RIVERSIDE — Urbanization creates costly pest problems. Insects and rodent pests can contaminate food, destroy wood in homes and can result in health problems — disease, hospitalizations, even death.

Addressing these issues, the University of California, Riverside will host the 19th annual Urban Pest Management Conference on March 24, from 7:15 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the University Theatre.

Topics to be covered include safe pesticide use; residential water runoff studies; the changing role of termiticides applied to soils to control termites; bed bugs; and spiders and their significance for the pest control industry.

The keynote speaker is Mary-Ann Warmerdam, director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, who will discuss the changes and challenges facing the pest control industry.

The conference is especially popular with supervisors, managers and technicians in the structural pest control industry. Approximately 250 attendees are expected to attend this year’s conference.

"One of the primary goals of the conference is to provide the industry and public with the most current information regarding the biology and control of insect pests in and around urban structures," said Michael Rust, a professor of entomology at UC Riverside, who is one of the conference organizers. "The morning session will focus on pesticides in the urban environment and strategies to reduce their negative impact."

More information, including how to register, can be obtained here.

Registration is $85 per person (includes lunch). Reporters covering the conference may attend it at no charge.

The University of California, Riverside, is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UC Riverside's enrollment of over 19,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UC Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.