SAF Learning
Needle Diseases in Southern Pines
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Webinar information
Fungal needle diseases that cause premature shedding or death of the needles, including brown spot needle blight (BSNB), are a growing threat to forest health, particularly to loblolly pine forests in the southeastern U.S. Brown spot needle blight is a native disease of pines caused by the fungus Lecanosticta acicola. While typically not a major disease on loblolly pine, the disease has recently caused greater damage to southeastern U.S. forests. Currently, there are no management recommendations to reduce BSNB occurrence or damage on loblolly pine. However, BSNB is a top research priority in the Southeast. We'll discuss what we currently understand about BSNB and other needle diseases and how this emerging issue can be used as a test case for the recently developed Pine Pandemic Preparedness Plan (P4) - a collaborative effort with University, private, and federal researchers alongside industry.
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Is this webinar for you?
This webinar is appropriate for working foresters and forestry professionals interested in forest health threats, specifically needle diseases in the southeastern U.S. Students and academic professionals will find of interest the current extent of study and need for more research in this area. Those managing southern pine forests may gain insight in managing for these diseases.
Registration
1. Click REGISTER to the right of the webinar title. Be sure to log in with your SAF account username and password.
2. After checking out, the webinar will be available on your MY DASHBOARD page here on ForestEd.
For group registrations or registering someone other than yourself please contact membership@safnet.org or 202-938-3910.
Pricing
Registration is FREE ($0) for SAF members. Members still need to register to gain access to the webinar.
SAF Non-member price is $10. Join SAF today to access Community of Interest webinars for free and other growing member benefits. Affiliate membership is now available!
Webinar access
The webinar is archived for recorded viewing through November 20, 2025.
The webinar is accessible within the Contents tab (to the right of the Overview information).
Webinar duration
This webinar is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of this webinar, you will be able to:
1. Identify threats to the southern pine resource posed by invasive pests and pathogens and the role of differential fungal organisms in recent loblolly pine needle disease outbreaks.
2. Describe the brown spot needle blight phenomenon in the southeastern United States and the factors associated with these outbreaks.
3. Summarize ongoing efforts aimed at evaluating the long-term impacts of loblolly pine needle disease outbreaks.
4. List some of the strategies currently being developed to reduce damage cause by loblolly pine needle disease outbreaks.
Rubric
Successful completion of the webinar is measured by viewing the entire webinar and completing the evaluation.
Evaluation
Participant feedback is appreciated to help the Community of Interest and presenters continually improve webinars for future programming.
CFEs
Upon successful completion of this webinar, you will earn 1.5 CFEs in Category 1. CFEs will automatically be added to your CFE record located on www.eforester.org.
Certificate
Upon successful completion of this webinar and the evaluation, participants may download and print a certificate verifying completion of the webinar and earning CFEs. CFEs will be uploaded to participant CFE records by the end of the day (11:59 pm ET).
Return to Webinar (live or archived)
Once you are registered for the webinar, access this webinar within your MY DASHBOARD. The webinar will be accessible within the general listing of registered items of YOUR DASHBOARD.
Webinar Resources
Additional resources are available within the Resources tab and within the Contents tab.
Need Help?
For ForestEd questions, visit FAQs, email ForestEdSupport@safnet.org, or check out the registration quick tips in the Handouts tab. For questions about this Community of Interest, contact the Forest Health & Genetics Community of Interest Chair Esteban Galeano at esteban.galeano@msstate.edu. For technical assistance and questions about this webinar, email ForestEdSupport@safnet.org.
Refund
This is a non-refundable item. Please view FAQs for additional information.
Kamal Gandhi
Director
Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative - University of Georgia
Dr. Kamal JK Gandhi is the Wheatley Distinguished Professor of Forest Health and the Director of the Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative at the Warnell School of Forestry, University of Georgia. She earned her M.S. from the University of Alberta and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Her lab’s mission is to understand the principles of community and population ecology of forest insects and to provide real-life solutions for forest conservation and sustainability. She works on a variety of insect taxa with a focus on terrestrial ecosystems, and on both integrated pest management and insect conservation and biodiversity issues. Her research program is multi-disciplinary, multi-national, and she collaborates with many scientists, and state and federal agencies across the world.
Kier Klepzig
The Jones Center at Ichauway
Dr. Kier D. Klepzig is the Director of the Jones Center at Ichauway in southwest Georgia since July of 2017. This privately funded ecological research center and conservation forest employs 85 (including 8 PhD scientists, land managers, technical support, conservation workers and outreach staff), as well as 30 graduate students. The property consists of over 29,000 acres of longleaf pine, rivers, wetlands, agriculture fields and more. Kier received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, both degrees with a double major in Entomology and Plant Pathology in forests. His personal research focuses on bark beetle-fungal symbioses, insect biodiversity and functions, and medicinal compounds from plants in longleaf pine forests. Formerly, he was the Assistant Director of Research for the USDA Forest Service in Asheville, NC, and before that a Research Entomologist for the USDA Forest Service in Pineville, LA.
Caterina Villari
Associate Professor
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia
Dr. Villari is an Associate Professor of Forest Pathology at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, and a Co-Director of the Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative. In her research, she focuses on both basic and applied forest pathology, and her main scientific interest is the interaction among trees, fungal pathogens, and insect herbivores, and the related chemical ecology aspects. In her work, she uses an interdisciplinary approach that involves ecological, metabolomic, and molecular analyses. She leads an active laboratory and works in close collaboration with the USDA Forest Service, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the private industry sector. In the last few years, the major focus of her program has been the brown spot needle blight epidemic on loblolly pine.
Ben Thesing (Moderator)
Communications Specialist
The Jones Center at Ichauway
Ben Thesing became a Communications Specialist at The Jones Center at Ichauway in 2024. He completed his B.S. in 2018 in Forest Resources with an emphasis in Fisheries and Wildlife and an M.S. in Forest Resources in 2023, both from the University of Georgia. His current work includes managing Ichauway Center digital communications such as social media, field photography, and assisting with Education and Outreach programming.
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