GANDHI FOREST ENTOMOLOGY LABORATORY
Teaching Activities
Pedagogy in the fields of forest health, entomology, and ecology is an important part of my academic life. I typically teach 2-3 courses per year at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, I give guest lectures on forest insects, and seminars on emerging pests at various forestry, training, and outreach events. Our lab also participates in many K-12 student activities bringing the joy of insects and natural history to a younger generation.
Forest Health and Protection, FORS 4210-6210
(spring, co-taught with Dr. Caterina Villari)
This undergraduate and graduate level course covers major insect and disease problems of forests with an emphasis on their recognition and management, We also cover wild land fire prevention, suppression, and management. By the end of the semester, the students will: 1) understand basic forest health concepts; 2) be able to identify the likely cause of a given forest health problem; 3) know how to manage major forest disease and insect problems; 4) understand the basics of wild and fire prevention, suppression, and management; and 5) understand the interactions between insects, diseases, and fire.
Forest Health Seminar Series, FORS 8080
(spring, even years)
The objective of this graduate-level course is to provide each student with a broader prospective on topics related to forest health, such as entomology, pathology, fire ecology, and wildfire management. Student will learn of advanced theories and cutting edge techniques and applications of forest protection practices, and will interact with regionally/nationally recognized experts in specific subject areas.
Advanced Forest Entomology, FORS 8220-8220L
(fall, even years)
The objective of this graduate-level course is to provide each student with a well rounded and detailed information about the current topics and critical papers in forest entomology. We cover information about the importance, ecology and management of forest insects and their allies. The course focuses heavilty on peer-reviewed literature such as journal and book chapters that are core readings in the field of forest entomology. Students participate during discussions in the class using only blackboards. The discussions on each paper continues until relevant sections in the paper have been understood, the paper is well-critiqued by the group, and future research directions are provided.