West Coast Rodent Academy Goes Virtual

The West Coast Rodent Academy, an urban rodent control training workshop held annually since 2016, was held virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was on Nov. 12-13 and it was attended by 278 people.

Thanks to the generosity of sponsors BASF, Bell, Liphatech and VM products, the academy provided scholarships, reaching out to women in pest control, professionals serving K-12 schools, and tribal stakeholders.

“It is important to me to ensure that we reach underserved communities,” said Dr. Niamh Quinn, a human-wildlife interactions advisor with the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Now, more than ever, pest control is so important in our communities, and this is also true for our underserved communities. It was a pleasure to be able to reach out to a diverse group of participants and offer a total of 22 scholarships.”

The academy also raised $20,000 to support rodent research in Quinn’s lab. Sylvia Kenmuir, technical services representative, BASF, said, “It is wonderful to be able to sponsor a well-organised virtual event. The West Coast Rodent Academy provides up-to-date information from leading rodent experts such as Drs. Bobby Corrigan and Niamh Quinn, as well as providing information from leading experts from industry that have on-the-ground info from decades of experience.

“The West Coast Rodent Academy also provides a great feedback loop where funds raised help support rodent research from Dr. Quinn, which ultimately ends up back at the academy to train pest management professionals with the most up to date information.”

The next West Coast Rodent Academy will be held March 3-4, 2021. It will also be a virtual event.  The program has been updated to include updates and extended programs from speakers such as Corrigan. Registration is open and details can be found on the website at https://ucanr.edu/sites/WCRA/