There are more than 4,000 licensed pest control advisors in California employed by farmers and ranchers to help with critical crop management decisions. They are in a unique position to promote more efficient use of farm resources and practices that enhance natural biological cycles and controls. Mayse and Chaney will be coordinating the development of two Internet-based courses on agroecosystem management, and will also be collaborating with university and other technical experts to produce a series of audio cassettes covering specific crop-pest interactions and management issues, as well as the more general aspects of biologically intensive pest management, soil quality, and sustainable agriculture.

As part of this project Mayse and Chaney will also be working closely with experts at the Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State University to provide information on ecological pest management to PCAs in Oregon through a facsimile service and an electronic mail listserve. There are about 1,000 licensed pest control consultants in Oregon.

Other members of the project team include Mark Mayse and Phyllis Kuehn from California State University Fresno, Pete Goodell, UC Cooperative Extension regional IPM advisor, private consultant Larry Whitted, the Association of Applied Insect Ecologists, and the A*DEC Distance Education Consortium. Funding and initiation of project work is subject to final approval of the SARE program's FY98 budget, which is expected in the fall. For more information about the project contact Mayse at (209) 278-0284, Email: amayse@csufresno.edu.