Extension Faculty to Teach Environmental Horticulture
at EARTH University
Seven UF/IFAS county extension faculty will travel to EARTH University in Costa Rica during January, February, and March of 2008 to teach two concurrent seven-week multidisciplinary programs in Environmental Horticulture.
The series of week-long courses is a joint effort between UF/IFAS faculty who teach county Master Gardeners and support from the faculty of EARTH University. The programs will be taught at EARTH’s new LaFlor campus in the Guancaste region of Costa Rica.
Graduates of the homeowner and community volunteer version of the course will be called "Gardeners of Costa Rica,” similar to the UF/IFAS Master Gardener program. Another class, “Master of Gardens,” will be geared towards persons working in local landscape occupations. They will learn about landscaping best management practices suitable to the dryland tropics found on the Pacific coast of this Central American country.
The seven faculty teaching the seven week-long courses include Dan Culbert of Okeechobee County, who will teach basic plant science, botany and identification sampling. Dave Marshall, Leon County, will teach soils and nutrition, fertilizers, and compost. Linda Seals of Brevard County, will follow by teaching the “right plant for the right place.”
Adrian Hunsberger, Miami-Dade County, will teach pest identification and management. Larry Halsey, Jefferson County, will teach pesticide safety training plus irrigation and watering techniques. Henry Mayer of Miami-Dade County will lead presentations on landscape maintenance and care during the sixth week. Alex Bolques of Gadsden County will conclude the instruction by teaching about Extension and informational resources in cooperation with Costa Rica’s Ministry of Agriculture and Extension. Bay County Agent Ken Rudisill is part of the planning team as a back-up instructor and will be part of future classes at EARTH LaFlor.
Culbert, Hunsberger, and Bolques, along with Pete Vergot and Dave Sammons, met with EARTH faculty and administrators in April 2007 to lay the necessary groundwork. The program will benefit Costa Rica’s food self-sufficiency capacity, its landscape industry, and will improve management of its natural
resources.
Contact: Dan Culbert
Web site: http://LaFlor.ifas.ufl.edu
This joint EARTH and UF/IFAS delegation, gathered at Costa Rica's famous Arenal Volcano, prepared the way for Extension faculty to teach at EARTH University. L to R: LaFlor staffer, UF/IFAS faculty Alex Bolques, Adrian Hunsberger, Dan Culbert, David Sammons, Pete Vergot, and EARTH faculty B.K. Singh.
The "gardening" courses that will teach seven major specialties, will benefit Costa Rica's food supply and landscape industry. B.K. Singh, stationed at EARTH University, points out landscape plants.
Alex Bolques is hard at work photographing a Costa Rican nursery's practices in preparation for teaching his section of the multi-week courses.
These Costa Rican children are the program's ultimate beneficiaries, as they will enjoy a greater food supply with better nutrition and will inherit a land that has improved its management of key natural resources.
Dan Culbert reads to a group of Costa Rican school children. Reaching out to whole communities is important when building collaborative programs abroad.
