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Special Topics Courses

(Note: special topics are offered as needed on a trial basis)

Course & Instructor	Title and Description
PP495 Bruck 3 credits, fall	Global Climate Change- The Future of Food and Fiber. Global Climate Change and the Future of Food and Fiber is a new course targeted at upperclassmen undergraduate students interested in exploring one of the most important environmental challenges of the 21st century. The course is an in-depth exploration of the cause and effects of global climate change and the impacts on the future of food and fiber resources. Its objective is to develop critical thinking skills by evaluating the current literature and obtain a comprehensive understanding of the science, social, political, economic and ethical dimensions of climate change and its real and potential impacts.
PP495 Bruck 3 credits, spring	Belize Natural History-description TBA
PP495 Bruck 3 credits, spring	Galapagos Expedition-Ecology and Biodiversity. This course is the continuation of a 13 year series of Spring Break Ecotourism coupled with a 15 week intensive survey of neo-tropical ecosystems.
PP495 Bruck 3 credits, spring	Amazon Expedition. Weekly lectures and discussions related to the geology, edaphology, botany, zooology, and ethnology of the respective ecosystem. During the Spring Break (middle of semester) the class takes a 10 day expedition to the respective country. The expedition is an intensive 15 hr. day practicum on the biogeochemistry of these ecosystems.
PP495 Bruck Varied credits, spring	Costa Rica Expedition. Weekly lectures and discussions related to the geology, edaphology, botany, zooology, and ethnology of the respective ecosystem. During the Spring Break (middle of semester) the class takes a 10 day expedition to the respective country. The expedition is an intensive 15 hr. day practicum on the biogeochemistry of these ecosystems.
PP590 Benson 3 credits, spring	Forest Pathology. Major diseases of forest trees and deterioration of wood products emphasizing principles of plant pathology; diagnosis; nature, physiology, ecology, and dissemination of disease-causing agents; mechanisms of pathogenesis; epidemiology and environmental influences; principles and practices of control.
PP590 Bloem 3 credits, spring	Challenges in Plant Resource Protection. The purpose of this course is to provide students with applied training in the regulatory aspects of plant protection, using real world case studies, scenarios and issues.
PP590 Bloem 1 credit, fall, even yrs.	Fundamentals of (Pest) Risk Analysis. This course provides students with a historical perspective as well as real-time exposure to working professionals involved in the development of risk analysis documents for plant protection. The course uses real world scenarios and addresses contemporary issues facing scientists and regulators tasked with safeguarding American agriculture. Students will gain hands-on problem solving abilities regarding the identification and mitigation of plant pathogens, insects, and noxious weeds that can be introduced into the USA through international trade in agricultural commodities. Course
PP590 Cubeta 3 credits	Emerging Issues in Agricultural Technology. This graduate course will provide an introduction to economic, environmental, ethical, scientific, and social issues associated with the development and deployment of research-based technology in agriculture. This course provides a unique opportunity for students to interact with extension agents, teachers and scientists with practical experience and knowledge related to agricultural technology and current issues associated with their use. Lectures are designed to stimulate discussion and provide a basis for interpreting the scientific literature. Topics will include, bioremediation, organic farming, food safety, production of biofuels, genetic improvement of animals, crop plants and fish, seed health, and resistance to insects and plant diseases.
PP590 D. Shew 4 credits, fall	Principles of Plant Pathology. This course provides an introduction to the diseases that affect plants and the organisms that cause them. You will be introduced to the amazing, dynamic and complex microscopic world of plant pathogens and learn how this large and diverse group of microbes impacts our lives every day. You will see multiple examples of the constant battle that is waged between plant producers and plant pathogens for the plants and plant products that we use for food, fiber, recreation, and aesthetic purposes. Throughout the lectures, examples of important plant diseases that affect the production of ornamentals, turfgrasses, field crops and vegetables are covered in detail. If you are interested in plant production, you should be aware of the occurrence and approaches to management of diseases that occur in your production system.
PP590 Ristaino 2 credits, spring Webpage	Tropical Plant Pathology. The purpose of this course is to learn about tropical plant diseases in the tropics. A nine day field trip to visit coffee, banana, cacao, vegetable, tropical fruit plantations. See the diseases, learn the trade issues.
PP590 Sutton 3 credits (course is completed during summer but students register for course in fall to receive credit)	Field Plant Pathology in North Carolina. The course is designed to acquaint students with disease management strategies and diagnostic tools in a field laboratory setting. The diversity of crops, environments and farming operations in North Carolina provide an excellent opportunity to explore disease management options. Methods of applied field research and principles underlying each disease management tactic or strategy will be emphasized. This course will meet all day every Friday during both summer sessions. Extension faculty will lead field trips during most classes to NC Agricultural Research Service research stations, demonstration plots at grower locations, commercial farming operations, or agricultural chemical company facilities at the Research Triangle Park. One or more overnight trips will be taken. Various class projects will be assigned that emphasize the principles of disease management.
PP590 Sutton	Skills for Extension and Industry Professionals. The course will utilize NCSU faculty and outside speakers to address a diversity of topics including written and oral communication with diverse audiences, how to build an applied research and extension program, expectations of an Extension Specialist, time management, leadership styles, expectations of industry and regulatory agencies, working with industry, data collection and reporting, cultivating relationships with commodity groups, and writing commodity proposals. Students will be given the opportunity to improve communication and writing skills though various exercises.
PP590-DE Course Grand 3 credits, spring	Kingdom of Fungi. Overview of the fungal kingdom. Economic, historical and practical aspects of fungi and fungal-like organisms, and their impact on humankind. Mushrooms, molds, mycorrhizae, maladies and mutualisms.
PP590, DE Course Benson 3 credits, fall & spring	Forest Pathology. Major diseases of forest trees and deterioration of wood products emphasizing principles of plant pathology; diagnosis; nature, physiology, ecology, and dissemination of disease-causing agents; mechanisms of pathogenesis; epidemiology and environmental influences; principles and practices of control.
PP590, DE Course Ristaino 2 credits, spring Webpage	Tropical Plant Pathology. The purpose of this course is to learn about tropical plant diseases in the tropics. A nine day field trip to visit coffee, banana, cacao, vegetable, tropical fruit plantations. See the diseases, learn the trade issues.
PP610/810 Bird 1 credit, fall & spring	Genomic Sciences Journal Club (http://statgen.ncsu.edu/journal_club/). Genomic Sciences is a new and rapidly evolving discipline that integrates aspects of biochemistry, biology, computer science, genetics, statistics, and other topics to address broad questions of gene organization, function and evolution. The Journal Club provides a venue for students to review the current and diverse literature of Genomic Sciences. Further, students will learn to read, criticize and discuss the primary research literature. Each week, a different student serves as the presenter to choose the paper and lead the discussion. Every student is expected to read each paper and participate in the discussion.
PP610/810 Dean 1 credit, fall & spring	Fungal Genomics. The class meets weekly to discuss recent advances in fungal molecular biology. Subject material includes recent papers on the application of functional genomic, proteomic, comparative and other contemporary approaches to understand fundamental and applied aspects of fungal biology, development and pathogenicity.
PP790 Davis 3 credits	Phytonematology. PP 790 will have very similar content (course description) as PP 504 and will be the (3-credit) equivalent of PP 504 on a student Plan of Work. There will be no lab section of PP 790. After initial lecture classes, a primary emphasis of PP 790 will be a literature-based/discussion course based upon student readings, analysis, and presentations of designated nematology literature.
PP790 Ojiambo 3 credits	Epidemiology: Theory and Application. Study of the dynamics of diseases; statistical and mathematical modeling of disease epidemics
PP790 Opperman 3 credits, spring, even yrs.	Plant Disease Resistance: Mechanisms and Breeding. A comprehensive examination of plant disease resistance and breeding. Topics to be covered include pathogen variability, qualitative and quantitative resistance, sources and inheritance of resistance, production of resistant cultivars, R-genes and resistance mechanisms, pathogen responses to resistance, genetics and genomics of resistance, and transgenic approaches. Topics presented with relevance to bacterial, fungal, nematode, and viral pathogens, abiotic stress, and other biotic stress. Preq: CS(GN, HS) 741, PP 315, ST 701
PP790 Veronese 3 credits	Molecular Genetics and Plant Response to Stress. The seminar series will provide an overview on molecular and genetic mechanisms active in protecting plants during the exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses. Particular emphasis will be given in outlining how functional genomic approaches have been applied to dissect plant stress tolerance pathways.
PP795 Dean 2 credits, fall	A Genomics Perspective on Fungal Pathogenicity and Development. Current topics in fungal genomics, particularly as they relate to interactions with other organisms, primarily plants but also animals as appropriate. Modern tools of functional and comparative genomics are explored to develop knowledge of cellular differentiation, recognition processes, evolution of pathogenesis for example using illustrations from both model fungi such as yeasts and other fungal pathosystems. Emphasis is placed on conceptual learning using seminal studies from published literature. The class encourages discussion, critical thinking and knowledge integration.
PP795 (MB) Ritchie 2 credits, spring	Advanced Special Topics-Bacterial Quorum Sensing Consequences-- Utilizing 1-3 research papers a week, this advanced course will explore the role and consequences of microbial quorum sensing. It is intended for Ph.D. andadvanced M.S. students. Students will gain knowledge about the “languages” thatbacteria use and the consequences of bacteria “speaking” with each other.