A HIRING BOON IN APPLIED PEST MANAGEMENT AND IPM SPECIALIST POSITIONS DURING THE 1970S PROVIDED A LARGE FORCE OF FACULTY WHO WERE CREDITED WITH THE MANY ADVANCEMENTS IN IPM. HOWEVER, A MAJOR PORTION OF THAT CADRE HAS BEEN LOST TO RETIREMENT; AND A DECREASE IN THE APPARENT VALUE OF IPM SPECIALISTS HAS LED TO A LOSS OF MANY OF THESE POSITIONS. THIS DECLINING BASE OF FACULTY WITH ACTUAL FIELD EXPERIENCES CAN ONLY INCREASE THE CHALLENGE ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPING IPM PROGRAMS. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IS INTERDISCIPLINARY AND REQUIRES SYSTEM THINKING. PRACTITIONERS WHO USE IPM CONSIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR PEST MANAGEMENT TACTICS ON PESTS AND NON-TARGET ORGANISMS, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMY, HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING COMBINES VARIOUS TACTICS TO COMBAT MULTIPLE PESTS SO AS TO AVOID OVERRELIANCE ON ANY SINGLE METHOD. THIS KIND OF UNIFIED PROBLEM SOLVING IS DIFFICULT TO LEARN IN A TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM SETTING OR ON THE JOB ENVIRONMENT. THEREFORE, NEXT-GENERATION IPM PROFESSIONALS MUST RECEIVE DIVERSE TRAINING IN A HIGH-QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT DEVELOPS THEIR ABILITIES TO THINK CRITICALLY AND HOLISTICALLY (I.E., SYSTEM THINKING). WE WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS BY ENGAGING UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWS WHOLEHEARTEDLY IN THE LEARNING PROCESS AND EXPOSING THEM TO A BROAD ARRAY OF ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO APPLY THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO IMPROVE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FARMLANDS AND FOOD SUPPLIES.THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WITH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES SO THAT THEY CAN OBTAIN SKILLS NEEDED FOR GRADUATE STUDY AND SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC, BUSINESS OR GOVERNMENT CAREERS IN THE FOOD, AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND HUMAN (FANH) SCIENCES. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS FROM LAND GRANT INSTITUTIONS WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS BY HELPING UNDERREPRESENTED AND OTHER UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWS UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTALS OF INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM). PROJECT MENTORS WILL PROVIDE FELLOWS A COMPLETE LEARNING EXPERIENCE THAT FOSTERS THE CONFIDENCE AND SKILLS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP AND ENCOURAGE ADOPTION OF HIGH-LEVEL IPM PROGRAMS. FELLOWS WILL LEARN TO RECOGNIZE PEST PROBLEMS, THINK HOLISTICALLY AND CRITICALLY, AND USE THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO DEVELOP ECOFRIENDLY PEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. THEY WILL GAIN SKILLS NEEDED TO DEVELOP RESEARCH QUESTIONS, CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS, AND DISSEMINATE INFORMATION AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES, AS WELL AS PRODUCER TRAINING EVENTS AND OTHER OUTREACH VENUES.SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE TO PROVIDE FELLOWS 1) BROAD KNOWLEDGE OF IPM, 2) HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE USING ECOLOGICAL PEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, 3) STRONG MENTORSHIP AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS, AND 4) RESEARCH AND EXTENSION EXPERIENCES. FELLOWS WILL COMPLETE COURSEWORK, RESEARCH, EXTENSION AND WORKSHOP TASKS. AFTER PROGRAM COMPLETION, FELLOWS WILL HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE TO APPLY WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED TO 1) MANAGE PESTS MORE SUSTAINABLY, 2) ENSURE GREATER FOOD SECURITY, AND 3) PROVIDE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FANH SCIENCES. IMPACTS INCLUDE IMPROVING NEXT GENERATION AG-PROFESSIONALS' ABILITIES TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES TO PEST MANAGEMENT AND ENSURE THE USA'S PREEMINENCE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.