(prepared from the videotaped presentation*)
We should think about these two fundamental questions in regard to teaching biological control:
The first question begs the more focused question of what is the scope of biological control in which our students should be educated? This is a question we have wrestled with in this conference. What are the tactics, what are the systems, what are the social and political arenas in which our students will work on biological control?
Tactics: The use of natural enemies is a tactic everyone seems to agree is part of biological control, but is host plant resistance? Are engineered organisms biological control? What about semiochemicals? Where do the terms biological and biologically based control part ways? Traditional views of biological control in which only natural enemies are used may limit our ability as a community to alter pest protection practices. On the other hand are we substituting non-sustainable 'biological control agents' such as Bacillus thuringiensis in plants for non-sustainable synthetic pesticides? What do we lose as a community if we include other biologically based tactics? What are the funding opportunities and liabilities if we broaden the scope of organisms or products for biological control? These are fundamental questions which should be addressed in training students in biological control. As we have seen in this conference, biological control is beginning to include more and more of these diverse tactics. What is the message we want to convey to our students? Is there a single message we have?
How discipline-oriented should our training be? Should those who study biological control of insects also study biological control of weeds and diseases? How much specialty is needed in our training?
Systems: We tend to think of agricultural settings, but as Bernd Blossey has shown us, we also have natural settings such as wetlands and parks. The interiorscape, a term which is becoming more widely known as we devote more of our living and working spaces to plants, has tremendous potential for biological control because of its confined spaces and human contact. Greenhouse agriculture is growing at tremendous leaps and bounds and it has been a strong implementor of biological control. Witness the greenhouse and vegetable industry in Holland.
Social and political aspects: Policy making, the ethics of how to select organisms, the consequences of selecting the wrong organisms, the issues of communication and education to the users--this conference has made it clear that the development and implementation of biological control depends not only on technological advances but on social and political aspects as well. The regulatory and political aspects will likely affect biological controlŐs implementation as much as technical advances. Therefore, our students need to be exposed to these non-technical aspects of biological control so that they can effectively operate in their field.
What are the components of training for biological control here at Cornell? Both in classroom and associated laboratories there are components of training, but the main training of our students seems to be from research projects students have developed as graduates and undergraduates. For research projects, students have advisors who hopefully guide them, but the research projects are generally so focused to obtain the breadth the student may need later. Will such training in a particular aspect of biological control address their future needs in positions in research, teaching, and extension? Do we have any programs to train people in extension of biological control?
What are the opportunities in biological control? We train many people for academic areas, although the jobs are getting scarcer. Who are the target audiences that we would like to train our students for? In government, positions at USDA/ARS, will continue to be lost for the foreseeable future. There are federal and state agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management which may be able to incorporate some of our students into biological control. Industry is a growing area that is encompassing biological control. Although biological control products constitute a small percentage of overall sales, industry predicts tremendous growth. Certainly, this is the result of a global environmental movement that seems to continue. But how many people can industry absorb, especially with what seems to be frequent mergers and consequent downsizing of companies and their R&D? What niche can smaller 'cottage' industries play in the development of biological control and how will they, as well as larger companies, be regulated, if at all, for the quality of their products. Where will they get backup, from downsized universities? Working directly with growers as consultants implementing biological control might be one of the career opportunities that holds considerable promise, both on a national and international scale. As pesticide restrictions become tougher, will this help implement more local biological tactics?
How is biological control taught at present? The course entitled Plant Pathology includes some information on biological control along with much other necessary course material on disease identification and disease cycles. Other Plant Pathology courses like Plant Diseases and Disease Management, also touch on biological control as part of one of the management techniques. Molecular Plant Pathogen-Interactions is another Plant Path course that has a biological control component. In Entomology we have the same kinds of courses, such as Applied Entomology or Integrated Pest Management, both courses which cover a broad range of topics one of which is biological control. There is only one specific course in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with biological control in the title, Entomology 477. While is gives an overview to the theory and practice of biological control, its primary emphasis is on biological control of insects. Ecological Genetics looks at the genetic components of various enemies that regulate pest populations.
The point is that many courses deal with some aspect of biological control. Such courses tend to be in very discipline-oriented courses except for something like Orchard Management, which has agro-ecological principles and offers biological control across disciplines and as a hands-on practice in the orchard.
A way to address these schisms would be to offer a cross-discipline modular class in biological control, something we've been talking about with Dean Sutphin who is in charge of Academic Programs. (Your input on cross-disciplinary courses via e-mail [ams5@cornell.edu] or by talking to the person who is the representative in your field would be very helpful.) Training in biological control should not be limited to technical aspects within any particular discipline but also encompass aspects of social sciences such as communication and education. I would guess that many of us who were trained as biologists were not exposed to communication and education principles, although they affect our everyday work. Likewise, such courses as Communication for Social Change and The Impact of Communication Technologies may benefit by using examples of implementing biological control. The Education Department has a course, Agriculture, Extension, and Development Education. Perhaps guest lecturers from this course could come into a cross-discipline modular course on biological control. The course, Government: the Politics of Environmental Protection in America covers another topic of vital importance to biological control. Many of the issues we deal with are policy-driven and those trained in biological control should have a good understanding of how policies relate to the implementation of biological control.
As part of our present efforts in biological control, and this conference is a major launching pad for future efforts, we are hoping to implement a cross-discipline course in biological control. In our conversations we envision that such a course would be an upper-division level course with a laboratory. The course would be team taught by people from different disciplines. Any advise that you have on the development of the course would be greatly appreciated. The overall goal of such a course would be to deliver to the students the knowledge and enthusiasm for biological control that brings us together here at this conference. The students of today will be carrying on the work that we are now engaged in. It is to our betterment and to society's betterment that we train students well in all aspects of biological control.
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