Many students come to college pursuing standard degrees. They want to be doctors, lawyers or teachers. Other students, however, come in pursuit of something a little less conventional. Some of the University’s more quirky career paths include agricultural pest control, disaster science and management, and sugar engineering. Agricultural pest management is a concentration within the plant and soil systems major. Jim Griffin, professor for the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Services, said students are “trained in identification and management of agricultural pests” including insects, plant diseases and weeds. Matthew Bauerle, agricultural pest management senior, said he chose his major because he grew up in a small town and comes from an agricultural background. Bauerle is one of only four or five students in the concentration. Both Bauerle and Griffin said the concentration is not easy. Bauerle said he is required to know a lot about chemistry and biology, and Griffin agrees that students must be committed. Bauerle said he hopes to get a job as a crop consultant or chemical salesman. Graduates can also be hired to do termite control, lawn and garden pest control or environmental jobs dealing with pesticides. Griffin, who played a large role in the development of the agricultural pest management concentration, said the College of Agriculture began offering the career path because they saw a need the college was not addressing. Disaster science and management, another atypical concentration, teaches students “survival skills and interaction with state and local government agencies,” said University alumnus Brice Acosta Acosta said he chose to minor in disaster science and management because he was looking for a career that would allow him to help people. John Pine, director of the disaster science and management program, said the minor is designed to supplement a student’s major. It gives them a way to see an application of their major and look at disaster through their own area of interest, he said. Pine said the coursework “focuses on science rather than management.” Students interested in disaster science and management have the option of studying it as a minor or as a concentration to receive a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, he said. Pine said the program, which began in 2001, had “consistent involvement even before Hurricane Katrina.” He said about 100 students take the classes each year, but only some pursue the minor or concentration. Acosta, who works as an operations specialist for FEMA, said his minor was probably the only reason he got the job. Pine said graduates can also work in consulting or for other nonprofit or government agencies. Biological, chemical and mechanical engineering students have the option of specializing in another unconventional field-sugar engineering. Ben Legendre, professor and interim head of the Audubon Sugar Institute, said the minor teaches “operation and management” of a sugar mill or factory. Students learn how to separate sugar, sugarcane breeding, filtration, crystallization and boiler efficiency, Legendre said. He said the curriculum aims to teach sugarcane production “from field to factory.” He said six students were enrolled in this past sugar process engineering class which is only offered during the summer intersession. The University also offers a sugar factory design class, he said. “Sugar has been a mainstay in the state of Louisiana for over 200 years,” Legendre said. He added that the Audubon Sugar Institute, which moved off campus only 22 years ago, is more than 120 years old. Legendre said students who graduate with this minor usually get jobs at a sugar mill or factory. He said there are 12 factories in Louisiana.
—-Contact Emmy Gill at [email protected]