UC Riverside hosts 19th Annual Pest Management Conference

Urbanization creates costly pest problems. Insects and rodent pests can contaminate food, destroy wood in homes and can result also in health problems - disease, hospitalizations and even death.

The University of California, Riverside will host the 19th annual Urban Pest Management Conference on March 24, from 7:15 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the University Theatre.

Topics to be covered at the conference include safe pesticide use; residential water runoff studies; the changing role of termiticides applied to soils to control termites; bed bugs; and spiders and their significance for the pest control industry.

The keynote speaker is Mary-Ann Warmerdam, the director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, who will discuss the changes and challenges facing the pest control industry.

The conference is especially popular with supervisors, managers and technicians in the structural pest control industry. Approximately 250 attendees are expected to attend this year's conference.

"One of the primary goals of the conference is to provide the industry and public with the most current information regarding the biology and control of insect pests in and around urban structures," said Michael Rust, a professor of entomology at UC Riverside, who is one of the conference organizers. "The morning session will focus on pesticides in the urban environment and strategies to reduce their negative impact."

More information, including how to register, can be obtained here.

Registration costs $85 per person (includes lunch). Reporters covering the conference may attend it at no charge.

Provided by University of California - Riverside