The Bark Beetle Academy and bark & ambrosia beetle taxonomy training

The scolytine research community in the US has developed two courses which have thrived alongside for more than a decade. The Bark Beetle Academy (BBA) is run primarily out of the University of Florida in collaboration with Michigan State University and guest lecturers. The BBA specializes on the “big picture” systematics and ecology of scolytines, including evolutionary perspectives, global scope, invasive species, and climate-related outbreaks. As such, the audience of the BBA is diverse and international. The complementary workshop–the Bark & Ambrosia Beetle Taxonomy Training (TTW)–is independently organized by taxonomists with the USDA Forest Service, University of Georgia and Maryland Department of Agriculture. It has been hosted by several universities in the Eastern US with a more specialized focus–identification of scolytine genera in North America, with an emphasis on major pest and invasive species diagnostics. Consequently, its audience is more closely defined as agency personnel and students focused on scolytine identification. The funding models of the two courses are different: BBA charges a registration fee comparable to other similar events, which allows it to fund many presenters (many international) and provide specimens of exotic species that are not yet present in the US. The specialized TTW charges a modest fee, with students often staying at university dorms, but also supplies students with an extensive reference collection (of native and exotic species) and an electronic collection of keys and other important scolytine publications. Both workshops converged on a reference collection as a keystone element of the training.