The Penn State Extension Water Resources Team is offering two pond education opportunities where participants learn from home. An Online Pond Home Study Course, and an Aquatic Pesticide Recertification Correspondence Course, allows Pennsylvania Pond Owners to participate, without ever leaving their home.

Beginning on April 4, a twelve week Penn State Extension Online Pond Management Home Study Course will restart. The course has been completed by over 100 pond owners so far and was redesigned last year for re-release this spring. The new course will feature PowerPoint’s with narration, covering the various topics. The cost of the course is $35.00 and covers six lessons delivered by email over a 12 week period.

The six lessons cover pond assessment, pond maintenance, aquatic plants and algae, fisheries management, attracting and managing wildlife, and pond case studies. In the case studies lesson, the participants are given real life PA pond cases to manage. A series of six worksheets allow the participants to communicate with Penn State Pond Experts and ask individual questions about their own pond resource.

You can find more information and register for the course online.

The Penn State Extension Water Team also coordinates a Category 9 Aquatic Pesticide Recertification Correspondence Course which is approved for 3 credits by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. 

The course is built on the Penn State Extension Publication entitled “Management of Aquatic Plants” and a companion CD containing 7 short pond related videos. Participants receive a package in the mail once they register. They read the publication, watch the videos, and answer the 7 worksheets related to the videos.

A self-addressed stamped envelope is included so the completed worksheets and other materials can be efficiently mailed back to the instructor. The worksheets are corrected and arrangements made for the credits with PDA, if the student passes. Participants have 60 days to complete the course once they register. The course is a great opportunity for anyone trying to maintain a Category 9 Aquatic Pesticide Applicators License.

You can find more information and register for the course online.

(Written By: James A. Clark, Extension Educator, Cameron/Elk/Jefferson/McKean/Potter District and reprinted from Penn State Extension Watershed Winds newsletter.)

3/4/2013