According to the course coordinator Dr. Karim Maredia (MSU Institute of International Agriculture) this is the eighth year that MSU has hosted the short course. As in the past, this year's participants came from around the globe bringing together 15 people from 11 countries. Most were scientists with research, teaching, extension, or administration responsibilities.

Ms. Anna Onyango is employed by Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture and is the head of its food crop branch. "One discussion that especially interested me," noted Onyanago, "was the one about how people add value. I've heard speakers on team building before, but I saw and heard new approaches here -- how to manage people better, how to use team building and get the most from continuing education. We need to look at the whole system and better integrate all the people who are involved in IPM -- the grower, entomologist, agronomist, extension worker."

Mr. James Okoth, her colleague at the Ministry of Agriculture commented that IPM is gaining popularity in Kenya. "I came here curious to learn what IPM means in the United States and how it succeeds. In Kenya, some people think that IPM means low input with low output. I'll use the information I gathered here to help people see that IPM is beneficial and does not mean low output."

Dr. Thouraya Souissi, an assistant professor in Tunisia, has a split teaching and research appointment. Her work focuses on biocontrol of weeds. As a scientist, Souissi is interested in building an atmosphere of collaboration like she witnessed in Michigan. "I see a lot of merit in the collaboration I saw among the scientists and students that I have met. I hope to increase the collaboration where I work. I know that one person cannot just make that happen, but I've seen a model here that I can talk about and use as a way to generate more collaboration."

Other participants are interested in further researching specific topics that were featured during the short course. Dr. Saroj Singh works for the National Center for IPM in New Delhi, India. She was most impressed with the discussions that built off of IPM to include crop management. "I would like to go home and do more with the soil aspects that relate to IPM," she commented.

Dr. Helga Blanco-Metzler is an entomologist in Costa Rica. She has been reading about pheromones and their use in insect pest management and was looking forward to hearing more about research in Michigan. "In particular, the pheromone research interests me. It would be nice to have more time to interact with many of the scientists here," she said.

Maredia anticipates the short course will continue to be offered in summer months. "We've had 93 international participants from 25 countries attend the course since we began offering it in 1995," he noted. "That's a lot of impact and new connections for people working in IPM around the globe."

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Last revision 07/08/02