Master Volunteers Learn Entomology Through Training Program
Participants of the 2009 Master Volunteer Entomology Specialist training in Conroe learning how to identify insects through a microscope. Photo submitted by Paul Nester.
Dr. Bart Drees demonstrating how to photograph insects during a demo session. Photo submitted by Paul Nester.
After field collecting, students are taught how to properly curate their specimens to preserve them for future reference. Photo submitted by Paul Nester.
Understanding how to identify and work with insects is essential to any gardening program, especially if it involves being in the Texas Master Gardeners volunteer program.
For the past seven years, Texas AgriLife Extension entomologists and program specialists have conducted a training program to help anyone interested in becoming volunteer insect educators for the community.
Designed to provide advanced training to master volunteers, the program helps volunteers strengthen their experience with insects and allows them to expand educational programs in their home counties.
According to Mike Merchant, professor and Extension Urban Entomologist, the program’s goal is to identify Master Volunteers who receive special training to support specific programs and projects related to entomology.
Some of the topics covered include insect identification, integrated pest management, pesticide safety, insect collecting and insect preservation techniques. The participants also learn about insects in the environment, butterfly gardening, and stinging and biting insects and arthropods.
Other activities during the program include field trips, insect collecting, hands-on experience with insects and a chance to create an insect collection with insects collected during field trips.
Extension Program Specialist – IPM Wizzie Brown said some of the more interesting trips in the past included visiting the Brackenridge Field Library in Austin and a behind the scenes tour at the Insect House at the Dallas Zoo.
Brown said the trainings have helped participants have a better understanding of identifying insects, such as learning thedifference between beneficial and pest insects.
“People really enjoy the program,” she said.
Upon completion, the graduates receive a certificate and pin, as well as the status of being a master volunteer entomology specialist. They are then expected to serve as a local resource for their Master Gardener chapter and contribute volunteer service by training other Master Gardeners and the general public.
“After they finish, the field is really wide open as to what projects they choose to do to fulfill their entomology volunteer hours,” Brown said. “Some give classes on insects, others have created websites about beneficial & pest insects in their area, some assist with field trials while others curate collections used for training in insect identification..”
Extension program specialist Paul Nester coordinated the 2009 program held in the Montgomery County area and said it was a very important part of keeping the Texas AgriLife Extension’s mission statement.
“I believe it is important for us to train volunteers in specific subjects. I rely a lot on Master Gardeners to help answer questions when I am out of the office via the Harris County MG phone line,” he said. “The more master gardeners we have that have specific training, the better the information that is provided.”
He also said that the program is a great way to educate the public, as well as gardeners and homeowners, about insects and entomology.
“I also feel they are our "Entomology Ambassadors" to the general public. The more they understand our discipline the better they can explain our science to the general public,” he said.
The 2010 Master Volunteer Entomology Specialist training will be held September 27 – October 1 at the Bexar County Texas AgriLife Extension Service offices in San Antonio. For more information about the program, visit the MVES website at http://agrilifeweb.tamu.edu/insectspecialist/