Research Symposium 2024 on April 9, 2024 (April 6--9, 2024), Atlanta, GA. Invited to present a seminar at Nebraska on March 8, 2024, on biological control and IPM. Presentations to disseminate information among pesticide management professionals Sharma, A., 2024, IPM for urban landscape. Northwest FL Pest Management Conference, FAMU, and UF collaboration) on February 13, 2024, in Niceville, FL. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I plan to continue training the graduate and undergraduate students and disseminating information to the pest management professionals. Will focus on the involvement of more undergraduate students. Create more instructional videos Master's student will be graduating in Fall 2025, a scientific publication will be produced from the thesis work
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Increase in the number of students recruited to engage with the urban insect pest management industry and work on the identification, monitoring, and IPM strategies for urban insect pests. Currently, 4 masters students are working on Urban Arthropods. A master's student was recruited in Spring 2024 with a focused objective to evaluate the efficacy of traps for Urban Arthropods. The student is currently working on his thesis and should be completing his thesis in Fall 2025. The student is working on "Evaluation of Efficacy of IPM Traps for Urban Arthropod Pests (Mosquitoes), in North Florida". One undergraduate student completed a Vector Internship (ENY 4907)special research problem in Mosquito ID and Trapping. Two undergraduate students are getting trained on Mosquito ID and Trapping. The tour was organized to the Anastasia Island Mosquito Control District and Public Health Education Science Center, and Museum Tour. Ten students from FAMU visited and learned about mosquito management strategies. 2. Establish survey and experiment-based projects to evaluate the registered IPM traps for the urban insect pests. A master's student was recruited in Spring 2024. The student is currently working on his thesis and should be completing his thesis in Fall 2025. The student is working on "Evaluation of Efficacy of IPM Traps for Urban Arthropod Pests (Mosquitoes), in North Florida". The project includes following objectives: Select the most effective traps based on the Literature Test the efficacy of the traps selected A light trap, water trap (ovi trap), pheromone trap, and Carbon di oxide trap are selected and are tested at 4 different locations from April 2025- September 2025. 3. Develop online resources on the assembling and establishment of IPM traps for urban insect pests. Alate Termite trap video: https://youtu.be/Y1R_XOU1g5o; PI Anamika Sharma, with students, participated in an event organized for the online 4-H students (Insect Investigators (Streaming Science))https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ2CLY9QRhc&t=588s 4. Develop modeling and cost-benefit analysis for the number and location of IPM traps to improve their efficiency. A master's student was recruited in Spring 2024. The student is currently working on his thesis and should be completing his thesis in Fall 2025. The student is working on "Evaluation of Efficacy of IPM Traps for Urban Arthropod Pests (Mosquitoes), in North Florida". The project includes the following objectives:Systematic review of IPM traps for Mosquitoes: Meta-analysis modelling-based systematic review. 5.Creation of incentives leading to the knowledge of IPM strategies for urban insect pests. PI, Anamika Sharma, has spoken at various venues about the utilization of IPM strategies in the Urban landscape for urban arthropods. Sharma, A., 2024. IPM for urban landscape and agriculture, National Conference in Urban Entomology, May 19-22, on May 21, 2024, in Mobile, Alabama. Sharma A., 2024. IPM for urban landscape and agriculturePresented in ARD Research Symposium 2024 on April 9, 2024 (April 6--9, 2024), Atlanta, GA. Invited to present a seminar at Nebraska on March 8, 2024, on biological control and IPM. Presentations to disseminate information among pesticide management professionals Sharma, A., 2024, IPM for urban landscape. Northwest FL Pest Management Conference, FAMU, and UF collaboration) on February 13, 2024, in Niceville, FL.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Muniappan R, Ba M, Sharma A (corresponding author) and Hendery S. 2024. Editorial: Integrated Pest Management of tropical crops. Front. Agron. 6:1407495
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