Entomology and Plant Pathology

Welcome to our department!

The future of Agriculture in the United States depends on our ability to help young men and women achieve a high level of education and the flexibility in order to apply their talents to problems that we cannot even imagine today. Agricultural concerns and opportunities are identified and studied by faculty and graduate students in Entomology and Plant Pathology who pass on their observations and solutions through interactions with students, members of the Agricultural Extension Service, and the scientific community. Extension personnel use their extensive knowledge of local conditions to integrate new solutions with current practice. Because of my desire to help others, I have been associated with institutions of higher education all my adult life, as a student, staff member, graduate student, teacher, researcher and administrator. The Entomology and Plant Pathology Department is composed of many other individuals who have dedicated their careers to the goal of improving agricultural capabilities. To find out more about these fine individuals, look at our web pages or come visit us in person.

Dr. Carl J. Jones
Professor and Head

Department Facilities

The Entomology and Plant Pathology Department is located in the Ellington Plant Sciences Building on the Agricultural Campus of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The department also has a research facility and four faculty members at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, Tennessee.

The University of Tennessee itself is large and has the advantages of a large institution (e.g., library, computers, advanced programs and courses, and abundant recreational facilities). However, The Institute of Agriculture (more specifically the Agricultural Camps) where we are located, is adjacent to the main campus and has a small college atmosphere with about 1000 graduate and undergraduate students.

Our department is relatively small. The student-faculty ratio is excellent (less than 2:1), giving students the advantages of both considerable individual attention and the opportunities available at a large university. The department is well-equipped with laboratories, greenhouses, controlled-environment chambers, and an insectary. The department has up-to-date computer facilities for data analysis and word processing. The department also has excellent light microscopes and ready access to scanning and transmission electron microscopes. A state-of-the-art high-performance liquid chromatograph and well-equipped molecular biology laboratories provide opportunities for physiological and biochemical investigations at the molecular level, as well as recombinant DNA technologies. Cooperative work is possible with allied programs such as ecology, ornamental horticulture, botany, zoology, microbiology, plant and soil science, or veterinary medicine.

Branch experiment stations totaling over 48,000 acres, located across the state, are available to faculty and students for field research. The University of Tennessee Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Library is located adjacent to the Ellington Plant Sciences Building and contains more than 83,000 titles, comprising the most important foreign and domestic publications in entomology and plant pathology and has excellent computer search capabilities. Several library search facilities are available. Student housing is available at very reasonable rates.

Graduate students participate in professional activities, e.g., attending and participating in professional entomological and plant pathological societies. Departmental, college, and University funds are available to defray the expenses of attending professional meetings. Recent meeting sites have included San Antonio, TX, Charleston, SC, Las Vegas, NV, Baltimore, MD, Pittsburgh, PA, and Portland, OR and San Diego, CA.