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DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY

History and Status: The present-day Entomology Department was established in 1964 when instructional programs in entomology were removed from the Department of Zoology and Entomology in the College of Arts and Sciences and assigned to the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture. This newly formed Department of Entomology was given responsibility for instruction in the College of Agriculture and research in the Louisiana Agriculture Experiment Station. Dr Dale Newsom was the Department’s first Head (1964-77). Dr. Jerry B. Graves served as the second Department Head from 1977 through 85; followed by Dr. E.A. Heinrichs from 1985 to 1990 and Dr. James R. Fuxa (Interim) from 1990 to 91. In July 1991 the Department’s current Head, Dr. Frank S. Guillot assumed responsibilities of Head of the Department.

Today’s Department of Entomology is responsible for graduate education (PhD and MS) and research in entomology. Although, the Department does not offer an undergraduate degree in entomology it does participate with the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology in undergraduate instruction for the recently established concentration, Integrated Pest Management (Agriculture and Urban) in the Plant and Soils System curriculum. The Department also offers two undergraduate courses for the Forestry and Horticultural majors. The Department’s research and graduate education programs may be broadly grouped as follows: Crop Protection (IPM), Forest Entomology, Urban Entomology (includes fire ants and termites), Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Conservation Biology, Systemactics, Toxicology, Pathology, and Biological Control. Although the Department is not directly responsible for Extension programs, its faculty members cooperate with Extension Specialist and actively participate in the extension of research findings and information about insects to clientele and the general public.

The Current Department of Entomology Faculty

The Department’s faculty consists of 13 Professors, 2 Associate Professors, 2 Assistant Professors (all tenured or tenure track) and 1 Assistant Professor Research (non-tenure track). Three members hold joint appointments, one with the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station Administration, one with the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, and one with the Macon Ridge Experiment Station in Winnsboro, LA. One member’s appointment is fully with the LSU College of Agriculture; all other members hold joint appointments with the College of Agriculture and the LSU Agricultural Center, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. Since 1995 the Department has filled three vacancies and is currently recruiting to fill a vacancy in Medical Entomology. One of the three vacant positions was redirected from cotton insect research to a research program on fire ants. Fifteen research associates assist faculty members in their research. There are currently 17 PhD and 11 MS graduate students enrolled in the Department. Three individuals with the assistants of four student workers staff the office to conduct the business of procurement, accounting, travel authorization and reimbursement and personnel and student affairs.

Budget: The Department receives its annual budget from the State of Louisiana in accounts in the College of Agriculture and the Louisiana Agriculture Experiment Station. The Experiment Station also annually allots Hatch and Multi State Research (formerly Regional) funds to the Department for budgeting to the various projects. These combined State and Federal funds provide the base support for the Department.

Eighty seven percent of these base funds are in salary for the faculty and staff. Another seven percent is for assistantships. The remaining six percent of the base funding is for discretionary spending for such items as travel, utilities and supplies and equipment. This brief assessment of the budget indicates that Department of Entomology is challenged, as are many University Departments, by the necessity of obtaining grants and gifts from other sources in order to carry on its academic and research programs.

Grants/Contracts/Gifts: The Department is highly dependent upon extramural funds in order to support its research programs. These funds are from a variety of sources, but have historically mostly come as funded proposals to commodity boards and as gifts/contracts primarily from industry. The extramural funds pay for additional salary (Research Associates, Post Doctorates), equipment, assistantships, student wages, travel, and incidentals. The department has done very well in its efforts to raise extramural funds to support its program. However, not apparent in the list below is the amount awarded through competitive grants. Some of the funds listed under Federal are contracts with such federal agencies as ARS, EPA, and APHIS. In light of the continuing budget constraints on State funds and other traditional sources of funding for the Department, it becomes increasing necessary for the Department to raise funds for its programs through competitive grants.

Facilities: A total of 19,224 square feet of floor space is assigned to the Department of Entomology in the Life Science Building. Located about mid way between the north and south gates of the LSU campus, the building is on South Campus Drive directly behind the LSU Union. The Department occupies about one half of the fourth and fifth floors and it has one classroom on the first floor. Two other departments occupying the building are the Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology and the Department of Biology. The area assigned to the Department is currently utilized as follows:

The New Science Annex is presently under construction immediately adjacent to the existing building. The new facility is to the east of the Life Sciences Building and is connected to it at each floor. When the new facility is opened, one continuous hallway on each floor will transverse the length of the combined complex. Originally, the new building was planned for occupancy in the Fall, 2000. It now appears occupancy will be in Spring, 2001. The Department is assigned the entire fifth floor of the new building (approximately 18,000 square feet). It will share the building with the same two departments with whom it shares the Life Sciences Building. The new space consists of 7 research laboratories, 8 offices, one equipment room, two small conference rooms, a cold room, and a bio-containment facility. The following Entomology programs will move to the new facility: termites, fire ants, insect pathology, insect toxicology, conservation biology and rice.

The space vacated by these programs will be reassigned and some of it remodeled to suit the needs of the new occupants. For example, the space vacated by the termite programs is reassigned to the Human Ecology Department. The Arthropod Museum will be enlarged to fill the space vacated by the rice program. Funds to enlarge and remodel the Museum have been pledged by the Dean of the College of Agriculture and the Director of the LSU Agricultural Experiment Station. The laboratory space vacated by the toxicology research program will be used as a teaching laboratory for Insect Physiology and Insect Toxicology.

The Department has auxiliary space (approximately 2800 sq ft) in Parker Coliseum located two blocks from the Life Sciences Building on Highland Road. It also has a small building dedicated to sweet potato research two blocks away on South Campus Drive. Space in Parker Coliseum is assigned to the termite and forest insect programs. In addition, the livestock and termite programs have space at the St. Gabriel Research Station located in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, approximately 15 miles southeast of the LSU Campus. Although not specifically assigned to the Department, land and cattle herds located at the various Research Stations throughout the State are available for field plots required by the different crop programs and the Veterinary Entomology research program in the Department. Also available for lease from the LSU Agricultural Experiment Station are greenhouse facilities located on the LSU campus.

The Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM) is the headquarters for an active systematic research program and a diagnostic and identification center for the State of Louisiana. The LSAM has great value as a cultural and natural heritage resource for immediate, practical reasons and also as a result of the historical effort that has gone into building it during its approximate 40-year existence. The most important early collection of Louisiana insects (1889-1905) by J. H. A. Morgan, an LSU Experiment Station entomologist, was largely destroyed by fire in 1921. During the years between that event and the early 60’s, a large number of independent researchers and collectors affiliated with the Experiment Station built separate collections centered around their own personal interests and research. During 1961, Joan B. Chapin was hired as the first curator and charged with consolidating old and current collections into the single facility that became the LSAM. Dr. Chapin assumed a faculty position in addition to her curatorial duties during 1972. During 1982 Cheryl Barr was hired into the new research associate-level curatorial position and Joan became its Director. During 1990, the current Curator, Victoria Moseley, was hired. Dr. Chapin retired during 1993 and the current Director, Chris Carlton was hired two years later.

As a repository of specimens, the LSAM now contains approximately 400,000 curated specimens. Specimen holdings have increased approximately 50% during the past five years and floor space has increased by approximately the same amount thanks to addition of a second collection room in 1996, accompanied by a minor renovation. We are in the initial stages of a second major expansion and renovation (described in facilities section) that will considerably expand our research and training capabilities in addition to providing much needed additional space for specimen storage.

The collection is used as a resource for specimen identification, as a source of material for systematics studies and a repository for vouchers and types derived from these studies, and as a source of illustrative material for certain courses and visitors. The teaching and research collections are housed separately. As a support facility, the LSAM serves as a clearinghouse of information, not only for taxonomic purposes, but also for evaluating potential risks of insect species to humans and their domain. The substantial collection of reprints and other specialized literature (approximately 150 shelf feet) contributes substantially to the latter function.

Several years ago we launched a major effort to develop the LSAM into one of a preeminant centers for beetle systematic research in the country, and our expectations for growth center around this initiative. The collections of the LSAM are being built at three different scales. Continual broad-based local collecting is contributing to our goal of having a complete representation of insect taxonomic diversity for Louisiana (estimated at 30,000 species). Limited surveys of biologically unique areas nationwide are enhancing the ecological and biogeographic significance of the LSAM. Finally, collections from diverse habitats in the neotropics and other areas where active research projects are being conducted (e.g., New Zealand) allow us to enter the realm of globally significant research collections and dramatically enhance the value of the collection to the systematics community at large. The bulk of the LSAM’s systematics research initiatives are directed at problems that are global or at least regional in scope, and it is these projects that will contribute most to the growth of the collection in the future.

Equipment:

There is general consensus among the faculty and students in the Department that, at the present time, deficiencies in equipment and instrumentation are not limiting research productivity. The Department has made major strides in equipment acquisition during the past ten years, and currently houses fully functional analytical, biochemical, and molecular biology laboratories. Examples of equipment purchased or updated since the previous CSREES review include: a Finnigan/Thermoquest GC/MS, a Molecular Devices Spectromax plate reader, a Waters HPLC, a Beckman Optima XL ultracentrifuge, three Eppendorf refrigerated microfuges, three PCR cyclers, two ultracold freezers, and a SLM-Aminco spectrophotometer.

In 2001, five rooms were allotted to the Department of Entomology from the area that was occupied by the Department of Agronomy when they moved into their new building. The space allotted to the Department of Entomology at Parker Coliseum consists of laboratory and office suites and three laboratory rooms. The total space is approximately 2,800 ft². Of this area, three laboratories consisting of 1900 ft² are devoted to the Urban Pest Program under the direction of Dr. Gregg Henderson. Room 112 is used in the fabrication of monitoring stations to evaluate a 16-school project using termiticides. Rooms 130 and 144 are used to house termite colonies and conduct industry problem-solving research. Rooms 130a houses an insectarium with cockroach and household insect pest cultures. The Urban Pest Management labs have been partially renovated to provide highly useful space. In addition, 500 ft² is utilized for Forest Entomology (R. Goyer), and 400 ft² is used to house an insect flight tunnel (A.M. Hammond). The Urban Pest Management labs provide critical and highly useful space.

The Department of Entomology has access to greenhouses at two locations on campus, on Gourrier Lane and off of S. Campus Drive. The Gourrier Lane complex was constructed in 1967, whereas the Campus Drive greenhouses were built between 1927 and 1955. The condition of these greenhouses is generally adequate for most uses. However, the greenhouses are porous and experiments requiring a high degree of exclusion of ambient pests are hindered by this fact. The cooling systems of some of the greenhouses have been recently renovated, but temperature maintenance during periods of severe heat or cold is poor. Greenhouses are managed by the Experiment Station and space is charged to the budgets of project leaders at a rate of $0.18/ft². This rate is scheduled to increase to $0.25/ ft² in the near future. As many as 6 project leaders rent greenhouse space at these locations at different times of the year. The Department of Entomology maintains a 850 ft² headhouse at the Gourrier Lane complex adjacent to the rented greenhouse space. Storage facilities are also available.

The Agricultural Chemistry Department located on Highland Road adjacent to J. Norman Efferson Hall is a state of the art analytical facility operated jointly by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. With over 35,000 sq ft of laboratory space, equipment currently being used includes ICP (inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometer), atomic absorption spectrophotometer, continuous flow analysis, as well as high-pressure liquid chromatograph, and a gas chromatograph/mass spectroscope. This facility provides analytical chemistry support for regulatory programs, in addition to supporting research and extension activities of the LSU AgCenter.

(Greenhouse and research farms in the Baton Rouge area)

The Central Research Station was established January 1, 1990 for the purpose of centralizing farming operations in the Baton Rouge area. The station consists of a main farm – the Ben Hur Farm – located approximately two miles south of the LSU Baton Rouge campus off of LA Hwy. 30. This site is approximately 2,500 acres and provides facilities, equipment and manpower to support research. The Central Research Station operates a Plant Science research farm at the Ben Hur facility which provides land, equipment, personnel and services to scientists to assist in field research. The farm is responsible for land assignments, land preparation, fertility, pest control, planting (assistance) and harvesting (assistance). There are three civil service employees available for tractor operation and/or support labor. Scientists make land use requests annually in January for the next growing season. The farm labor handles as much of the operation as desired by the scientists. Project leaders are responsible for individual plot treatments, data collection, and to oversee and/or perform harvest operations. All by-products of research (commodities) are sold at public facilities, unless research dictates destruction of the crop. Revenues from sales are returned to the farming operation. Extraordinary requests for fertilizer, pesticides, etc. are charged to individual projects. Other previously described operations are paid by the Central Research Station through a budget determined at the time the farm was established. Faculty in the Entomology Department utilized approximately 20 acres at the Plant Science Farm in 2000.

 Present greenhouse space totals 50,650 ft², of which, 875 ft² is air conditioned. The remainder is either on ventilation fan or cool cell operation. The central greenhouse area, located on the campus consists of 35,000 ft² (glass and plastic) of greenhouses built over 50 years ago. All have been reglazed in the last 10 years with few exceptions. The greenhouse ranges on Gourrier Avenue were constructed in the late 1960’s. These facilities include 15,050 ft² of space. A new structure was completed in 1999 (1,650 ft²) and is now in service. Faculty in the Entomology Department occupy approximately 1,350 ft² monthly (2000). Space is provided in all greenhouses through requests to the Greenhouse Services Coordinator and allocated on a monthly basis. Greenhouse services will provide sand, soil, clean pots, and assist in filling pots for projects. Greenhouse Services also provides general maintenance, heat in the winter season, and general pest control. Greenhouse Services does not provide routine watering, data collection or daily care for research projects. There are presently headhouse (soil prep, storage, potting area) facilities at both the campus and Gourrier greenhouse ranges. Total headhouse area for these locations is approximately 15,760 ft² (campus) and 6,000 ft² (Gourrier).

The St. Gabriel Research Station consists of 1466 total acres of which 160 are devoted to sugarcane research and 45 acres devoted to soybean entomology research. There is an entomology equipment barn that stores items for entomology departmental programs. Facilities at this location also consist of (1) a 3480 sq. ft. veterinary entomology building of five laboratory suites, and a holding/treating area for large and small animals, plus a flea colony; (2) a 4000 sq. ft. temperature controlled termite rearing facility; and (3) 40 acres of pasture land devoted to research of insects on cattle production.

The St. Gabriel Research Station has ample greenhouse space available to sugarcane researchers. Sugarcane photoperiod and crossing facilities are also available to conduct any interdisciplinary genetic studies for the major insect pests of sugarcane.

Since 1990, the Department's forest insect research program, under the direction of Dr. R. A. Goyer, has had the benefit of a 4,000 square foot facility and adjacent forested compound at Idlewild Research Station to assist in the conduct of bark beetle research. This facility, formerly the LSU Observatory, provides an efficient, spacious and flexible building to evaluate the behavior and role of bark beetles and their natural enemies. Additionally, a classroom provides a setting to promote education of local citizenry in the role of bark beetles and their relationship to forest culture.

USDA Rice Insects Research Laboratory, Rice Research Station, Crowley:

The function of this laboratory is to elucidate the biology, molecular biology, and ecology of rice insect pests, aid in the determination of safe and economical control practices, and develop means of reducing pest damage through molecular approaches to host plant resistance and use of biological control agents, cultural practices, insecticides, and other means of suppression. Historically, the rice entomologist in the Department of Entomology has cooperated closely with the USDA entomologist at the Rice Station. Much of rice entomology thesis and dissertation research is conducted at the station and the USDA entomologist works closely with the faculty member and graduate students. This has been a mutually profitable alliance. Dr. William Rice, a microbiologist with considerable experience with microbial biological control agents, is currently the USDA rice entomologist assigned to Crowley.

A total of 2,534 square feet of floor space are assigned to the Entomology Project in Knapp Hall, warehouse on Gourrier Lane and the coliseum. The project occupies rooms 202-A through 202-U on the second floor of Knapp Hall. The area assigned to the Entomology Project is currently utilized as follows:

Specialist-Offices          16                                     759

Student Office                5                                      222

Clerical-Offices              6                                      232

Pesticide Education         2                                     110

storage room                  2                                      110

Closet space                   1                                       69

Photo and scope room    2                                     110

Exhibit storage and          3                                     124                       web page          

Workroom, La. House    2                                     114

Insectary-chemical           8                                     390                         storage area and work area (next to warehouse)

Storage area (next to       9                                     400 warehouse)                                                               

Termite lab                     46                                  2,200

The Entomology Project occupies Room No. 233 at the Parker Coliseum that is used as a termite lab for the Formosan Subterranean Termite Project.

The Entomology Project occupies several rooms that are connected to the LSU AgCenter’s warehouse on Gourier Drive for the purpose of storing insecticides and other chemicals as well as other necessary items when needed.

The Entomology Project uses the warehouse on Ben Hur Drive for the purpose of termite training. The LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Pest Control Association hold these classes semi-annually.

The laboratory was established in 1928 to improve production of queens and bulk bees by southern beekeepers. Research emphases have changed over time as beekeeping challenges have changed. The unit currently has two broad scientific objectives: 1) to identify, collect, breed, evaluate and release stocks of honey bees with improved levels of resistance to the parasitic mites Varroa jacobsoni and Acarapis woodi, and 2) to identify, collect, breed, evaluate and release stocks of honey bees and develop management methods to improve honey production, pollination, and bee and queen production, and minimize the effects of Africanized bees. The laboratory is at LSU’s Central Station (on Ben Hur Road a few miles south of the main campus), which is a site for agricultural research by LSU personnel.

Interactions with the Department of Entomology include teaching the course "Biology and Management of the Honey Bee" (ENTM 4011) and guiding graduate students. ENTM 4011 is taught when student interest warrants; it was led by Jeffery Harris during Spring 2000. Graduate student activity fluctuates according to needs and available funding. The most recent advisorship concerned three Ph.D. students who graduated in the early 1990’s. The interactions between the Department of Entomology and the honey bee laboratory provide mutual benefits by enhancing both educational opportunities for students and research capabilities for scientists.

Scientists located at the laboratory are:

Thomas Rinderer, Research Leader; Ph.D., Ohio State Univ.; Adjunct Prof.

Robert Danka, Research Entomologist; Ph.D., Louisiana State Univ.; Adjunct Assistant Prof.

Lilia de Guzman; Postdoctoral Associate; Ph.D., Louisiana State Univ.

John Harbo, Research Entomologist; Ph.D., Cornell Univ.; Adjunct Prof.

Jeffery Harris, Research Entomologist; Ph.D., Louisiana State Univ.

H. Allen Sylvester, Research Geneticist; Ph.D., Univ. California, Davis

Jose Villa, Entomologist; Ph.D. Louisiana State University

This unit has 14 staff and an insect collection comprised of over 10,000 specimens. The project was established in 1965 to conduct interdisciplinary research in entomology, forestry, microbiology and ecology. The current mission of the unit is to provide the basic biological and ecological knowledge and innovative management strategies required for management and control of bark beetles and invasive insects of conifers in changing forest ecosystems. The major areas of in house and collaborative research are:

1) Ecology and biology of bark beetles and invasive insects in forest ecosystems (including biological and ecological interactions of bark beetles and invasive forest insects with their associated organisms, and bark beetles and invasive forest insects in intensive forestry, bark beetles and invasive forest insects at the urban-wildland interface, and, fire and interactions between trees, bark beetles and invasive forest insects).

2) Management of bark beetles and invasive insects of southern conifers (including development of novel control methods for bark beetles and invasive insects of southern conifers, and development of landscape level predictive models as tools for management of bark beetles and invasive insects of southern conifers).

The following professional personnel are employed at this unit:

Kier Klepzig, Project Leader, PhD, Research Scientist, Entomology/Microbiology

Peter Lorio, PhD, Emeritus Research Scientist, Tree Physiology

John Moser, PhD, Emeritus Research Scientist, Entomology/Acarology

Brian Strom, PhD, Research Scientist, Entomology/Chemical Ecology

Brian Sullivan, PhD, Research Scientist, Entomology/Biological Control

USDA-ARS, SRRC Sugarcane Research Unit:

Present laboratory facilities and offices were constructed in 1936 and 1937, respectively. Following the closing of the Southdown Plantation and Factory in Houma in 1978, field activities were transferred to the Ardoyne Research Farm. These facilities are located approximately 8 miles north of Houma and comprise a 300-acre research farm with a well equipped repair shop and juice laboratory. The juice laboratory has the capacity to mill field samples using the traditional roller-mill method and as a simulated core sample. The core sample is the method utilized by commercial mills to determine cane quality and thus determine farmer payments. Researchers from the USDA, Louisiana Agriculture Center, and American Sugarcane League utilize the simulated core sample to determine the direct impact of insect feeding, diseases, field mud and trash on sugar yields in field studies. The Houma facility also maintains a moderate sized insectary for rearing of both the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), and introduced parasitoids such as, Cotesia flavipes and C. chilonis. Sugarcane, corn/small grain, and insect pathology programs at the Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University, have utilized insects produced by this facility. The following professionals are involved in research on arthropod pests of sugarcane at this location:

William H. White, Ph.D., Mississippi State University, Entomology

Thomas L. Tew, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Genetics (Plants)

Yong-Bao Pan, Ph.D., Iowa State University, Genetics (Plants)

The Northeast Research Station was established in 1929 at its present site in the Mississippi River alluvial flood plain about 3 miles north of St. Joseph. The establishment of the station was a cooperative effort by 11 parishes in northeast Louisiana who provided funds to purchase the original 160 acre tract of land with the provision that LSU establish and operate a branch research station. Additional land was purchased over the years to bring the present acreage up to about 470 acres. Research project leaders located at St. Joseph include Mr. Eugene Burris (insect pest management in field crops), Dr. Merritt Holman (cotton and soybean agronomy), Dr. Rick Mascagni (corn and small grains agronomy), Dr. Donnie Miller (cotton and soybean weed control), and Dr. Bill Williams (corn, rice, and small grains weed control).

The Macon Ridge Branch of the Northeast Research Station at Winnsboro was established in 1955 to better serve the producers on the droughty loessial soils of the Macon Ridge. Current acreage at this location is approximately 740. Dr. Boyd Padgett joined the faculty of the Macon Ridge Research Station in 1999. He will be responsible for conducting disease management research with cotton and, to a lesser extent, other crops in northeast Louisiana. Dr. Padgett holds a joint appointment with the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station (75%) and Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (25%). Other faculty members located at the Macon Ridge Station include Dr. Donald Boquet (soybean and cotton agronomy), Dr. Roger Leonard (insect pest management in field crops) and Dr. Montgomery "Wink" Alison who is responsible for the agronomy research with forage crops at St. Joseph and Winnsboro. Dr. Alison also serves as the Research Coordinator of the Macon Ridge Branch Station.

The support personnel at the two stations includes 12 Research Associates who hold B.S. or M.S. degrees and 23 regular classified employees. The stations also provide part-time employment for numerous high school and college students who assist our scientists with their research programs and maintain the facilities. Several graduate students are also conducting their thesis research projects at the stations. Furthermore, researchers from several departments on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge conduct cooperative research with scientists at the Northeast and Macon Ridge Stations. These professional linkages have strengthened and broadened the research programs and expertise at our stations and helped us to better serve the agricultural industry in northeast Louisiana.

The Red River Research Station was established in 1947 on 573 acres of alluvial soil in the Red River Valley of Northwest Louisiana. Of the 573 acres, approximately 270 acres are in cropland and 178 acres in pasture. One hundred sixty acres of the cropland are in cotton with the remaining acreage in corn, sorghum, and soybeans. Faculty consists of seven members including two agronomists, an entomologist, a plant pathologist, a plant physiologist, a horticulturist, and the resident director. Research associates and a complement of civil service personnel of various ranks and skill levels support the research faculty. Support staff in entomology includes one research associate.

The station has laboratories for agronomy, entomology, pathology and plant physiology. Seven greenhouses are operational of which one is devoted to cotton entomology and one to pathology. The remaining greenhouses are devoted to the horticultural program. The station is also equipped with computers for each project leader and research associate. An electronic weather data collecting system, that is part of the statewide agri-climatic data system, is located on the station. The station is also equipped with scientific equipment and a fleet of tractors, implements, and harvesters to support is field research effort.

The Pecan Research-Extension Station is located four miles south of Shreveport, Louisiana. The station covers approximately 100 acres, of which about 60 acres are currently in pecan production. The main office building houses faculty and research associate offices, along with horticulture and plant pathology laboratories. The entomology laboratory is housed in a separate building. Other buildings include a maintenance shop, buildings for equipment storage, and buildings for pecan processing and packaging. Two greenhouses, one for the plant pathologist and one for the entomologist, are currently under construction. These greenhouses will be used for greenhouse tomato and vegetable insect and disease pest management research.