Tuesday, May 2, 2017 
4:10 PM 

Speaker: 
Dr. Chris Simmons 
Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis 

Title: 
Biosolarization: A sustainable integrated pest management technique and fumigation alternative 

Abstract: 
Environmental and human health concerns surrounding conventional soil fumigants motivate development of alternative soil pest control techniques. Biosolarization is one such alternative that utilizes passive solar heating and amendment-induced soil fermentation to generate pest-inactivating conditions in the soil. Current progress to adapt biosolarization for control of various soil pests will be described. Additionally, the utilization of food processing solid wastes as soil amendments for biosolarization will be explored as a way to promote a circular economy. Finally, the results of a life cycle assessment comparing biosolarization to fumigation will be presented to justify biosolarization as a more sustainable pest management method. 


Location: 
2045 Bainer Hall University of California Davis