By Dr. Samuel Martins, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology & Dr. Erica Goss, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology

Plants Get Sick Too! was a 1-day workshop targeted toward Florida K-12 teachers, most of them from Title I schools. Teachers spanning every grade level were introduced to the field of plant pathology, including plant diseases that affect Florida agriculture and our own backyards, like citrus greening. The workshop was hosted by the UF/IFAS Plant Pathology Department in 2023 with support from a USDA NIFA award to Dr. Samuel Martins and Dr. Erica Goss, and donations from Syngenta Crop Protection and Lallemand Plant Care. The workshop was a collaborative effort among faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and technical staff.

The Plants Get Sick Too! Workshop consisted of a series of small-group modules that included demonstrations, activities, and discussions of different types of disease-causing organisms (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and viruses). Teachers were also led on a guided tour of the UF/IFAS Plant Diagnostic Center, which receives thousands of plant samples per year for diagnosis of the causal organism and recommendation for treatment.

The overall goal of this workshop was to expose K-12 teachers to the field of plant pathology, so that they could pass this knowledge to their students. Teachers learned about the varied organisms that cause plant diseases, how to recognize common diseases, and ideas for bringing this information into the classroom.

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