SPDN Meetings

Upcoming meetings/workshops:

The 5th Annual SPDN Regional Meeting is planned for October 16-18 , 2007, in Blacksburg, VA. Travel in on the 16th, meet all day on the 17th, and head home around noon on the 18th after the morning's meetings. AGENDA: The draft agenda is available here. Send additional items to Carrie Harmon. LODGING: The official hotel for both lodging and meetings on the 18th is the Holiday Inn University - Blacksburg. 30 lodging rooms have been reserved for your guests for the night(s) of 10/16/2007 - 10/17/2007, at the special group rate of $99.00 for single or double occupancy. That rate is subject to tax of 12% and a $1.05 nightly security fee for the in room safes. All reservations should be made by 09/26/2007. After this date, all remaining rooms will be returned to general inventory for sale at the prevailing rate. Guests can make reservations online at www.holiday-inn.com/blacksburgva, or by phone to 1-800-HOLIDAY (800-465-4329) or through our in-house reservations desk at (540)552-7001. Please be sure to reference the group code, UOF when booking online or the group name, University of Florida - Plant Pathology, when reserving by phone. TRANSPORTATION: Transportation Options from Roanoke Regional Airport The Holiday Inn University is right across the street from the Inn at Virginia Tech, which is the Blacksburg stop for the shuttle (option 1 below). http://www.roanokeats.com/contactus.htm Roanoke Airport Transportation Service has an Airport shuttle between Blacksburg & Roanoke Airport, Reservations are required (1-800-288-1958). They operate a shuttle daily between Blacksburg, Radford, and the Roanoke Regional Airport. All trips depart from: The Inn at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the Roanoke Regional Airport. All rates are $30.00 per person with a reservation. Shuttle times from the airport are 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:30 pm. Shuttle times from the Inn at VaTech to the airport are 8:25 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:15 pm. They provide limo/cab service also--probably most convenient & expensive option (1-800-288-1958). The Roanoke Regional Airport also has links for transportation on its home page: http://www.roanokeregionalairport.com/services/services.html, including links for rental cars. If folks want to carpool, this might be your most flexible option. SmartWay bus (http://www.smartwaybus.com/routeinfo.htm) cheap ($3.00), but doesn’t stop at the Inn, so a taxi would be required from Squires Student Center to the Holiday Inn (it’s not walking distance). The Airport Shuttle is much more expensive, but probably worth it for the convenience.

The 5th Annual SPDN Regional Meeting is planned for October 16-18 , 2007, in Blacksburg, VA. Travel in on the 16th, meet all day on the 17th, and head home around noon on the 18th after the morning's meetings.

AGENDA: The draft agenda is available here. Send additional items to Carrie Harmon.
LODGING: The official hotel for both lodging and meetings on the 18th is the Holiday Inn University - Blacksburg. 30 lodging rooms have been reserved for your guests for the night(s) of 10/16/2007 - 10/17/2007, at the special group rate of $99.00 for single or double occupancy. That rate is subject to tax of 12% and a $1.05 nightly security fee for the in room safes. All reservations should be made by 09/26/2007. After this date, all remaining rooms will be returned to general inventory for sale at the prevailing rate. Guests can make reservations online at www.holiday-inn.com/blacksburgva, or by phone to 1-800-HOLIDAY (800-465-4329) or through our in-house reservations desk at (540)552-7001. Please be sure to reference the group code, UOF when booking online or the group name, University of Florida - Plant Pathology, when reserving by phone.
TRANSPORTATION: Transportation Options from Roanoke Regional Airport The Holiday Inn University is right across the street from the Inn at Virginia Tech, which is the Blacksburg stop for the shuttle (option 1 below).
1. http://www.roanokeats.com/contactus.htm Roanoke Airport Transportation Service has an Airport shuttle between Blacksburg & Roanoke Airport, Reservations are required (1-800-288-1958). They operate a shuttle daily between Blacksburg, Radford, and the Roanoke Regional Airport. All trips depart from: The Inn at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the Roanoke Regional Airport. All rates are $30.00 per person with a reservation. Shuttle times from the airport are 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:30 pm. Shuttle times from the Inn at VaTech to the airport are 8:25 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:15 pm. They provide limo/cab service also--probably most convenient & expensive option (1-800-288-1958).
2. The Roanoke Regional Airport also has links for transportation on its home page: http://www.roanokeregionalairport.com/services/services.html, including links for rental cars. If folks want to carpool, this might be your most flexible option.
3. SmartWay bus (http://www.smartwaybus.com/routeinfo.htm) cheap ($3.00), but doesn’t stop at the Inn, so a taxi would be required from Squires Student Center to the Holiday Inn (it’s not walking distance). The Airport Shuttle is much more expensive, but probably worth it for the convenience.

The FPDN held a Chillithrips workshop August 7, 2007 in Apopka, FL. Read more here.
Third Annual Soybean Rust Short Course, July 11-12, 2007, was held in Quincy, FL! The course was sponsored by the North Central Soybean Research Program. Find course information here. 5.5 CEUs
SPDN Invasive Arthropod Workshop - May 7-9, 2007. Clemson University, Clemson, SC. The SPDN Invasive Arthropod Workshop provided Land Grant University, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, USDA-Forest Service, and State Departments of Agriculture the opportunity to discuss communication protocols and invasive arthropod issues relevant to the southern U.S. This workshop also allowed participants to have intensive, hands-on identification training for several pest taxa of concern. Meeting information, program, and registration can be found at http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/arthropod/.
First NPDN National Meeting- January 28-31, 2007: Wyndham Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. A full program and registration information can be found at www.npdn.org under "Meeting Information". The event began with a welcome reception and poster viewing the evening of January 28, 2007. The SPDN met for our regional meeting was held on the third day of the national meeting (Jan 31), from 8am-12pm (meeting minutes). The SPDN Advisory Council also met on this day from 1-2 pm.
Joint Diagnostician & IT Meeting: Kansas City, Missouri. 16 - 17 October 2006 Excelsior Springs, Missouri at the: Elms Resort and Spa 1-800-843-3567 or 816-630-5500 [401 Regent St., Excelsior Springs, MO 64024]. PDIS USERS: A morning session will be held on the 18th for participants who want to remain to discuss the Plant Diagnostic Information System (PDIS). View Agenda for 10/16-17 View Agenda for 10/18 (Note: you may need to log into the NPDN website to access these links.)
The Florida Entomological Society (FES) hosted their 89th Annual Meeting on July 23-26, 2006 at the Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa in Jupiter Beach, FL. More information concerning the FES annual meeting is available on the web at: http://www.flaentsoc.org/. In conjunction with the FES annual meeting, a Household Invaders Pest Identification Workshop was held at a cost of only $60 (including a workshop notebook and box lunch). Some reference specimens were provided to participants. The training consisted of lectures and hands-on examination of spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, bed bugs, stored product pests, plaster beetles, carpet and fungus beetles, blind snakes, and lizards. Workshop space was limited to 30 participants. Please contact Dr. Brian Cabrera bcabrera@ufl.edu or (954) 577-6363 for more information.
The SPDN is officially announcing a Coleoptera Workshop training that was held in Blacksburg, VA from May 22-25, 2006 http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/coleoptera/. Workshop topics covered include Cerambycidae, Scolytinae, and Chrysomelidae beetles. Eight national taxonomic specialists from Brigham Young University, Cornell University, Oregon State Department of Agriculture, Texas A & M University, University of Florida, University of Maryland, and the USDA-ARS-SEL lead the the training. Enrollment space was initially limited to two participants per SPDN state. For more details on the training, contact Amanda Hodges achodges@ifas.ufl.edu .
A Thrips Sampling and Identification Workshop was held in Gainesville, FL from 1:00 PM March 15, 2006 to 3:00 PM March 17, 2006. Sampling and identification of thrips of economic importance to the southern U.S. was the focus of training. For more information, please visit the SPDN website at: http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/Thrips_sampling_ID_workshop.htm or contact Amanda Hodges achodges@ufl.edu.
The Western Plant Diagnostic Network held an intensive, taxonomic training session on 'Homoptera' that was held March 21-24, 2006 in Davis, CA. Priority registration was provided to insect identifiers and appropriate extension specialists in the western region, but others were permitted to register on a first come, first serve basis. Agenda is available on the WPDN website https://www.wpdn.org/. The cost of registration was $400, but we are also requesting that you purchase (or bring your own copies) of a few additional required resources.
SPDN 4th Annual regional meeting will be held in Atlanta, GA Oct 27-28, 2005 (click here for more information)
Multi-State Tomato In-Service Training and Workshop Oct 18-19, 2005 in Quincy, FL.

Multi-State Fungal In-Service Training and Workshop September 1, 2005, Quincy, FL.

Soybean Rust Identification Short Course July 12, 2005

Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Workshop June 23-24, 2005

Horticultural Inspection Society, Southern Chapter (HISSC) meeting, September 13, 2004, Baton Rouge, LA. A diverse group of speakers representing Louisiana State University, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Florida will be involved in the training that will include information about exotic pathogens and insects of concern to the southern region, quality and secure sample submission, and digitally assisted diagnosis. Examples of emerging exotic pathogen and insect topics that will be covered include Sudden Oak Death, Soybean Rust, Ralstonia, and Pink Hibiscus Mealybug. For more information on the SPDN training program and agenda at HISSC, please see this PDF. For more information about this training, please contact Amanda Hodges achodges@ifas.ufl.edu. In addition to the inspectors that will be attending this training, county extension agents and others involved in pest management are welcome to attend. Attendees will need to register for the HISSC meeting, and the deadline for registration is August 27, 2004. Please see this PDF for more detailed meeting and registration information. HISSC website is at http://www.korrnet.org/hissouth/

The 2004 Regional SPDN meeting was in Atlanta, GA, November 4-5 Click here for information.

14th Annual Ornamental Workshop Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, NC, September 27 - October 1, 2004. Find more information at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/plantpath/orn_wkshop/about_wkshop.html

Intensive ‘Homoptera’ workshop hosted by the SPDN http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/homoptera for general diagnosticians and extension specialists in Gainesville, FL, from December 9-11, 2004. Sponsorship forms are available on the website. For more information about the ‘Homoptera’ workshop, contact Amanda Hodges at achodges@ifas.ufl.edu