Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann Ph.D., an entomologist and Integrated Pest Management expert, was the guest instructor for the morning portion of Tuesday's class.
She led the class on a fascinating journey through the wonderful world of creeping, crawling, flying, biting, stinging, sucking, disease-carrying and food-stealing entities.
| Black cherry aphids Cornell University photo |
While the principles of IPM discourage the instant use of chemical insecticides as a first defense, it doesn't rule them out entirely. When all else fails -- or when benefits outweigh risks -- they are permitted. It's a common-sense-prevails method, which I like because typically I'm turned off by extremes in any direction.
Gangloff-Kaufmann is a crackerjack entomologist and highly accomplished in her field. The woman knows fleas and cockroaches, aphids and Asian longhorned beetles. She even covered mousetrap types. Intrigued by the idea, I poked around a bit and found this one, which I absolutely love. I'm almost wishing for a mouse just so I could try it out.
After lunch, class resumed and was treated to high-energy, comedic instruction by Tamson Yeh, Ph.D., a turf specialist at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.
Yeh is like a cross between Albert Einstein and Robin Williams. She reminds me of the Food Network's Alton Brown, whom I watch whenever I have the opportunity. So smart, so passionate about -- strange as it sounds -- grass.
"I love injecting humor into dry material because I think that lights up the world for people," Yeh told me months ago, when I interviewed her about her recent book, "Can My Petunia Be Saved?" "I like to get a little humor in so that people remember things."
Mission accomplished.
