UF Doctor of Plant Medicine Program

Curious about how Cooperative Extension programs are built using logic models? Join us for an interactive workshop at the Entomological Society of America - Southeastern Branch Meeting 2026 focused on Cooperative Extension and Extension program development.
“Building Extension Skills for Tomorrow’s Entomologists: An Interactive Workshop”
📅 Wednesday, March 11, 2026
⏰ 8:00–10:45 AM
📍 Palmetto Ballroom C (2nd Floor), Omni Hilton Head
The session will feature short talks from experienced Extension professionals and a hands-on logic model activity, highlighting how Extension programs move from ideas to implementation in practice. The workshop is open to all ESA-SEB 2026 attendees and may be especially useful for graduate students, postdocs, and early-career professionals.
🔗 Listed in the ESA-SEB 2026 online program (link in comments).
If you’re attending ESA SEB 2026 and interested in Extension or informal teaching, we’d be happy to see you there!

Join the UF Doctor of Plant Medicine program at the Flora and Fauna Festival at 4th Ave Food Park on Saturday, February 28th! There will be some bugtastic activities for kids, as well as a plant sale.

Congratulations to DPM student Alexandor Mcmillan, recipient of the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association’s 2025 Yara International Scholarship! This scholarship is intended to promote excellence in agricultural education, and support students who have made contributions to Florida agriculture through their studies.

Thank you to all the participants of the Florida First Detector workshops in Monroe and Miami-Dade County! DPM students presented topics relating to emerging invasive pests and the submission of plant and insect samples. Learn more about this unique program administered by the Biosecurity Research and Extension (BRE) lab here: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/ffd/

The DPM Program & BRE Lab had fun celebrating all three Fall 2025 graduates on Monday-Dr. Brianna Benitez, Dr. Lyuyi, Chen, and Dr. Alec Dunker-we are proud of you!

Congratulations to our DPM graduates-Dr. Brianna Benitez, Dr. Alec Dunker, and Dr. Lyuyi Chen! Dr. Carrie Harmon mentored Dr. Dunker and Dr. Benitez. Dr. Hodges chaired Dr. Chen’s committee.

Oh my, we are so excited to see the many places you will go! Go gators 🐊

Thank you to DPM graduate and APHIS scientist Dr. Cory Penca for hosting students in the Integrated Plant Medicine class today at the USDA Subtropical Research Station! The APHIS team at the station is exceptional and we learned so much!

Congratulations to DPM student Tafsir Rashed for winning 1st place for his poster competition at the National Entomological Society of America Meeting in Portland, Oregon!

Yesterday, DPM student Tafsir Rashed presented a poster on the UF, DPM Program at the IWGO conference in Malaysia. Thank you, Tafsir for representing the program so well!

DPM student Tafsir Rashed and Director Dr. Amanda Hodges organized a symposium this week at the International Working Group on Ostrina and other Maize Pests in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The symposium was entitled “Bridging Research and Practice: IPM for Piercing-Sucking Insects in Maize Systems”. Thank you to our speakers for a successful event!

On October 10, 2025, DPM students enrolled in the Fall Integrated Plant Medicine class were able to visit Sumter County agriculture and learn from several of our outstanding UF-IFAS county extension faculty. Many thanks for this wonderful experience!