Last Updated on September 27, 2019 by Angela Colonna

An interactive educational video to help pesticide license holders in the horticulture industry earn 1 Continuing Education Unit in the Core category will soon be online thanks to an Extension Entrepreneurial Team Award from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Service.

“We cannot wait to bring our instructional video online,” said Liz Felter, a regional specialized agent focused on food systems and ornamental horticulture in Central Florida. “We have developed an informational and engaging video presentation and it will be exciting to see it brought to life.”

The video is based on Integrated Pest Management strategies that aim to keep pesticide applicators as well as the environment safe.

The team, led by Liz Felter, also includes assistant professor of ornamental and landscape weed management Chris Marble, Osceola County commercial horticulture agent Grantly Ricketts, Seminole County sustainable agriculture and food systems agent Hannah Wooten, professor of integrated pest management and entomology Lance Osborne, professor of foliage plant physiology Jianjun Chen, and professor of plant pathology Dave Norman.

“A resource like this will be invaluable for Floridians,” Felter said. “Currently, our reach is limited by geography, but this award will allow us to produce video content that can be shared throughout the south.”

Florida is heavily vested in the horticultural industry and is home to over 4,500 commercial nurseries in greenhouses with an economic impact of over $8 billion for the state.

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