Educational Opportunities

The UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) is a site for graduate students to carry out research as part of their Master’s degree or Doctoral work. Prospective students enroll with the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) in Gainesville.

Much of both a Master’s degree or Doctoral program may be completed online. Students who work with IRREC professors make a request for the local professor to be part of their graduate committee.

IRREC Online Courses Offered

• PLP 3230 Survey of Plant Pathogens

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  PLP 3230 Survey of Plant Pathogens
  Dr. Liliana Cano, Instructor

  This is an intermediate undergraduate course that introduces to the main groups of pathogens that cause plant disease, how pathogens are spread to and affect plants, and how they are identified and managed. The content includes specific examples of how plant pathogens changed the course of human history and culture.

• ENY 5241 Biological Control

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  ENY 5241 Biological Control
  Dr. Ronald Cave, Instructor

  This graduate-level course examines the fundamental concepts of applied biological control of insects and mites. Overviews of the diversity and biology of entomopathogenic nematodes, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, predators, and parasitoids are presented. Current philosophies, strategies, and tactics of classical, augmentation, and conservation biological control are discussed. Specific cases of applied biological control are studied. Methods for monitoring and evaluating natural enemies are studied, and Federal laws, and public education are addressed.

• ENY 3563/5566 Tropical Entomology

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  ENY 3563/5566 Tropical Entomology

  Dr. Ronald Cave, Instructor

  This undergraduate/graduate-level course provides the student an overview of the ecology, diversity, and agricultural and veterinary importance of insects in the tropics. Students learn about the tropics and tropical ecosystems, the faunistic richness of insects in the tropics, seasonality and survival strategies of insects in tropical environments, termites and ants in tropical environments, tropical insect-plant interactions, pollination of tropical plants by insects, mimicry in tropical insects, entomophagy in the tropics, the economic importance of tropical insects in tropical crops, and the medical and veterinary significance of tropical insects.

• AGG 4502/6503 Nanotechnology in Food, Agriculture, and Environment

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  AGG 4502/6503 Nanotechnology in Food, Agriculture, and Environment
  Dr. Zhenli He, Instructor

  This undergraduate/graduate-level course teaches the basic concepts, principles, and components of nanoscience and nanotechnology, the application of nanotechnology in crop production, food processing and preservation, and environmental remediation. Students learn skills in the creation and characterization of nanomaterials, are familiarized with the behavior of engineered nanoparticles in plants, soil, and the environment, and gain knowledge in the toxicology of engineered nanoparticles and current methods of assessment.

• SWS 6134 Soil Quality

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  SWS 6134 Soil Quality
  Dr. Zhenli He, Instructor

  This graduate-level course acquaints students with the basic concepts, principles, components, measurements, and evaluation of soil quality and its management for sustainable agriculture. Case studies on soil quality and the principles, assessment, and management of soil quality are examined with respect to biological production, plant and animal health, food security, and environmental quality. Students learn to analyze and evaluate soil quality related to agricultural production and environmental quality.

• FAS 4932/5015 Aquaculture I

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  FAS 4932/5015 Aquaculture I
  Dr. Cortney Ohs, Co-instructor

  This undergraduate/graduate-level course provides an overview of the field of aquaculture, including water quality, production systems, nutrition, spawning, and the common fish and invertebrate groups cultured in the United States.

• FAS 6160 Fish and Crustacean Nutrition

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  FAS 6160 Fish and Crustacean Nutrition
  Dr. Cortney Ohs, Co-instructor

  This graduate-level course acquaints students with the basic principles of nutrition and formulation of diets for fish and crustaceans in aquaculture. Lectures cover digestive physiology, nutrients, feed formulation, and specific nutritional requirements for numerous aquatic organisms.

• HOS 4332C Principles of Postharvest Horticulture

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  HOS 4332C Principles of Postharvest Horticulture
  Dr. Mark Ritenour, Co-instructor

  This undergraduate course covers the biological principles involved in harvesting, grading, packaging, transportation, and marketing horticultural crops, and their effects on quality maintenance. Commercial postharvest practices are described and explained in relation to general procedure and technology as well as the recommended postharvest best handling practices and optimum postharvest conditions for different types of horticultural crops.

• HOS 6331 Postharvest Biology

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  HOS 6331 Postharvest Biology
  Dr. Mark Ritenour, Co-instructor

  This graduate-level course familiarizes students with the physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of senescence and ripening of harvested fruit and vegetative organs. Students learn about senescence and deterioration phenomena including unscheduled forms of programmed cell death associated with abiotic and biotic storage disorders, low-temperature injury, reactive oxygen species, apoptotic-driven death phenomena, ethylene biosynthesis, reception, and signal transduction, controlled-atmosphere storage, and postharvest pathology. Current theories and research on cellular processes relevant to the storage and quality maintenance of harvested plant organs are addressed in literature-based discussions.

• HOS 5330 Postharvest Technologies for Horticultural Crops

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  HOS 5330 Postharvest Technologies for Horticultural Crops
  Dr. Mark Ritenour, Co-instructor

  This graduate-level course is an intensive study of current technologies and procedures for harvesting and handling fresh fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops grown in Florida. Students learn the current commercial methods used to harvest, pack, transport and market fresh horticultural crops grown in Florida, with emphasis on maintaining product quality and safety, and ways to systematically evaluate and critically analyze these operations.

• HOS 6355 Root and Rhizosphere Ecology

  IRREC Online Courses Offered

  HOS 6355 Root and Rhizosphere Ecology
  Dr. Lorenzo Rossi, Instructor

  The aim of this graduate level course is to provide a complete view of the rhizosphere and its unique functioning that implies numerous strong and complex interactions among plant roots, soil constituents, and microorganisms. It focuses on current discoveries and achievements in plant root science and presents and discusses the future challenges that root and rhizosphere research is facing. Topics cover root structure and architecture, function, regulation, and root and rhizosphere response to varying environmental conditions, including interactions among microbes, mycorrhizae, microfauna, fungi, soil heterogeneity, biogeochemical cycles, biotic and abiotic stresses, and emerging contaminants.