It’s the start of a new year, and I thought it might nice to provide an update on ongoing and new outreach projects that I’ve been working on at the PDDC. For the past few of years, I’ve been focusing at least some of my efforts on developing educational resources that might be of interest to a youth audience (and quite frankly the child that still resides in all of us).
Limerick Books
My initial attempt in this area was the publication of my plant disease-themed limerick book (“Limerickettsia: A Plant Pathlogist’s Book of Verse”) back in 2023. This book contains 52 plant disease-themed limericks, accompanying prose descriptions and photos of the diseases, and original custom artwork. I’m currently working (albeit somewhat sporadically) on a sequel (tentatively titled “Sublimerick”) that will include limericks and other information on plant disease management. I have about half of the limericks (and artwork) completed, but that leaves another 26 limericks to go. I also need to track down and get permission for photos to use in the book. That will definitely take some time and makes when the book might be published a bit difficult to predict.
Plant Disease Medallions
Another of my youth-oriented projects has been my “UW Plant Disease Facts Medallion Project”. I have almost 140 fact sheets in the “UW Plant Disease Facts” fact sheet series, and for each of those fact sheets, I have written a quiz, and designed a special electronic medallion. You can read a fact sheet, take the corresponding quiz, and once you earn 100% on the quiz, you are emailed the corresponding medallion. I know of some folks who have collected all 130+ medallions. A new, exciting development with this project is that it looks like my department’s introductory plant pathology class will begin using the quizzes (and having students earn medallions) as part of its curriculum this fall.
Building Block Plant Diseases
My building block plant disease models have been fun to develop and offer to the public. I currently have 10 building block plant disease kits, including kits for powdery mildew, apple scab, and black knot. Information on the kits is available free of charge and downloadable from my clinic website. Kits include instruction manuals (with a list of parts that you can purchase on your own), adult-friendly and kid-friendly fact sheets, and a word search puzzle for each disease. Blossom end rot kits have been provided to every county Extension office in Wisconsin and were used back in 2024 as part of a University of Wisconsin Division of Extension 4-H outreach program to teach youth and their families about tomatoes and their uses. In addition, “What’s Eating My Plants (WEMP)”, the graduate student outreach group in my department (Plant Pathology) at the the UW-Madison has used this kit for youth outreach and education at local public libraries. WEMP’s work was highlighted in the UW-Madison College of Agricultural & Life Sciences “Grow” magazine (with a photo of the blossom end rot model on the cover). I have other models (e.g., aster yellows, black rot, brown rot, downy mildew) in development. I just need to order parts (to make sure my designed models are buildable) and put together the supplemental written materials to complete the kits.
Phytopath-opoly
My most recent youth-oriented outreach project (started in late 2025 and continuing into 2026) is a plant disease-themed homage to Hasbro’s Monopoly©. The game, dubbed “Phytopath-opoly”, is designed to teach people about plant diseases and their management. The gameboard has spaces covering 24 plant diseases, spaces representing the major groups of disease-causing organisms (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and viruses), and spaces for abiotic disorders, and non-disease oddities. For diseases, you can apply control measures and eventually have a disease (really the affected plant) designated as “HEALTHY”. There are “Diagnosis” and “Environment” spaces where, when you land on these spaces, you pick a card, learn a fun fact about a disease, and then earn a reward or are assessed a penalty. There is also a special bonus component to the game. where after completing certain goals, there are building block minikits that players can build. Vegetable seed packets representing different numbers of seeds are used as a substitute for money. The game will include a binder of fact sheets describing the various diseases included in the game for players who want to learn more. I have completed all of the graphic design elements, and I’m now working on written materials (e.g., rules, facts sheets, instruction manuals for the building block minikits). I hope to have everything ready by the end of the year. As with my building block plant disease kits, everything will be available for download (for free) from my clinic website.
Want to See or Learn More?
If you are interested in seeing any of my youth-oriented work “in the flesh”, I encourage you to come visit the PDDC booth at the upcoming PBS Wisconsin Garden & Green Living Expo (February 13-15, 2026) in Madison. I will have displays/information on all of my youth outreach projects (including a printout of my Phytopath-opoly gameboard) at the booth. Also, I will be providing updates (as they become available) on my Facebook, Twitter (X) and Bluesky accounts (search for “UWPDDC” on all three platforms), and via my clinic listserv (UWPDDCLearn). Email me at pddc@wisc.edu to subscribe to the listserv. Finally, you can always contact me directly for information by email or by phone at (608) 262-2863.
Happy New Year! And, keep on learning!
