Virginia Tech hosts workshop for pesticide inspector trainers

Virginia Tech will host a Pesticide Inspectors Residential Training workshop, Sunday to Wednesday, Sept. 11 to 14, for about 60 pesticide regulatory investigators representing more than 30 agencies from many parts of the United States. The training program is funded by a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The participants will be involved in intensive training on structural pest control, studying with experts from the Department of Entomology in Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science in the College of Natural Resources, and Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Michael Weaver, director of Virginia Tech Pesticide programs and professor of entomology, said participants will be trained in investigative techniques in addition to being given information on pesticides and pests. Sessions will be held at the Dodson Urban Pest Management Laboratory, which has structures that simulate pest problems in addition to its research laboratories.

“The Pesticide Inspectors Residential Training provides the knowledge for those individuals who will then train the inspectors in their regions,” Weaver said. “These men and women enforce the regulations that protect the environment and the public from potential misuse of pesticides in structural pest control. These concerns can range from violations of the rules for pre- and post-construction treatment to prevent termite infestation of homes to applicators not following pesticide label directions properly.”