Welcome to Ecological Pest Management. This online course series is intended for pest management professionals, growers, and others interested in ecologically-based pest management. Although the emphasis is on California conditions and pests, the principles and concepts have broad applicability to other regions. By offering this course via the Web, students can progress through the units at their own pace at any time of day, providing a flexible alternative to complement other on-site educational programs that are offered throughout the year. The use of the CD for large photo files allows access to numerous high-quality images and video without long download times. Graded multiple choice exams, taken online, are also included, and are used to determine the number of continuing education credits students receive.

Through this Web site and the companion CD, course units are presented in the following order:

1. Concepts of Ecological Pest Management [2-4 CE credits available]

* General course relevant to all crops/systems. May be taken as a stand-alone course. You do not have to take units 2-4 below in order to get your CE credits for this one.

2. Insects – focus on leafhoppers and mealybugs [2-3 CE credits available]

3. Diseases – focus on Powdery Mildew [1-2 CE credits available]

* Units 2-3 are specifically targeted to grape systems. May be taken together with course/unit 1 above or separately.

4. Scenarios – PCA problem-solving and decision-making skills [1-2 CE credits available]

* Integrates 1-3 above. Before taking this course, you must complete and take the final tests for units 1-3.

Registration and CE Credits: Students must complete the registration form and send in the course fee of $15 before they can have access to the courses. One payment of $15 dollars gives you access to all four courses/units. Ecological Pest Management courses are offered continuously throughout the year. CE credits for licensed pest control advisors are awarded separately on the completion of each unit as indicated above. Student information (Units completed and CE credits earned) are sent to CECPM on a quarterly basis. At this time, CE credits are approved for California PCAs only.

Software Requirements

• Connection to internet via an internet service provider
• Supported Browsers
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0 or greater (with Javascript enabled)
  • Netscape Navigator version 4.0-4.7x (with Javascript enabled)
• Unsupported Browsers (known to not run correctly)
  • Firefox
  • Netscape 6.0 and above
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • Mozilla Suite
  • AOL users must use Internet Explorer or Netscape Browsers, NOT AOL browser.