UK Short Course Addresses Complexities Of Pest Control

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A speaker lineup featuring leading university researchers and other forward-thinking industry professionals highlighted the 36th annual Kentucky Pest Control Short Course, held Oct. 3-5, at the University of Kentucky. A total of 425 people attended this year's conference.

Pest control is becoming an increasingly complex profession. A pest management professional’s job includes everything from crawling and inspecting dark, close quarters, to educating customers on current pest-related issues and new technology. With that in mind, University of Kentucky’s Dr. Mike Potter and the conference’s planning committee put together a program that examined pest control from multiple perspectives, including business, technical and public relations. "I think our speaker lineup was solid as a rock and we tried to choose topics that were of interest to people," Potter said.

Current “hot-button” pest control issues were discussed throughout the conference, including sessions on bed bugs and fleas. A session titled “Focus on Bed Bugs” presented by University of Kentucky’s Alvaro Romero and Cooper Pest Solutions’ Rick Cooper, addressed these news-making pests, while University of Georgia researcher Nancy Hinkle’s presentation, “Fleas Are Back,” took an in-depth look at these resurgent pests.

George Rambo examined the future of termite control in his presentation titled “Termite Management: Where Are We Headed?” while University of Georgia researcher Brian Forschler reviewed termite research being performed by he, his staff and his students. Other technical presentations included sessions by industry notables Bobby Corrigan, Stoy Hedges, Laurel Hansen, Rick Vetter, Mark Sheperdigian, Dan Collins and others.

PPMA Executive Director Cindy Mannes reviewed public perception of pests and the pest control industry and also provided tips for dealing with the media. Art Manon of KBR (Haliburton) International gave the concluding presentation in which he recounted his experiences performing pest control in Iraq.

Additionally, attendees had multiple networking opportunities, and learned about the latest products during exhibit hall hours.