The mission of the Epidemiology Committee is to foster collaboration within The American Phytopathological Society (APS) on issues regarding all aspects of plant disease epidemiology (e.g., ecological and quantitative epidemiology), serving as a bridge connecting applied and basic phytopathology, and to coordinate the planning and organization of special sessions for APS Annual Meetings. Committee members have a wide range of interests ranging from application of mathematics and statistics in plant pathology to population biology. The I. E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium, which is embraced by other APS committees, is the brainchild of the committee and intended to showcase outstanding graduate students in plant pathology. With financial support from the APS Foundation, the committee will sponsor the 2011 I. E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium during the APS-IPPC Joint Meeting in Hawaii. The 2011 symposium is entitled Today’s Students Making a Difference in the Field of Plant Disease Epidemiology and Disease Management. The Epidemiology Committee also works closely with other APS committees particularly the Crop Loss and Risk Evaluation (CARE) Committee in sponsoring special sessions and workshops during the APS Annual Meetings. The committee continues to sponsor popular workshops during APS meetings to educate and update APS members on the use of statistical methods in plant pathology. Future planned workshops include Multivariate Analysis, Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Linear Mixed Models, and Non- Parametric Analysis. Based on feedback from the APS Committee on Committees, the Epidemiology Committee is currently exploring the possibilities of developing these workshops into webinars or as online mini-courses for use as continuing education or classroom modules. The Epidemiology Committee is also currently considering the benefits and shortcomings of combining with another APS committee (e.g., CARE) to decide whether such a merger would be in the best interest of the APS membership. Chairs and vice chairs for the Epidemiology and CARE Committees met in January to set the stage for formal discussions on merger possibilities during the 2011 APS-IPPC Joint Meeting in Hawaii.
To advance the science and practice of plant disease epidemiology and to foster international collaboration within the community of plant disease epidemiology and related disciplines.