Where Can I Earn A Master Gardener Certification

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In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have created an online adaptation of our Counselor in Training Program. We will cover present the information that you would have covered with us at camp through Discussion boards, recorded talks, interactive Zoom meetings and role plays, and challenge you to lead games during Friday Campfire to practice important leadership skills. This virtual experience will culminate in a gathering at camp when it is safe to do so.

CIT Director: Jon Conklin
CIT Director: Lauren Lionetti

In this course, we will cover the basics of Online Learning Design, participants will create or work on a course of their own. No prior experience needed, but coming with ideas of a project to develop will make this more useful. Work will be required in between sessions.

This course is designed for staff or independent contractors who want to work in the Adventure Programs conducted at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills during the Spring, Summer or Fall. This is a supplement to the in-person training which is held each year shortly before camp. This course is NOT a certification, but will help staff to gain a solid understanding of the program before working with campers directly.

Teacher: Jim Hooper

With chick season right around the corner, we'd like to provide Chemung County you with the opportunity to experience the fun and prepare for hatching or bringing homes chicks of their own!

Topics will include:

Selecting eggs for hatching
Selecting and setting up your incubator
A peek inside the stages of development
Hatch Day, what to do and not do.
Breed study
Preparing your brooder
Raising healthy chicks
Preparing your coop
Predator 101
Raising poultry for a purpose

4-H Educator: Sasha Diederich

This course is a 'Train the Trainer' Webinar Workshop series that is being offered to Cornell Cooperative Extension educators. The purpose of the course is to train county educators in some of the basic requirements of these plants and the basic concepts of Chinese medicine so that the educators can assist future farmers in production practices.

Teacher: Laura McDermott

Dairy cows in stanchions eating grain Presented in collaboration with Miner Institute, this course will cover basic principles of dairy cattle nutrition and their application within dairy herd management.

This course is designed primarily for early career nutritionists and allied industry professionals seeking a more comprehensive foundation in the principles of dairy cattle nutrition.

Teacher: Heather Darrow

This course is designed for dairy business on-farm personnel (owner or employee) seeking to increase their knowledge of calf and heifer management. Participants should possess a formal or informal background in dairy cattle management, but not necessarily in calf and heifer management.

Topics covered:

Calf Nutrition Preweaning
Calf Nutrition Post weaning
Replacement Economics
Colostrum Management
Inventory Management
Genetics
Calf Health
Housing

Teacher: Kathy Barrett
Teacher: Robert Lynch

This course is reserved for QMPS Internship Students

Teacher: Robert Lynch

This course introduces garden design for homeowners and beginning gardeners wishing to enhance their personal surroundings.

Teacher: Chrys Gardener

During the World Wars, communities came together to grow Victory Gardens. Today, we are facing a very different kind of global war -- one that calls us to stay at home instead of fighting overseas. However, there is still much that we can learn and do during our time in quarantine. Inspired by the historic efforts of the Victory Gardeners, Ontario County CCE is launching Just Plant It: COVID-19 Victory Gardens course. We want to empower our community to learn how to grow their own food and share it with others in the community. This course provides participants with step-by-step instruction about how to start and manage a small garden. This course is open to anyone, and participants will have access to course material and the option to have questions answered by Home and Grounds Educator Russell Welser.

Teacher: Sarah Bagley
Teacher: russell welser

What is Organic Gardening? This course is intended to examine the basics of small-scale organic gardening. The topics and depth of information offered will help new gardeners learn the basics and feel comfortable getting started, while also offer more experienced gardeners the opportunity to expand their knowledge base. This course may not be ideal for very experienced organic gardeners.

Teacher: Chrys Gardener

This course explores all the major methods of plant propagation.

Botanical Illustration II: Working with Watercolor is a course designed to help you learn some fundamentals of watercolor painting in a supportive web-based environment.

Teacher: Sonja Williams

This course introduces basic drawing as a foundation for botanical illustration and as a medium through which students can explore their creativity, and describe and observe the beauty of nature in a new and exciting way.

Teacher: Sonja Williams

Cutler Botanic Garden This pilot course for Master Gardener Volunteer preparation and continuing education will be offered to active volunteers of Broome and Tioga Counties throughout the winter months of 2021. The intent of this pilot course is to review the content of the modules and give feedback in order to improve the course for future use in training new volunteers in the core curriculum.

Teacher: Donna Alese Cooke
Teacher: Ashley Miller Helmholdt
Teacher: Barb Neal
Teacher: Linda Svoboda

Learn about the beneficial insects that are the natural enemies to those pests that are in the garden.

Teacher: Lori Brewer

Purpose

Examine the basics of permaculture design and learn the potential for ecological design on a multitude of scales and contexts. Particpants will study the foundational ethics, principles, and planning tools to design ecological sites in the context of their local ecosystem and future climate change.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define permaculture and describe examples of permaculture sites
Apply permaculture ethics and principles to a variety of contexts
Discuss impacts of climate change and adaption strategies
Consider appropriate use of energy and technology in sustainable systems
Understand a range of multi-purpose plants and design multi-kingdom polycultures

Teacher: Michael Burns
Teacher: Michael Burns
Teacher: Ashley Miller Helmholdt

Purpose

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define permaculture and describe examples of permaculture sites
Apply permaculture ethics and principles to a variety of contexts
Discuss impacts of climate change and adaption strategies
Consider appropriate use of energy and technology in sustainable systems
Understand a range of multi-purpose plants and design multi-kingdom polycultures

Faciltator: Michael Burns
Faciltator: Michael Burns
Faciltator: Ashley Miller Helmholdt

The purpose of this permaculture course in the series is to cultivate ecological literacy by looking at the complex symbiotic relationships in both natural and cultivated systems. Students will explore and apply systems thinking to their own gardens, farms, and backyards.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define permaculture and describe key elements of permaculture systems.
Read the patterns of natural landscapes and apply them to design.
Discover living soil and how to regenerate and maintain soil health.
Apply water harvesting techniques and mitigate water issues.
Appreciate the role of trees and forests in productive conservation systems.
Describe the important role of animals and aquatic systems in permaculture.

This course is one of three that we offer in permaculture design. (Read more about Permaculture Design: Fundamentals of Ecological Design and Permaculture Design: Design Practicum.

Teacher: Michael Burns
Teacher: Michael Burns
Teacher: Ashley Miller Helmholdt

Purpose

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define permaculture and describe examples of permaculture sites
Apply permaculture ethics and principles to a variety of contexts
Discuss impacts of climate change and adaption strategies
Consider appropriate use of energy and technology in sustainable systems
Understand a range of multi-purpose plants and design multi-kingdom polycultures

Facilitator: Michael Burns
Facilitator: Michael Burns
Facilitator: Ashley Miller Helmholdt

The key objective for the 4.5-week long Practicum is to create a proposed design for your site based from goals and assessments made in previous coursework. Assessments and goals will be reviewed, refined, and amended. Design activities will spur creative solutions and direction for you proposal based on permaculture design principles. The final outcome of this class is a presentation portfolio of your proposed design. After completing all three classes, you will submit your final portfolio for your Permaculture Design Certificate.

Prerequisite:
Permaculture I: Fundamentals of Ecological Design
or
Permaculture Design II: Ecosystem Mimicry

Teacher: Michael Burns
Teacher: Ashley Miller Helmholdt

6-part workshop series: Recipe 2 Market (R2M).

Farmers and local aspiring new food business entrepreneurs have the chance to take advantage of accelerating their concepts. Our first five classes are virtual workshops led by experts across the field. Electronic handouts, case studies, and video tutorials will assist in creating a better understanding of the many parts of a value-added food business. Our final class will complete the series with the practice of product storytelling and a lab tour of the commercial kitchen.

Sessions are ALL on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8:30

WEEK 1 – FEBRUARY 24: Food Business Basics| Introduction to R2M

WEEK 2 – MARCH 3: Business Planning & Cost of Production

WEEK 3 – MARCH 10: Recipe Development & Food Safety

WEEK 4 – MARCH 17: Preparing Your Recipe - Kitchen Safety

WEEK 5 - MARCH 24: Marketing & Distribution

WEEK 6 - MARCH 31: Tell Your Story | Commercial Kitchen Lab (In-Person)

Teacher: Alicia Luhrssen

Welcome to the 2020-2021 Soil Health Specialist Training Course!

The Practical Soil Health Specialist Training Program is coordinated by New York Soil Health and American Farmland Trust. Project collaborators include New York Soil Health, Cornell Soil Health Laboratory, Cornell University, NRCS, New York Department of Ag and Markets, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell Small Farms Program, Soil & Water Conservation Districts, agri-businesses, and farmers.

This is a 1-year program for 29 agricultural service professionals across New York State. The goal is to establish a network of Practical Soil Health professionals to support and educate farmers to improve soil health on their land. Specialist trainees get an in-depth understanding of what soil health is, how it can be measured and monitored over time, and how soil health can be improved through holistic, adaptive, and data-driven soil management. The training is a series of five, two-day workshops with associated field days.

Teacher: Joseph Amsili
Teacher: Stephanie Castle
Teacher: Aaron Ristow

This course is for vegetable growers who produce cucurbits, peppers, tomatoes, and/or beans. Phytophtora blight is a serious disease that presents major challenges once on your farm. In this course you'll learn how to recognize symptoms on different susceptible crops, the biology of the pathogen, and avoidance and management strategies.

This information was prepared by Amara Dunn, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology, NYSAES, Cornell University. Contact Amara at arc55@cornell.edu with questions about the content of this module.

FACTS ABOUT this Module: This module is approved in New York for 0.75 Core recertification credit. You must be logged in and working in the course activities for a minimum of 0.75 hour. The credits are earned after completing the Pre-Test, reading and studying the content of the module, then successfully completing the Post-Test. The last thing is to click on the certificate function. A temporary certificate generated. An official certificate will be mailed to you.

Goals of This Module

Understand the life cycle of bed bugs and how they appear at each life stage.
Learn the basic biology of bed bugs
Learn about bed bug behaviors that affect control

Teacher: Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann

FACTS ABOUT this Module: This module is approved in New York for 1 Core recertification credit. You must be logged in and working in the course activities for a minimum of 1 hour. The credits are earned after completing the Pre-Test, reading and studying the content of the module, then successfully completing the Post-Test. The last thing is to click on the certificate function. A temporary certificate generated. An official certificate will be mailed to you.

A pesticide is any substance used to control pests. Pests may be target insects, vegetation, fungi, etc. Most control the pests by poisoning them. Unfortunately, pesticides can be poisonous to humans as well. Some are very poisonous, or toxic, and may seriously injure or even kill humans. Others are relatively non-toxic. Pesticides can irritate the skin, eyes, nose, or mouth. The most important thing to remember is that you should always use caution whenever you work with any pesticide!

Goals of This Module

Understand what toxicity is and how it affects humans.
Learn the three routes of entry (how pesticides enter the body) and the importance of each.
Be familiar with how toxicity is measured and what is meant by label warning statements.

The words "environment" and "ecology" have been increasingly in the news. Man is beginning to fear that his daily activities may be limiting the future use of resources. Pesticide use and drift can affect air quality; pesticides in the food chain can threaten wildlife populations; and soil may no longer be suitable for optimal crop production. Pesticides are now recognized to be non-point sources of water pollution. As a result, pesticide practices are being watched closely. As pesticide applicators, it is important to do your job carefully by both controlling pest populations and at the same time protecting the environment from the potential adverse effects of pesticide use.

Goals of This Module

Understand the dangers of pesticides in the environment and what causes them.
Be familiar with how pesticides pollute groundwater and what steps can be taken to prevent it.
Understand how pesticides persist in the environment.

FACTS ABOUT this Module: This module is approved for 2 (cch) New York pesticide applicator recertification credits. The credits are earned when the applicator reads and studies the content of the module, then successfully completes the content quiz. A certificate will be sent you as proof of completing the course.

You are an applicator working with toxic materials and are interested in safeguarding your health. You also want to protect other people and the environment from pesticide injury. Many pesticide accidents result from careless practices or ignorance. Learn safe procedures contained in this module!

Goals of This Module

Learn proper safety precautions for before, during and after pesticide application.
Understand the importance of cleanup measures.
Understand the need for personal protective equipment.

Pesticides can enter the body through the skin, the eyes, the mouth, and the lungs.The most common cause of pesticide poisoning for applicators is through skin contact. Some pesticides enter the body through the skin quite readily. Concentrates can be especially dangerous. Some parts of the body absorb pesticides extremely fast and need extra protection. Two such areas are the head and the scrotum. Most of a pesticide spilled on your skin is absorbed in the first few minutes. If any pesticide is spilled on you, wash it off immediately. It is best to avoid direct contact with pesticides by wearing the proper protective clothing. The pesticide label will tell you what protective equipment is necessary.

Goals of This Chapter

Understand the importance of personal protective equipment worn during pesticide application.
Understand why there are different fabrics and materials used to protect applicators and how they differ.
Learn the importance of and method for layering protective clothing.
Learn the basics of respirators and their use.

Weather-wise application can reduce pesticide hazard to the environment. A good applicator carefully checks the weather conditions before beginning spray procedures. Not only do a few simple precautions protect the environment, but in terms of dollars and cents they aid the applicator. Pesticides which do not reach or remain on the target areas are wasted. More pesticide, time, and money must be used to control the pests in the target area.

Goals of This Chapter

Learn the role that weather conditions can play in both helping and hindering the applicator.
Understand the hazards of windy day application and who is legally responsible for mistakes.
Learn the advantages of early morning or evening application.
Understand the roles of humidity and temperature inversion in regard to pesticide application.

As an applicator you have two disposal problems. First you must safely dispose of surplus pesticides concentrated or tank mixed that you have no use for or cannot store. Secondly, you must safely dispose of empty pesticide containers. Careless disposal practices are a common cause of pesticide misuse and environmental contamination. Take the time to dispose of surplus pesticides and empty containers carefully and legally. Never give empty containers away for any purpose.

Goals of This Chapter

Learn the importance of preventing pesticide surplus.
Know what to do in case you have a pesticide surplus.
Understand and learn the steps taken to properly dispose of pesticide containers.
Learn proper procedure for triple-rinsing containers and equipment.

Pesticide Storage

Instructor - Ron Gardner rdg5@cornell.edu

No job is really finished until the pesticides, containers, and your equipment have been put away properly. Get into the habit of storing all of your materials safely before you clean up and go home, or on to the next job. While you are cleaning up and putting away the pesticides, containers, and equipment you should wear all the personal protective equipment you used on the job. Consider wearing gloves and other protective equipment, even if they weren't recommended on the label. Spills and accidental contamination often occur during storage procedures.

Goals of This Chapter:

Learn how to choose and arrange a storage are for pesticides
Understand the importance of handling, storing, and disposing of pesticides properly
Learn what to do in case of a pesticide spill

Introduction: Welcome to the herbicide-resistant weeds training lessons, provided by the Weed Science Society of America. Herbicide resistance education and training are critical for advancing the adoption of diverse weed management programs to delay and mitigate the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds. This training lesson was developed by a team of weed scientists in an effort to provide to you, the agronomist, consultant, retailer or distributor, and interested grower, the most current information on herbicide resistance in weeds.

FACTS ABOUT this Module: You must be logged in and working in the course activities for a minimum of 1 hour. The credits are earned after completing the Pre-Test, reading and studying the content of the module, then successfully completing the Post-Test. The last thing is to click on the certificate function. A temporary certificate will be generated. An official certificate will be mailed to you.

Successful completion of this module will earn you 1 recertification credit for New York State DEC certified pesticide applicators in categories .....

Here's how it works:

First, sign the course roster.
Then, take the pre-test.
Next, read the 'Current Status of Herbicide Resistance in Weeds' unit.
Then take the post-test. You have as many tries as you need to score 80% or higher.
Finally click on the "Course Completion Certificate" This is a must! Clicking here informs the course sponsor that you have finished the course requirements so we can send you an official certificate.

This lesson presents an introduction to herbicide resistance in weeds. By the end of this lesson, you will:

understand the need for managing herbicide resistance
know the current status of herbicide resistance in weeds within the USA and around the world.

Please sign the roster:

This course is an introduction to ecological weed management, and covers important aspects of weed biology that will enhance your ability to manage weeds in both organic and conventional cropping systems.

Successful completion of this module will earn you 1.5 re-certification credits for New York State DEC certified pesticide applicators in categories 1a, 3a, 3b, 6a, 9, 10, 21, 22, 23 and 25.

Teacher: Ken Wise

Biological control is the use of natural organisms to help us control pests. These helpful organisms can be insects, bacteria, fungi, and others, but this module focuses on insect biocontrol.

Integrated tick management (ITM) is a multifaceted approach to management of tick populations, including reduction of tick habitat, landscape management, tick-targeted chemical control, and host-targeted control. This course will review available tick control strategies, discuss the evidence-base behind these strategies for reducing tick abundance and tick-borne disease burden, and review challenges and barriers to effective tick control in real-world settings.

At the end of this module, the student will:

Explain how tick biology and behavior informs approaches to control.
Identify control strategies targeting ticks, hosts, and environment/habitat.
Identify challenges to effective tick control.
Evaluate the efficacy of various control strategies to reduce tick abundance and to reduce tick-borne disease public health burden.
Describe the one health framework for addressing the threat of ticks and tick-borne disease.

This template provides a format for PMEP DLC courses. Content can be copied and pasted into new modules.

Teacher: Ken Wise

This module discusses integrated pest management for insect pests of field corn. It focuses on correct insect pest identification, lifecycles, and management strategies that can be employed.

Teacher: Ken Wise

A narrated Powerpoint presentation by Chuck Mohler of the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Cornell University that covers cultivation equipment and timing, and how to best integrate cultivation in an overall weed management program for field crops and vegetables.

This topic is approved in New York for 1 core re-certification credit. You must be logged in and working in the course activities for a minimum of 1 hour. The credit is earned after completing the Pre-Test, watching videos, readings, and studying the content of the module, then successfully completing the Post-Test. A temporary certificate will be created with an official certificate mailed to the participant.

Teacher: Ken Wise

Water is one of our most important resources. The Earth's freshwater is stored in lakes, rivers, and streams or below ground in aquifers. Pesticide contamination of water is of great concern from many perspectives. This site provides information on nature of water, how it may become contaminated with pesticides, and how contamination can be prevented

During this course we will be exploring the importance of scouting in the production of agricultural crops. Examples will be based primarily on grape production but the concepts are fairly universal and should be relevant whether you are growing Brussels sprouts or apples or grapes destined for the juice, wine or fresh market.

Here's what we hope you learn:

The importance of scouting in the production of agriculture.
The major components that make up a scouting program
Resources available through the NYS IPM Program for scouting programs

This information was prepared by Tim Weigle. Contact him at thw4@cornell.edu with questions about this module.

Participants who complete this course will gain an understanding of the basic biology of the latest invasive species to hit the eastern United States, spotted lanternfly. An overview is provided of why everyone should be concerned with the potential damage spotted lanternfly can cause to forests, agriculture and tourism industries as well as our quality of life. This course covers spotted lanternfly biology and identification, pathways and spread and monitoring and management strategies currently available for this pest.

A narrated Powerpoint by Chrisy Hoepting of the Cornell Vegetable Program that covers identification, biology, and management of swede midge, an insect pest of crucifers recently introduced into the United States.

A look at all the aspects of IPM methods for sweet corn in the Northeast.

Teacher: Marion Zuefle

A program designed to update green industry professionals about the early detection and integrated management of theWeed suppressive Groundcovers.

Did you know that over 400 species of wild bees live in New York State, and honey bees are just one species? Many of these other bees, not just honey bees, provide critical pollination services. This module begins with a general introduction to pollination and society's need for resilient pollination services, particularly in light of threats to honey bee health. It then introduces the general characteristics of wild bees and specifically highlights a few of the most interesting and useful wild bee species. The presenters will outline the multiple threats facing our bees, discuss the specific risks posed by insecticide and fungicide exposure and how pesticides can interact with other stressors that bees face. Finally, mitigation strategies to minimize harm to bees, taking into account their biology, habits, and points of vulnerability, will be discussed.

Teacher: Katherine Urban-Mead

This course is to help you learn about integrated pest management for Asian soybean aphid on soybeans. The course will focus on correct identification, its lifecycle, how to sample and monitor for the pest, determine economic threshold and management practices that can be employed.

Teacher: Ken Wise

Participants who complete this course will have an understanding of what NEWA is, what information it provides and how to implement the weather and pest model information into a vineyard IPM strategy. This course also provides information on how NEWA resources, in conjunction with scouting and spray records, can be used when troubleshooting problems with a vineyard IPM strategy.

Before going into the development of an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategy it is important to get an idea of what IPM is.

Here's what we hope you learn:

What is IPM?
The different components involved in an IPM strategy
Resources available for developing an IPM strategy

This information was prepared by Tim Weigle. Contact him at thw4@cornell.edu with questions about this module.

Before going into the development of an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategy it is important to get an idea of what IPM is. According to information found on the NYS IPM Program website,

IPM is:

your choice for solid science and sound solutions in dealing with pests. The NYS IPM Program promotes safe, least-toxic solutions to both pest and pesticide problems.
integrated because it brings together, or integrates, a range of biological, organic, cultural, mechanical, and chemical options for pest problems. And it's about management because you can only manage pests - you can't eliminate them.
no longer just focused on insect pests, the range now includes fungi, bacteria, viruses, weeds, wildlife, and more.

This information was prepared by Tim Weigle. Contact him at thw4@cornell.edu with questions about this module.

Teacher: Dan Olmstead
Teacher: Tim Weigle

Participants who complete this course will gain an understanding of the basic biology of the grape berry moth as well as the various attempts at managing this pest over the past 30 years. This course covers why growers should care about grape berry moth, the grape berry moth life cycle, GBM Risk Assessment development and implementation, management options that have been implemented as well as some which have been tried, but failed, and finally the GBM model on NEWA and how it can be used in a vineyard IPM strategy.

This site is for active CCE Suffolk MGV's and Emeriti to explore resources and find useful information that will enhance their volunteer experience.

Teacher: Donna Alese Cooke
Teacher: Roxanne Zimmer

Overview

The Safe and Affordable School Grounds and Sports Fields Short Course (Safe School Grounds Short Course) is designed to provide comprehensive safety training in natural and synthetic turf maintenance. The goal of the course is to increase the competency of School Grounds Personnel, Facility Managers, Coaches, Athletic Directors, and Administrators in the essential aspects of maintaining turfgrass areas to maximize access and safety.

Learning Objectives

Understand the fundamental concepts of native, manufactured, engineered and blended soils used for turfgrass systems.
Identify common grasses used as turf with a basic understanding of their adaptation, use, management, and improvements through the development of new varieties.
Develop basic school grounds and sports turf problem solving skills unique to the human-built environment by understanding urban grassland ideal growing environments.
Be able to explain pest management that is less reliant on chemical inputs to a school district member.
Understand the measurable aspects of field safety and performance along with allied maintenance practices designed to provide resilient playing surfaces.

Develop basic proficiency in the safety and proper use of school grounds and sports field equipment including but not limited product application, mowing, irrigation, and turfgrass establishment from seed and sod.

Teacher: Alec Moore
Teacher: frank rossi
Teacher: Carl Schimenti

Collaborative Work Space for the Strategic Plan Team that is focused on Refining Goal Statements & Creating Measurable Outcomes

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