FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Cockroach races, insect hunts, melaleuca-control workshops, an art contest and a pest-knowledge competition will be among the activities at the first University of Florida Biological Control Brain Bowl and Bash.
The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 20 at UF’s Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, 2199 S. Rock Road. Admission is free and the public is invited.
Besides offering an afternoon of family fun, the event will educate the public about biological control research at the recently opened $3.8 million UF Biological Control Research and Containment Laboratory at the Fort Pierce center, part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Hosting the event will be 21 bright high school and middle school students representing Okeechobee, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, three research scientists, four extension agents and other organizers.
The event ends two months of preparation by the students, who have been trained as spokespeople who can discuss the menace of invasive species and developments in biological control. Believed to be the most efficient method for managing invasive plants and animals, biological control uses natural enemies against target species.
The afternoon’s highlight is the Biological Control Brain Bowl, held at 3:30 p.m., in which three student teams will compete to demonstrate their knowledge of biological control and invasive species. The bowl will be hosted by UF biological control researchers Ron Cave, Bill Overholt and Roxanne Rutledge-Connelly.
Other activities at the event will include face painting for young children, a maggot display, a crafts table, ladybug carry-out containers and a “Caterpillar Canter” relay race.
Prizes at the event include three $50 “Bug Master Art Awards” for art contest winners, and another for the “Bug Master Buggy Hunt Award” recipient, made available by program sponsor The Bug Master, a local pest management organization that practices integrated pest management, or IPM, environmentally friendly pest control.
The Biological Control Brain Bowl and Bash program was funded with a grant from IPM Florida, a UF program that promotes both IPM and biological control. Program sponsors include UF; The Bug Master, which serves Indian River and St. Lucie counties; the St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee 4-H Foundations; TAME Melaleuca, a statewide melaleuca management program; the Pelican Island and St. Lucie Audubon Societies; the Florida Mosquito Control Association; The Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability and Papa John’s Pizza.
For directions or information about the Biological Control Brain Bowl and Bash, contact Robin Koestoyo at (772) 468-3922, ext. 103, or by e-mail at koestoyo@ufl.edu. For further information, visit http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/BioControl.BrainBowl.2006.htm.
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