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USDA-CSREES 2001 REVIEW DOCUMENT

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In Louisiana, insects can be limiting factors in the production and profitability of agricultural commodities, pose threats as vectors of human, livestock, and pet diseases, cause annoyance during routine and recreational activities, and destroy homes and historical landmarks. For example, the Formosan subterranean termite is responsible for an estimated $300 million damage in New Orleans alone, with much of the destruction occurring in historical buildings around Jackson Square and the Vieux Carre’ (French Quarter). Other pests are equally devastating. The boll weevil currently is the target of a multi-million dollar eradication effort. These are just two of many examples that illustrate the magnitude of insect problems in Louisiana.

Long growing seasons, a semitropical climate, abundant water, and a multitude of soil types allow for a diverse and dynamic agricultural economy. These factors are in turn conducive to a myriad of insect pests, and the volume of trade that the ports of New Orleans and Baton Rouge handle annually make the threat of invasive species ever present. Without the management of insect pests, the economic viability of Louisiana surely would be at risk.

The Louisiana State University Ag Center has recognized the importance of insect pests to the state’s citizens and the agricultural community. This review document illustrates the commitment of personnel, programs, and resources to address these problems. The 14 research scientists in the Department of Entomology are joined by five faculty with the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES) and four scientists located on three Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station(LAES) research stations. Currently, these scientists have 25 active research (CRIS) projects, including involvement in four multi-state projects.

Because of the LSU Ag Centers’ organizational structure, in earlier reviews, the extension faculty’s role was to serve as resource personnel to assist CSREES teams as they examined the research programs. This review differs from that approach because in addition to being a state-wide review of entomology programs, it includes full participation by LCES scientists. It is imperative that a close working relationship exist between LAES and LCES entomologists. The challenges of developing pest management technology and timely delivery of that technology to stakeholders have been met in the past but have become more complex in the electronic era that has emerged. It is hoped this review will help us identify avenues to meet these multi-functional challenges.

Most of the faculty in the Department of Entomology hold joint teaching appointments in the College of Agriculture (LSU and A & M College). Although these duties require a balance in activities along with research responsibilities, assessment of the teaching programs is not the focus of this CSREES review. The LSU and A & M College through its "Program Review Council" conducts cyclic reviews of teaching loads, curriculum, student attrition, and etc. Thus, the teaching programs will be addressed through that body.

The uncertainty associated with the state’s financial situation in FY 2001-2002 is not unprecedented, but it is the factor driving the current efforts of the LSU Ag Center to reassess its programs. In order to better support and provide competitive salaries for faculty, measures such as joint appointments with LCES, mergers of LCES and LAES units, supplementing salary through extramural funds, academic rather than fiscal year appointments, and retirement incentives are among several approaches that are being considered or already implemented. The CSREES review team should be cognizant of this restructuring climate and the financial constraints as its task begins.

On behalf of LSU Ag Center administration and the entomology research and extension faculty, we wish to express our appreciation to the members of the review team for their efforts in helping us examine our current programs and develop plans for the future. We welcome you to Louisiana and look forward to the review.

The Entomology CSREES review committee would like to welcome the review team. Our job has been to prepare the review document. Thank you for agreeing to be a member of this review team. Each one of you was a top selection of the faculty. Your time here will be hard work and we are appreciative of that. Along the way, we will try to share a bit of our unique lifestyle with you. Do not hesitate to ask us for anything that you will need for a successful stay, including directions on how to eat crawfish.

We have initially prepared a working copy of the review document. There may be some minor changes made before the final copy is bound, but we will update your working copy to include any significant changes. Along with your working copy, additional material is provided on our state and selected institutions that will not be included in the final bound document. Our goal is to have the majority of this document in an electronic version available on our entomology home page prior to the formal review. These data collected for the document also will be used to update our home page.

We have attempted to provide a summary of information on our state and various institutions. More detailed information is available at many web sites. General information about Louisiana can be found at http://www.state.la.us/. A plan for the future development of our state called vision 2020 is located at http://www.lded.state.la.us/new/vision2020/intro.htm.

Specific information about the value of agriculture and its importance to the state economy can be found at: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/agsum/99agsum.htm#sum or http://www.state.la.us/bus_ag.htm.

The home pages for our institutions are http://www.lsu.edu/index2.html, http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/, http://www.lsu.edu/departments/entomology/, and http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/impacts/. Parts of the review document have been downloaded with permission from these sites.

As Dr. Boethel has indicated, this is a review of all the entomology programs in the LSU Agricultural Center. In fact, that includes personnel from 3 different groups; the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service and from the LAES within the department on campus as well as from branch stations. The review team will have a period to meet with these personnel separately, but the majority of the review will be combined.

The CSREES guidelines for planning and conducting the review indicate that our presentations should focus on a collection of projects. Therefore, our entomology programs will be presented in three summaries that were identified as focus areas in our 1999 strategic plan (Appendix 1). The entomology department is recognized as a national and international leader in Integrated Pest Management. The majority of our programs are in the area of agricultural IPM. A second area is on the management of insects that attack humans, our dwellings, and companion animals in urban environments. A third area is referred to as basic insect biology, which includes systematics, conservation biology, and other traditionally basic insect sciences.

We look forward to your arrival and your input on our programs.

March 25 - 29, 2001

6:30-8:30 Dinner w/ the review team and Drs. Guillot, Boethel, Foil

7:00-8:30 Breakfast (Dr. Guillot)

8:30-9:45 Meet with administration at the AgCenter (Dr. Boethel) @ Efferson Hall

9:45-10:00 Coffee @ AgCenter

10:00-11:00 Tour campus facilities, Parker Col., Knapp Hall

11:00-12:00 Meet with the Extension Faculty

12:00-1:30 Lunch w/ Extension Faculty

1:30-2:00 Introductions (All Faculty, Staff and Students) @ AgCenter

2:00-5:00 Program Review / Urban Entomology (Dr. Foil) @ AgCenter

5:00-5:30 Meet with Branch Station Scientists (Dr. Leonard) @ AgCenter

7:00-9:00 Dinner @ LSU Mini 4-H Farm-LPPA Crawfish Boil (Dr. Foil)

8:00 Transport

8:15-8:30 Introductions (Dr. Leonard) @ AgCenter

8:30-9:00 Agricultural IPM -- Extension Overview (Dr. Ring)

9:00-10:15 Agricultural IPM -- Soybean, Small Grains, and Citrus (Dr. Leonard)

10:15-10:30 Break

10:30-12:00 Agricultural IPM -- Forestry, Microbial Control, Systematics, LDAF, and Ag Chemistry/Soil and Water (Dr. Reagan)

12:00-1:30 Lunch with Department Heads @ Life Sciences Building (Dr. Guillot)

1:30-3:00 Agricultural IPM – Vegetables/Sweet Potatoes, Rice, and Sugarcane (Dr. Reagan)

3:00-3:30 County Agents Coffee @ AgCenter

3:30-5:00 Agricultural IPM – Livestock, Cotton, Branch Research Stations, and Toxicology (Dr. Leonard)

8:00 Transport

8:15-9:45 Program Review / Basic Insect Biology (Dr. Carlton) @ AgCenter

9:45-10:00 Coffee @ AgCenter

10:00-12:00 Program Review / Basic Insect Biology (Dr. Carlton) @ AgCenter

12:00-1:30 Lunch w/ Graduate Students (Dr. Ottea) @ Life Sciences Building

1:30-2:30 Meet with Research Faculty (Dr. Foil) @ Life Sciences Building

2:30-3:30 Tour the Life Sciences Bldg. & Annex (Dr. Guillot)

3:30-4:30 Meet with Dr.Guillot

4:30 Review Team (report) @ Marriot Hotel

8:00 Transport

8:15-9:45 Exit Report w/ Administration (Boethel)

9:45-10:00 Coffee @ AgCenter

10:00-11:30 Exit Report w/ Faculty (Dr. Foil)

11:30 Depart

George Kennedy george-kennedy@ncsu.edu

John Van Duyn  john-vanduyn@ncsu.edu

Gary Bennett gbennett@purdue.edu

Mark Scriber scriber@msu.edu

Beverly Sparks bsparks@arches.ugs.edu 

Hendrick "Rick" Meyer hmeyers@reeusda.gov

Herb Bolton hbolton@reeusda.gov