Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture offered through the
Center for Tropical Agriculture (CTA)
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The Center for Tropical Agriculture seeks to stimulate research, teaching and outreach activities associated with agriculture, natural resources and human capability in tropical regions of the world. The Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture, offered through the Center for Tropical Agriculture, was the first interdisciplinary minor approved by the Graduate School and has been in existence for over 30 years. In cooperation with participating academic units throughout the University, the Center for Tropical Agriculture offers the Minor in Tropical Agriculture as an interdisciplinary enhancement to a student’s chosen MS or PhD program.
Philosophy
The Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture is a Graduate School approved Interdisciplinary academic program offered through the Center for Tropical Agriculture (CTA). The minor seeks to promote the educational and research goals of the CTA through increased involvement of graduate students from disciplines across the University of Florida, while providing enrolled graduate students with a credentialed focus in Tropical Agriculture. Students studying for a Ph.D., Masters of Science or Masters of Agriculture may participate. The curriculum is designed to provide graduate students with a focused preparation for careers in Tropical Agriculture, including agricultural production, food systems, environmental issues, natural resources, and agribusiness in the tropics. The Minor in Tropical Agriculture appears on the student’s transcript.
Criteria for the Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture
1. Supervisory Committee: At both the MS and PhD levels, the student’s Supervisory Committee must include a faculty member who is an official member of the Center for Tropical Agriculture. This faculty member cannot be associated with the academic unit from which the student will receive the MS or PhD degree.
2. Requirements for the Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture at the Masters Level
- A minimum of 7 graded credit hours.
- Six graded credit hours will be selected from the list of approved courses (see attached) under the guidance of the Supervisory Committee Faculty Member representing the CTA.
- Selected courses must be from outside the student’s major and may not include courses from other academic units which qualify for graduate credit within the home department.
- The seventh graded credit hour must be a ‘hands-on’ experience in the student’s Tropical Agriculture selected focus. This experience may take the form of a study abroad, internship, field trip or special project and must have a time equivalent at least equivalent to a 1 h graded course.
3. Requirements for the Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture at the PhD Level
a. Students should define a focus in Tropical Agriculture that is outside the department in which they will obtain their degree.
Examples of acceptable foci include, but are not limited to:
Tropical Horticulture and Crop Production
Tropical Agricultural Economics/International Trade
Tropical Agroforestry/Forestry
Tropical Plant Protection
Tropical Agroecology
Natural Resource Management in Tropical Regions
- A minimum of 12 graded credit hours.
- Selected courses must be from outside the student’s major and may not include courses from academic units which qualify for graduate credit within the home department.
- A minimum of one of the 12 graded credit hours must be a ‘hands-on’ experience in the student’s Tropical Agriculture selected focus. This experience may take the form of a study abroad, internship, field trip or special project that must have a time equivalent to at least a one-hour graded course.
- An intent of the minor is that each student has an appreciation of the social context within which Tropical Agriculture is often practiced. To that end, at the discretion of the CTA faculty member, if the student does not have a background that addresses the social context, 3 graded credit hours selected from the social science section of the approved list (see below) may be required. These credits will count towards the 12 required graded hours.
List of Approved Courses for the Graduate Minor in Tropical Agriculture
Courses can be added and deleted from the approved list based on a petition from faculty members associated with the CTA. In order to request that a course be added, use the form which follows the list of courses below. A CTA sanctioned Minor Committee will evaluate the course and rule on whether it will be added. To delete a course, one can use the same form and give the reason(s) for deletion. The following is the current list of approved courses for the Minor in Tropical Agriculture from which the course requirements for the Minor will be met.
Social Science Related to Tropical Agriculture
WST 6935 Gender, Development, and Globalization
HOE 5555 Women and Households in Agricultural Development
AEB 5933 Ecological Economics
AEB 6453 Natural Resources and Environmental Economics
AEB 6651 Agriculture’s Role in Latin America and Africa
LAS 6290 Tropical Conservation and Development (with the permission of the TCD program)
LAS 6291 Conservation and Development Skills (with the permission of the TCD program)
ANG 5255 Rural Peoples of the Modern World
Tropical Ecology
PCB 6356c Ecosystems in the Tropics
ZOO 6927 Ecological Basis of Tropical Conservation
ALS 6933 Tropical Agroecology
Agronomy and Tropical Agriculture
AGR 5277C Tropical Crop Production
AGR 5511 Crop Ecology
AGR 6233C Tropical Pasture and Forage Science
AGR 6905 Special Problems (with a tropical agriculture emphasis)
GEO 5809 Geography of World Agriculture
Botany and Tropical Agriculture
BOT 5685C Tropical Botany
BOT 6951 Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach
PCB 6356C Ecosystems of the Tropics
Entomology and Nematology and Tropical Agriculture
ENY 5566 Tropical Entomology
ENY 6905 Special Problem (with a Tropical Agriculture emphasis)
Forest Resources and Conservation and Tropical Agriculture
FNR 5335 Agroforestry
FOR 5615 Forest Conservation and Management Policies and Issues
FOR 6170 Tropical Forestry
FOR 6172c Tropical Forestry Field Course
FOR 6905 Special Problem (with a Tropical Agriculture emphasis)
FOR 6934 Community Forestry
Horticultural Science and Tropical Agriculture
ORH 5282 Orchid Biology and Culture
ORH 5322C Palm Biology and Culture
HOS 5555 Tropical Fruit Production and Research in Florida
HOS 5325C Advanced Citriculture I
HOS 6546 Advanced Citriculture II
HOS 6905 Special Problem (with a Tropical Agriculture emphasis)
Plant Pathology and Tropical Agriculture
PLP 5005C General Plant Pathology
PLP 5102C Theory and Practice of Plant Disease Control
PLP 6905 Special Problem (i.e. Field Plant Pathology)
PLP 5115C Citrus Pathology
PLP 5155 Microbiological Control of Plant Diseases & Weeds
Soil and Water Science and Tropical Agriculture
SOS 5132 Tropical Soils Management
SOS 6932 Soil Ecosystem Services
SOS 6905 Special Problem (with a Tropical Agriculture emphasis)
Tropical Agriculture Economics/International Trade
AEB 5167 Economic Analysis of Small Farm Livelihood Systems
AEB 6634 Agricultural Development Administration
AEB 6645 Economic Development and Agriculture
AEB 6674 International Agricultural Trade and Policy
AEB 6675 International Agribusiness Marketing
AEB 6676 International Agricultural Finance and Policy
Agricultural Education and Communication
AEE 5073: Agriculture, Resources, People, and the Environment: A Global Perspective
AEE 6316: From America to Zimbabwe: An Overview of International Extension Systems
Organization for Tropical Studies Courses that can fulfill the “hands-on” experience
OTS-1 Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach
OTS-3 Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach
OTS-7 Agroecología Tropical
OTS-9 Tropical Plant Systematics
OTS-12 Ecologia da Floresta Amazônica
OTS-13 Ecosistemas Amazônicos
OTS-18 Sistemática de Plantas Tropicales
OTS-19 Ecología de Ecosistemas Costeros |
