Admission to the CSU Stanislaus Agricultural Studies Speaker Series lecture sponsored by Yosemite Farm Credit is free and open to the public. For directions to the Faculty Development Center on the CSU Stanislaus campus, go to the University Web site at http://www.csustan.edu/directories/Maps/.
Research Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission, Ohmart has an extensive background in sustainable agriculture, the process of making agricultural land continuously productive without damaging its ecosystems. He served as principal research scientist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRO) Division of Forest Research in Australia, conducting studies on insect pests in Monterey Pine and Eucalyptus trees. Ohmart is also a private consultant for Scientific Methods, Inc. in Chico where he has helped growers develop integrated pest management programs for almonds, walnuts, prunes, and pistachios.
Ohmart is active at the county, state, and national level in pest management and wine industry affairs. In his current capacity with the Lodi Winegrape Commission, Ohmart is the architect of California’s first third-party-certified sustainable winegrowing program called the “Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing.” He has documented his research as the author and co-author of a number of articles in international research journals and has made more than 300 presentations at universities, government research organizations, and grower groups in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and Finland.
Ohmart received his Ph.D. in entomology from UC Berkeley.