Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Dr. Noel Troxclair Moves on to Greener Pastures!

Hi everyone! Just a quick update to let you know that Dr. Noel Troxclair has transferred to Uvalde County, where he is now serving as the ANR Agent. He is still reachable at the same email address, but he is no longer the ANR Agent in Travis County. He's only been gone a few weeks, and we already miss him! But we wish him all the best in his new role in Uvalde County.

Until we can get a new ANR Agent on-board for Travis County, which may be a while, Daphne Richards, the Travis County Horticulture Agent, may be contacted with any ANR inquiries. If she doesn't know the answer to your question, she will reach out to surrounding counties to try and get an answer for you. 

Here are just a few of the questions we are getting at the moment, and some answers: 

Q:     "Where can I go to take the required course to earn the credits needed prior to taking the TDA pesticide applicator's licensing exam?"
A:     Currently, we are referring all of these requests out to surrounding counties. Williamson County is likely your best bet for this course, as the ANR Agent in that county is currently planning to offer this program quarterly. You may find more information on the Williamson County AgriLife Extension website.     

Q:     "Are there any upcoming opportunities to earn TDA pesticide license CEUs in Travis County" 
A:     No, not at the moment. The current plan is to partner with Dr. Troxclair for a virtual CEU program in early 2022 (see below).

Q:     "Will Travis County be offering their annual "Last Chance" pesticide applicator CEU program in February of 2022, as you usually do?"
A:     No, at least not in the "usual" way. Dr. Troxclair is planning to do a similar program, virtually, from Uvalde County. And we plan to offer those of you who normally participate in our annual Travis County program an opportunity to join Dr. Troxclair's program. 

Q:     "How will I find out about the virtual CEU program with Dr. Troxclair, planned for February 2022? 
A:     We will announce that here on this blog, and also on a new blog that we are building, within the AgriLife Extension web ecosystem (more info coming soon). 

Q:     "Will I receive a postcard from you about the Last Chance CEU program?"
A:      No, well, maybe. You will receive one more postcard from us, but it may or may not coincide with the February CEU program. We are in the process of changing how we communicate with licensed applicators in our area, and indeed with all of our potential ANR program clientele. If you have received a postcard from us in the past, you will receive a postcard in the near future. That postcard will direct you as to how to subscribe to future updates. We are phasing out postcards, so the next postcard you receive from us will be the last one. We are moving to an automated electronic communication system (most likely Mail Chimp) and you will need to follow the directions on the postcard (that you will receive in the near future) to sign up for electronic communications, in order to receive all future program announcements. 

If you need to find Noel, or Daphne, or any other AgriLife employee, or if you don't know a person's name and decide to call a particular county office, please go to the AgriLife People website and type the name of the person or the county you are trying to reach into the search bar on that page. 

The Travis County Extension office is still closed to the public, but if you need to drop something off or have some other reason that you need to come in person to the office, please call and we will do our best to make arrangements. The contact information for the Travis County office is here.

Stay tuned for updates!

Thursday, February 18, 2021

 Virtual Travis County CEU Training Program 

Dates: February 23rd, 24th and 25th, 2021

Times:       7:30 AM to 2:45 PM
                   
CEUs:          15 total, listed below. 

Location:      On-Line Virtual Zoom Meeting

Cost:             1 Day, $30 

                     2 Days, $50, 

                     3 Days, $75 

Register at:  https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/TravisCounty


Full agenda for each day may be viewed at the registration web page.

Day one CEUs - 2 IPM, 1 L&R and 2 General - Pesticide factors

Day two CEUs - 2 IPM, 1 L&R and 2 General - Pest features and Pesticide factors

Day three CEUs - 3 IPM, 1 L&R and 1 General - Environmental consequences

Contact:  Noel Troxclair at noel.troxclair@ag.tamu.edu
Mobile:  830-279-4976