Announcement for a 2 Day Pesticide Core Skills Course on Maui, September 10-11, 2025

LOCATION

Maui College

DATES & TIMES

INTRODUCTION

This in-depth two-day short course is about handling pesticides, including herbicides, in ways that will reduce risks to people and our environment. It will be conducted by an instructor from the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, training personnel from HIOSH, and HDOA Pesticides Branch. The course does not include the exam for restricted use pesticide certification. (If you want to take one of the certification exams offered by the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture, read the note “EXAMS FOR CERTIFICATION” near the bottom of this page.)

WHO WOULD BENEFIT?

The course would benefit people who want to be better informed about handling pesticides properly or prepare for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s examination for restricted use pesticide certification.

Current certified applicators will earn 8 re-certification credits (CEUs) in all categories by attending this course.

TOPICS

The instructors will discuss the topics covered by the study guides in the basic or “core” study packet, which provide general information common to all categories of certification exams. Certain topics such as identification and life cycles of specific pests and specialized equipment and calculations are covered only by the study guides in “category-specific” study packets, not in the short course. So if you plan to take a certification exam, you should also study the “category-specific” study guides, such as those in the “Private 1,2,3” study packet, the “Commercial 2 Forest pest control” study packet, or the “Commercial 7a,b,c,d,e pest control” study packet. (The complete list of categories of study packets is at https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/epp/Education/Study-Guide-Packets.)

The basic or “core” topics to be covered in the short course include:

REGISTRATION

Deadline for registration is August 20, 2025. Enrollment is limited to 20 people.

If you have a disability and may need accommodations to participate, contact dragich@hawaii.edu by August 20, 2025

Registration is via email to gr6@hawaii.edu

STUDY GUIDES

Study guides for certification exams are not the same as the classroom handouts. You should get the study guides if you plan to study for a restricted use pesticide certification exam. The guides are offered as individual downloadable files and as printed booklets. The printed guides for a certification category are sold together as a “packet”. But you are not required to buy the printed versions. Anyone may download them free-of-charge from https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/epp/Education/Study-Guide-Packets.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact dragich@hawaii.edu or call (808) 956-6008.

EXAMS FOR CERTIFICATION

Test takers must make an appointment to take the exam to qualify for certification to buy or use restricted use pesticides in Hawaii. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s employees will sign up a test taker for a specific location, date and time. The exam fee is $50. Read more about the exams at hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/pest/pesticide-applicator-certificationrecertification-2/

FREE BOOKLETS AVAILABLE BEFORE SHORT COURSE BEGINS

For a free copy of the booklet, “Test Your Math Skills,” contact the instructor or download it HERE. The leaflet presents exercises and answers that will help trainees refresh basic math skills needed to understand the instructor’s calculation examples. Trainees who find the exercises difficult will get more benefit from the short course if they get tutoring before the course begins. The exercises review (1) common fractions and their decimal number equivalents, (2) rounding-off, (3) percent, (4) conversions between • seconds and minutes • ounces and pounds • fluid ounces, pints, and gallons • square feet and acres, (5) reading tables, and (6) calculating square feet of rectangular areas. Test-takers must have these skills to answer some of the questions in the certification exams.

You can download another free leaflet, Practice Analyzing an Insecticide Label, HERE. Study the examples to boost your pesticide label reading skills, which you will need to plan a pesticide treatment or to prepare for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s restricted use pesticide certification exam.