Ronald Gardner

• Senior Extension Associate
• Professional Overview & Objectives
• Education
• Academic Ranks
• Areas of Expertise
• Publications

Professional Overview & Objectives

The Pesticide Management Education Program has a long tradition of developing training materials and opportunities for the Pesticide Applicator Certification Program.  Improving and expanding these products would be my major objective.  One of the more difficult goals is to develop ways to offer more “hands-on” training opportunities for our agents and our clientele.  We have written and presented a proposal to fund a Pesticide Applicator Training Center.  A site that could contain classrooms, labs and pesticide application practice sites for all types of pesticide uses. The Center is modeled after a site at Purdue University. We will continue to seek funding for the Center with the knowledge that it would provide much needed training resources for our “Train the Trainer” activities. I believe that computer/interactive learning modules are part of the future of training applicators. Modules should interact with the student and work at the student’s pace. These types of programs already play a role in training applicators, but their reach needs to be expanded. For example, I finished the “Pesticide Applicator Core Tutorial” and after a year of testing, it was released for public use.  This product includes all twenty-four chapters from the Core Manual coded into HTML to produce a tutorial training tool for pesticide applicators.  The use of the Core Tutorial has now been expanded into the DEC approved “Recertification Credit Modules.”  This was a collaborative effort with Anita Deming and Beth Spaugh both experienced CCE field staff that believed in the need for a flexible training aid of this type.  The modules are in regular use and appear to be gaining in popularity. Another effort to use computers to inform began this past fall. As a member of the eExtension Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice, I will be part of a team that consists of four members representing the major US regions. Each member has agreed to develop the module on one environmental subject matter area. My responsibilities are to develop a WEB module on Stewardship of Surface and Groundwater. Training manuals have been and will remain the cornerstone of our training program.  We will work to improve these manuals and increase the frequency of updates.  We have begun a program to include “learning objectives” in each chapter of our new manuals.  This new initiative marks a major change in the way these documents are written and the way the certification tests are developed.  The DEC is working with PMEP and now prepares the exam based on the learning objectives. The team writing manuals here in PMEP and the DEC staff are hopeful that these changes will lead to better training and better tests for our clientele.

Education

Year         Degree             Institution

1981         M.S.                 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

1973         B.A./B.S.          Ferris State College, Big Rapids, MI

1971         A.S                  Morrisville State Univ., Morrisville, NY

Academic Ranks

Senior Extension Associate: 1994

Areas of Expertise

Pesticide Safety Education

Food Safety, Pest Management in Food Facilities

Economic Entomology, Structural Pest Management

Community IPM

Publications

2007

Stewardship of Surface and Ground Water. A WEB page for the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship (Volunteer CoP With eXtension) WEB site.

Posters: The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Web Site: Promoting Proper Pesticide Use and Handling. Buhler, W., R. Gardner, J. Wilson, & C. Ramsay. 16th International Plant Protection Congress, Glasgow, Scotland. Oct. 15-18, 2007.

Proceedings: The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Web Site: Promoting Proper Pesticide Use and Handling. 2007. Buhler, W., R. Gardner, J. Wilson, & C. Ramsay. 16th International Plant Protection Congress, Glasgow, Scotland. Oct. 15-18. Vol. 2, 396-397.

2006

Gardner, R. D. 2006. Reading the Pesticide Label. Pesticide applicator training module. Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program.

2005

Gardner, R. D. and D. Wixted.  2005.  Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Right-of-Way Vegetation Management.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 187 pp.

Gardner, R. D. and D. Wixted.  2005.  Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Subcategory 7f Food Processing.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 211 pp.

2004

Wixted, Dan. R.D. Gardner, W.G. Smith. 2004. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Sales of Restricted Use Pesticides.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 145 pp.

Jensen-Tracy, Sandra, G.L. Good, R.D. Gardner, E. Harrington, M.J. Helms, L. Seyler. 2004. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Commercial Ornamentals and Turf Industries. Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 317 pp.

Jensen-Tracy, Sandra, G.L. Good, R.D. Gardner, E. Harrington, M.J. Helms, L. Seyler. 2004. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Private Ornamentals and Turf Growers. Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 359 pp. 

Wixted, Dan. R. D. Gardner. 2004. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Anti-Fouling Paint.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 92 pp

Helms, Michael, J., R. D. Gardner. 2004 Pesticide Applicator Training Manual For Aquatics.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 296 pp

2003                      

Helms, M, E. P. Harrington, R.D. Gardner. 2003. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual for Private Pesticide Applicators in Fruit Production.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 164 pp. 

Harrington, E.P., R. D. Gardner, et. Al. 2003. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual for Private Pesticide Applicators in Field Crop Production.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 205 pp.

2002                      

Seyler, L. A., R. D. Gardner, M. Daughtrey, R. Derksen, G. Ferrrentino and J. Sanderson.  2002 update. Pesticide Applicator Training Manual for Private Pesticide Applicators in the Greenhouse and Florist Industries.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 123 pp.

Porter, M.J., R. Gardner, W. Smith, and G. Good. 2002. Protecting Water Quality While Managing Pests in the New York City Watersheds.  Cornell University,
15 pp

2001

Gardner, R. D.  Instructors Guide for the Northeast Pesticide Applicators Training Manual.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 150 pp.

2000                  

Gardner, R. D.  Pesticide Applicator’s Guide to Termite Control Regulations in New York State.  Third Edition.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 59 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Northeast Pesticide Applicator’s Core Manual.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 320 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Home Pest Management and Children.  Brochure #4 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 8 pp.

1999

Co-author SFIREG, Working Group letter to EPA on Recommendations for improving the “Consumer Labeling Initiative.”

Co-author article for CALS news on Campus Train Activities, Mary-Lynn Cummings and Andrew Landers.

Authored “Agrichemical Storage and Handling Theme of The Engineering Section of the Compendia of Knowledge, Understanding and Proficiencies for Agriculture Environmental Management Planners, Pro-Dairy Program.

1998                      

Blake, R., and R. D. Gardner.   Pesticide Applicator Training Manual for Subcategory 7g Cooling Towers.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 157 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Industrial, Institutional, Structural and Health Subcategory Termite Control.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 112 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Pesticide Applicator’s Guide to Termite Control Regulations in New York State.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 22 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Northeast Pesticide Applicator’s Core Manual.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 320 pp.

Gardner, R. D.  Instructors Guide for the Northeast Pesticide Applicators Training Manual.  Cornell University, Pesticide Management Education Program, 134 pp.

Author Chapter on Personal Protective Clothing for School IPM Notebook for Cornell IPM Program.