Suzanne is the Plant Clinic and Extension NIFA-IPM Coordinator with the University of Illinois Extension in the Department of Crop Science. Suzanne also serves as co-director of the U of I Extension Online Distance Diagnostic Clinic as well as editor and contributing author of the 'Field Crop Scouting Manual'. She writes for several Extension newsletters and is a contributing columnist for The News-Gazette. Suzanne provides leadership for pest identification and is responsible for educating clientele about IPM technologies to aid in the management of economic pests in Illinois. Bissonnette has provided leadership for U of I Extension on state disease Taskforces including the Soybean Cyst Nematode Coalition and the Soybean Rust Education Program. Bissonnette is the recipient of several awards most recently the University of Illinois College of ACES Paul A. Funk Professional Staff Award for Sustained Excellence –Teaching and Outreach 2009. Suzanne received her B.S. in 1984 in Botany at the University of Minnesota, and both her M.S. in 1987 and Ph. D. in 1992 in Plant Pathology at the University of Illinois, C-U.

Program Offerings

Traditional Core Programming:

• Private Pesticide Applicator Training Clinics
• Homeowner Pesticide Safety Master Gardeners
• Crop Days, Agronomy Days, Field Days Speaker

Indepth Workshops:

Areas of Expertise:

• Plant Pathology: diseases of corn, soybeans, wheat and other commercial row crops
• Integrated Pest Managmeent (IPM): specializing in management of disease, insect and weed pests in field crops
• Biological, cultural and chemical control of diseases, insects and weeds in field and forage crops
• Identification and diagnosis of disease, insect and weed problems in field crops
• Scounting for diseases,insects and week problems in field crops and use of economic thresholds for management decisions
• Scout training for identification of disease, insect and weed pests of field crops
• Current issues in IPM
• Soybean cyst nematode management, resistance and outlook
• Management of root and stem diseases in soybean, especially soybean cyst nematode, sudden death syndrome and white mold
• Management of foliar diseases in corn and wheat
• GMO's, genetic engineering, what is it, do we need it environmentally, economically?
• The use of transgenic crops for pest control, European corn bore, rootworm

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