Work with local area educators to develop school gardens to promote agriculture at the elementary and middle schools. Using the program as an outreach and education program, hundreds of student volunteers assist in the building and installation of owl nesting boxes in the Glades.

The EAA now has hundreds of nesting boxes and some of the highest barnвЂђowl concentrations in the country. The pests, particularly cotton rats and marsh rabbits, cause up to $30 million in damage each year to the areaвЂ™s 700,000 acres of sugar cane, rice and vegetable crops. These birds provide lowвЂђcost, sustainable rodent control.

In addition to vegetable diseases, work is conducted on rice, and sugarcane, investigating the integration of management strategies for control of plant diseases.Д¬ontinued work with the UF Barn Owl Program which utilizes barn owls for sustainable rodent control in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) with the use of owl nesting boxes. Work closely with area and regional extension specialists to present field trials, field days, and oneвЂђonвЂђone contact with growers. Currently working to extend this vegetable program to the growers in the EAA, as well as state and regional contacts, through presentations, displays and demonstrations. This work has resulted in a significant number of changes in fungicide usage (reductions) on EAA vegetable crops. Raid Professor, Plant Pathology Active ProjectsДeveloped a program to aid growers in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) on management of their vegetable disease programs.

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