The FIU Agroecology Program is a comprehensive program that integrates education, research and training of university and high school students and teachers on agricultural issues at farm level and regional landscape level. The program focuses on interfacing agriculture, natural ecosystems and urban development and consists of specialized undergraduate agroecology courses, field trips, summer internships, graduate fellowships, and training workshops for university students and high school teachers.
The objective of this workshop fosters a relationship between teachers, FIU instructors, local government, and non-profit institutions. Participants experience practical application of relevant science curricula in agro-ecological sciences with a strong commitment to the future well-being of people and environment. 
This workshop has been made possible by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
July 14-18, 2008
"Agroecology: principles, practices and research applications" Dr. Krish Jayachandran
Dr. Mahadev Bhat & Dr. Krish Jayachandran
Agroecology Program at FIU
Florida International University
Department of Environmental Studies
11200 SW 8th StreetMiami, Florida 33199
The five-day workshop covers advancements in agroecological issues facing South Florida and beyond, by experts from FIU, USDA, Archbold Biological Station, other agencies and farmers, in a three-day field trip to USDA Horticultural Research Station, Miami, and MacArthur AgroEcological Research Center, Lake Placid, Florida.This program is funded through a grant from USDA-CSREES.
The focus of these programs is on the triangular interface between agriculture, natural ecosystems, and urban areas. The image below depicts the underlying connection between these three different areas, with some of the positive and negative feedback effects. South Florida presents an ideal setting to study the relationships between natural, agricultural, and urban areas due to the availability of these three different types of environments. The fragile Everglades covers most of south Florida and is impacted by the pressure from the growing population of the nearby urban areas. Productive agricultural lands are necessary to provide for the increasing population, which in turn put more pressure on the natural areas.
