ESA Announces New Executive Director

Lanham, MD; December 29, 2010—The Entomological Society of America is pleased to announce the selection of C. David Gammel, CAE, as its new Executive Director. He replaces Ann Kenworthy, who served as Interim Executive Director in 2010. Gammel was chosen from an excellent field of highly qualified candidates through a nation-wide executive search conducted by Transition Management Consulting, Inc.

Gammel is an experienced association executive with more than 15 years’ experience in association management and association consulting. He was president of High Context Consulting for five years, and before that served the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Employee Relocation Council in senior management positions. He is the author of two books and numerous articles on association membership and technology issues.

“David brings a wealth of experience in both association management and technology that will support the society’s strategic goals, including advocacy and member services. His depth of knowledge in membership engagement will serve ESA well as we focus on increased member value and growth,” said ESA President Ernest S. Delfosse. “The Governing Board looks forward to working with David to enhance the Society’s current programs and to continue our growth as the pre-eminent world-wide entomological society.”

"I am very excited to join ESA as Executive Director,” stated Gammel. “This is a great Society with a long tradition, respected publications, strong annual meeting, and enthusiastic membership. The Society’s members work on some of the most important scientific issues in the world today and I am honored to support them."

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, and hobbyists.

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The Stridulators - Interview and Music

The Stridulators played at Entomology 2010, the 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, in San Diego, CA. The entomologist band members are Tom Perring (University of California, Riverside), Roger Moon (University of Minnesota), Tom Baker (Penn State University), Greg Wiggins (University of Tennessee), and Jeff Bradshaw (University of Nebraska).

Journal of Integrated Pest Management is Now Online

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has just released the first issue of its newest periodical, Journal of Integrated Pest Management (JIPM), which is available online for free. JIPM is an online-only, open-access, peer-reviewed extension journal that covers the field of integrated pest management. The intended readership for the journal is any professional who is engaged in any aspect of integrated pest management, including, but not limited to, crop producers, individuals working in crop protection, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers of pest management products, educators, and pest control operators.

"The Journal of Integrated Pest Management is ESA's first new journal in 39 years. This journal takes the science of entomology, and other pest disciplines, and delivers it to an audience outside of our scientific community. The journal gives ESA an outlet for making our science relevant to pest management practitoners and the general public," said editors-in-chief Marlin Rice and Kevin Steffey.

"JIPM is truly a novel concept. It will publish peer-reviewed, scientifically-based, open-access articles on the Internet, which are specifically written to target a non-scientific readership. The journal will be the perfect vehicle for communicating pest management information to the general public."

The journal is multi-disciplinary in scope, publishing articles in all pest management disciplines, including entomology, nematology, plant pathology, weed science, and other subject areas. Articles in JIPM are written to help IPM professionals work on pest management issues, and are divided into three categories:

1) Profiles of insects, including scientific name, description of stages, biology, life history, host plants, potential for economic damage, sampling or scouting procedures, and management and control options.

2) Emerging IPM Issues, including information on the issue’s relevance, why the issue developed, balanced perspectives on the issue, and possible solutions.

3) Recommendations on pest-control and pest-management topics which are based upon the principles of integrated pest management and supported by published research and validation data when available.

The first issue contains the following articles:

- Ecology and Management of the Western Bean Cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Corn and Dry Beans

- Noctua pronuba (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): An Outbreak in Emails

- Stalk Borer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Ecology and Integrated Pest Management in Corn

- Pest Status of Invasive Crane Flies in New York Turfgrass and the Repercussions for Regional Plant Protection

- Discovery and Distribution of Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae) in Northeast Georgia

More information about JIPM is available here.

The first issue of JIPM is avaialbe for free here.

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines.

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Women in Entomology Breakfast

The Women in Entomology Breakfast will be held from 6:30-8:00 AM on Tuesday, Dec. 14th in a room set aside at the Trellises Restaurant on the grounds of the Town & Country.

Tickets may be purchased at the door for $15 for the breakfast buffet, which will include coffee, tea, orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon/sausage, hash browns/breakfast potatoes, breakfast breads, sliced seasonal fruit, etc. Other items may be ordered for an additional fee.

The goal of the Women In Entomology group is to encourage new networking opportunities, particularly among women in the Society, and all interested in supporting this goal are welcome to participate.

We will be encouraging all established members to find and sponsor one or more students or young professionals by buying their breakfast.

We hope to find a match for all others interested at the breakfast itself. For further questions, please contact Gail Kampmeier at gkamp@illinois.edu.

2011 World of Insects Wall Calendar Available Now

The ESA 2011 World of Insects Wall Calendar is now availalbe for purchase.

The calendar is available on a first-come, first-served basis. All registrants at the 2010 ESA Annual Meeting are entitled to one free copy with their registration. Additional copies are available by using this order form. There are no returns permitted for the ESA calendar and all sales are final. Click here for pricing information and an order form.

To order by phone, call 301-731-4535, ext. 3017, or email sales@entsoc.org.

ESA's Certification Program Featured in Pest Control Technology Magazine

In an article entitled "ACE Your Career Goals" in Pest Control Technology Magazine, author Bernard Wendell, ACE describes how to become an Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE).

"What can a person with multiple years of hands-on experience in the pest management industry who holds a bachelor’s or even master’s degree do to pursue his or her dream of becoming a certified entomologist?" he asks?

"They can take advantage of the Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) program offered through the Entomological Society of America. Offered as an alternative to the BCE program, the ACE designation is geared more towards those with hands-on training in structural pest management."

Wendell, manager of training and education at Arrow Exterminating Co. in Lynbrook, N.Y., goes on to write, "Imagine when friends, family, co-workers or customers ask what you do and you respond, "I am an entomologist," with a warm smile on your face. It always makes me feel good inside."

Visit the ESA website for more information on becoming an Associate Certified Entomologist.

Entomological Foundation Names 2010 Award Winners

The Entomological Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to build a future for entomology by educating young people about science through insects, has announced the winners of its 2010 student and professional awards, which are as follows:

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

•Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management—Sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection, this award is given for outstanding contributions to integrated pest management (IPM). Dr. Frank Zalom is a professor of entomology, an extension agronomist, and an entomologist in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of California, Davis. His current research focuses primarily on California specialty crops, including tree crops (almonds, olives, prunes, peaches), small fruits (grapes, strawberries, caneberries), and fruiting vegetables (tomatoes), as well as international IPM programs. The IPM strategies and tactics he has developed include monitoring procedures, thresholds, pest development and population models, biological controls and use of less toxic pesticides, which have become standard in practice and part of the University of California IPM Guidelines for these crops. His lab has responded to six important pest invasions in the last decade, with research projects on glassy-winged sharpshooter, olive fruit fly, a new biotype of greenhouse whitefly, invasive saltcedar, light brown apple moth, and the spotted wing Drosophila. The results of these studies are reflected in Dr. Zalom's 290 authored/co-authored, refereed journal articles or book chapters and 340 extension publications. He was director of the University of California's Statewide IPM Program for 16 years, and is co-chair of the APLU National IPM Committee.

•Henry and Sylvia Richardson Research Grant—This award provides research funds to postdoctoral ESA members who have at least one year of promising work experience, are undertaking research in selected areas, and have demonstrated a high level of scholarship. Dr. David Crowder is a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Entomology at Washington State University. Dave's research is on the community ecology of biocontrol systems, examining the relationship between natural enemy biodiversity and natural control of the Colorado potato beetle. The central focus of his research is to determine whether the conservation of beneficial predators is most influenced by in-field strategies, such as the planting of wildflower insectaries, or instead is primarily determined by the composition of surrounding habitats at the landscape level, and to determine how predator abundance affects pest control. The results will be used to educate regional growers on conserving beneficial insects through local habitat modification, and/or strategies to engineer whole farms to maximize predator movement among crops. He has more than 20 papers published, some in PNAS, Journal of Animal Ecology and Nature Biotechnology.

•President's Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Primary Education—This award recognizes educators who have gone beyond the traditional teaching methods by using insects as educational tools. Maureen Murphy-Foelkl is a third-grade teacher at Chapman Hill Elementary in Salem, Oregon. Maureen's task in teaching entomology is to move the students toward making closer observations and gaining more sophisticated understanding of insects by connecting or differentiating them. She invites local scientists to share their expertise and knowledge with her students. In her lesson plan What's for Dinner? An Inquiry Lesson on Insect Food Sources, students are introduced to the walking stick, an unfamiliar insect. Students focus on the process of scientific investigation while increasing their understanding of how harmful non-native species become when they alter the natural native environment. Books on walking sticks are introduced, and students chart their inquiries, observations, and conclusions. Students prepare mini habitats for their walking sticks. Data is collected, results are graphed and journaled, and then conclusions are presented to the class.

•President's Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Secondary Education—This award recognizes educators who have gone beyond the traditional teaching methods by using insects as educational tools. Dr. Jennifer Chong Claudio is the science department chairperson and a biology and anatomy/physiology teacher at Saint Lawrence Academy High School in Santa Clara, California. Jennifer began using insects as educational tools four years ago when she realized her biology students underappreciated insects as animals. She uses insects over other models for biology because they are easily observed in their natural environments. By the end of her lesson, Invertebrate Investigation: An Entomological Lesson, students are able to identify and describe at least four characteristics of insects, explain how genetic variation affects organisms, and present oral statements about their observations. This lesson includes playing her adapted version of "I am a Tree" and having students send postcards to their friends explaining what they have learned.

•Recognition Award in Urban Entomology—Sponsored by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., this award recognizes and encourages outstanding extension, research, and teaching contributions in urban entomology. Dr. Richard Redak is a professor and chair with the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside. His recent research has emphasized developing disinfestation treatments and quarantine procedures for commercial nursery crops grown in California. This research is directed at preventing the movement of the glassy-winged sharpshooter from areas of its current urban distribution to areas where it threatens both additional urban landscapes as well as a variety of California's agricultural commodities, especially those involving grapes, almonds, and olives. Dr. Redak and members of his lab developed a comprehensive research program to describe various aspects of the life history of this insect and have developed quarantine strategies for its management and containment. The research set biological- and cost-effective protocols that allowed California's multi-billion-dollar, urban-based nursery industry to ship plant material to the markets throughout the country with minimal risk of introducing a dangerous insect-disease vector. As this insect is a serious vector of many Xylella bacterial diseases (e.g. Pirece's disease of grapes, leaf scorch diseases of oleander, olive, almond, alfalfa, as well as multiple scorch diseases of urban trees and shrubs), Redak's research results have not only prevented the movement of the insect vector, but have also likely prevented numerous episodes of serious crop failures and further urban tree declines due to these diseases.

•Integrated Pest Management Team Award—Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, this award recognizes the successful pest-control efforts of a small, collaborative team consisting of entomologists from the private and public sectors. This year's winner, the Urban Pest Ant Management Alliance Team (Michael Rust, Donald Reierson, John Klotz, and Les Greenberg, UCR; Mark Robertson, CA DPR; John Kabashima, UCCE Orange County; Cheryl Wilen, UCCE Statewide IPM, Patrick Copps, Orkin Pest Control; Herb Field, Lloyd Pest Control; and Keith Willingham, Western Exterminator Company) implemented and demonstrated the least toxic IPM strategies to control ants in urban environments by pest management professionals. Three additional pest management companies participated as affiliate team members. They reduced the amount of pyrethroids used to control ants by at least 50% and developed strategies that prevent or significantly reduce the amount of insecticide in water runoff. Ants are one of the major pests around structures in urban environments. Commercial pest management companies throughout California report that 65-80% of their pest control services deal with ants. The use of pyrethroid insecticides has dramatically increased in the last ten years, causing unacceptable amounts of these insecticides to be detected in urban waterways. Reducing the frequency of applications, intentionally avoiding unnecessary application of pyrethroid insecticides, and using alternative low-impact treatments significantly reduced the insecticide runoff while still providing customers with outstanding service. Members of the Pest Management Alliance held two statewide conferences to demonstrate their findings and developed an ant website incorporating the latest information on ant identification and biology, and IPM techniques.

STUDENT AWARDS

•BioQuip Undergraduate Scholarship—Each year BioQuip Products sponsors a $2,000 undergraduate scholarship to assist students in the upcoming academic year to achieve their goal of obtaining a degree in entomology or pursuing a career as an entomologist. Samantha Taylor is an undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University. Samantha has been fascinated with insects since she was a little girl. She is currently conducting research related to her honors thesis to determine if a synergistic effect exists between Bt corn pollen and the neonicotinoid clothianidin, when fed to honey bees, by measuring their mortality, weight, and development of their hypopharyngeal glands. The goal of this experiment is to provide any possible explanations as to why the widespread loss of honey bee colonies, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, is occurring. After earning her degree in biology and entomology, she plans to attend graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in entomology.

•Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology—Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, this award recognizes Dr. Larry Larson's role as a leader and pioneer in insect management and carries that legacy to the next generation of leaders in applied entomology. Diane Silcox is a master's student in entomology at North Carolina State University, soon to be entering the Ph.D. program. Her MS research focused on characterizing the behavioral responses of mole crickets —pests of turfgrass—that enable them to escape or minimize exposure to insecticides applied in turf systems. She devised a procedure for radio-tracking individual mole crickets in the soil using micro-transmitters to understand mole cricket behavior to improve pesticide performance and reduce unnecessary use in the environment while saving turf managers time and money. As the president of the NCSU Entomology Graduate Student Association, Diane is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the outreach activities of the department. She would like to work in academia with a teaching/extension appointment to teach students and the general public about basic and applied science relating to biology, insects, turfgrass, and integrated pest management.

•Lillian & Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology—This award encourages graduate students working with insects or other arthropods in the broad areas of physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to affiliate with ESA's Integrative Physiological and Molecular Insect Systems Section and to attend the ESA Annual Meeting or an International Congress of Entomology. Genet Tulgetske is a Ph.D. candidate in the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focused on investigating sex determination in a small parasitoid wasp by identifying and manipulating contributing factors such as temperature, age, genetic background, and endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria. The results may contribute to the development of more effective biological control programs by providing an understanding of the effects of mass rearing and culture practices on the sex ratios of parasitoid wasps. She will be presenting a ten-minute paper entitled Wolbachia penetrance and its relationship to bacterial density in parthenogenetic Trichogramma at the 2010 ESA Annual Meeting. Genet has earned many awards, scholarships, and grants to help fund her education and attendance at professional conferences.

•Kenneth and Barbara Starks Plant Resistance to Insect Graduate Student Research Award—The grant is awarded to a graduate student in entomology or plant breeding/genetics for innovative research that contributes significantly to knowledge of plant resistance to insects. Godshen Pallipparambil is a doctoral student of Dr. Fiona Goggin in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arkansas. His research is titled "Interactions of the Mi-mediated resistance in tomato with the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae and zoophytophagous predators, Orius insidiosus and O. pumilio." His study utilized the electrical penetration graph technique to examine the impact of resistance on aphid feeding behavior and to analyze how the feeding behavior of resistance-breaking aphids differs from that of aphids that are effectively controlled by resistant cultivars. He also investigated the direct effects of Mi-mediated resistance on minute pirate bugs. His research also includes a study to localize Mi-mediated resistance in plant tissue using techniques like laser capture microdissection and in situ RT PCR.

•Pioneer Hi-Bred International Graduate Student Fellowship—Sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, this fellowship recognizes and encourages innovative research and graduate education in the area of entomology with a focus on key insects or complexes of insects that affect corn, soybeans, canola, alfalfa, or other significant commodity crops. J. Megan Woltz is a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University in the Department of Entomology. Her graduate research focuses on how insect predator-prey relationships and ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems are influenced by local vegetation and landscape characteristics. Specifically, she is examining how habitat management and landscape context impact predation on the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines. Megan's study involves the planting of flowering buckwheat strips along the edges of fields, then examining the diversity of predators and their impact on aphid numbers in the neighboring field. She is also studying how the presence and arrangement of key habitats in the landscape influence the movement of lady beetles through soybean fields, and the subsequent effects on biocontrol. Her goal is to develop sustainable agricultural methods that allow conventional farmers to receive the maximum ecosystem services benefit from the surrounding landscape while also maximizing yield on land they have in crops.

•Shripat Kamble Urban Entomology Graduate Student Award for Innovative Research—This award is provided to a doctoral student who is currently conducting research which demonstrates innovative and realistic approaches to urban entomology. Ameya Gondhalekar is a Ph.D. candidate in entomology at the University of Florida. He earned his B.S. in agriculture science (2003), and his M.S. in entomology (2005) from renowned agricultural universities in India. Before joining the Ph.D. program at the University of Florida, Ameya was working as a research assistant at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, India. His Ph.D research, under the guidance of Dr. Michael Scharf, examines insecticide toxicology and molecular physiology in the German cockroach. This work is important for understanding the basic physiology, toxicology, insecticide resistance evolution, and resistance management in cockroaches from urban environments. Ameya's project is being conducted in collaboration with and supported by DuPont, Inc.

•Snodgrass Memorial Research Award—This award recognizes outstanding research by graduate students who have completed investigations in selected areas of entomology. Seth Bybee is a postdoctoral researcher at Brigham Young University where his research focuses on higher level phylogenetics in Pancrustacea and the evolution of odonate visual systems. His doctoral dissertation was entitled "Phylogenetics, evolution and systematic of Holodonata with special focus on wing structure evolution: morphological, molecular and fossil evidence." It is a detailed study of the group Holodonata (the extant odonata plus extinct fossil lineages). Dr. Bybee's research focused on the evolution of morphology associated with flight in the insect order Odonata and on producing a reliable classification scheme based on the integration of molecular and morphological data within a single phylogenetic analysis. A major portion of the dissertation investigated the evolution of the odonate wing and assessed homology among the morphological characters for the entire lineage. Four out of six chapters of his dissertation have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Since graduating, his postdoctoral research has focused on the evolution of visual systems in Heliconius butterflies as well as the phenotypic variation found among wing pigments.

•Stanley Beck Fellowship—This award assists needy students at the graduate or undergraduate level of their education in entomology and related disciplines at a college or university in the United States, Mexico, or Canada. W. Vanessa Aponte-Cordero is a Ph.D. candidate at Pennsylvania State University, where she also received her M.S. degree in entomology. Her research focuses on using chemical elicitors of induced resistance against pests of tomato plants in a commercial style high-tunnel production system. She is studying the behavioral response of Frankliniella occidentalis, thrips, on tomato plants whose defenses are activated at the seed level. Her research has shown that tomato plant defenses can be induced at the seed level and repel thrips from attacking them under greenhouse conditions. As a pest management alternative, she is trying to understand the thrip's behavioral response to plants treated at the seed level with different dosages of methyl jasmonate and to compare them to commercial seed treatments. During her master's graduate studies, she was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system.

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Entomological Society of America Names 2010 Insect Science Award Winners

ESA is pleased to announce the winners of its 2010 awards. Professional awards will be presented at the Opening Plenary Session of the ESA Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, Sunday, December 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The student awards will be presented on Tuesday, December 14, 8:00-9:00 p.m. The awardees are listed below.

Honorary Members—Honorary Membership acknowledges those who have served ESA for at least 20 years through significant involvement in the affairs of the Society that has reached an extraordinary level.

Dr. George G. Kennedy is currently William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and head of the Department of Entomology at North Carolina State University. He holds B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Oregon State University and Cornell University, respectively. He served as assistant professor of entomology at University of California, Riverside from 1974 to 1976 before joining the faculty at N.C. State as assistant professor in 1976, where he has conducted research and taught in the area of insect management.

Kennedy’s research in insect management, insect-plant interactions, arthropod-resistance management, and epidemiology of insect-vectored plant viruses has produced over 180 research publications. A member of ESA since 1970, Kennedy served as Secretary, Vice-chair and Chair of Section F; ESA Governing Board Representative for Section F (1989-1992) and for the Southeastern Branch (1993-1995); and as President-Elect (1997), President (1998) and Past-President (1999) of ESA.

He served as Chair of the ESA Special Committees on Publications (1981, 1984-85, and 1999-2000) and was a leader in ESA’s transition to electronic publication of its journals and in re-organization of the editorial structure for the journals, which significantly reduced production costs and enabled ESA to provide members with free on-line access. Kennedy also served the Entomological Foundation as Chair of the Board of Directors (2004-2005) and President (2006-2008). He received the ESA Award for Excellence in Research in 1997, and was named the ESA Founders' Memorial Award Lecturer in 2002, and became an ESA Fellow in 2003.

Dr. Sharron Quisenberry, vice president for research and economic development at Iowa State University, is recognized nationally and internationally for her work in insect-plant interactions, having received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri and having been designated an ESA Fellow (2002).

She has co-authored a seminal book on conservation of germplasm for insect resistance in addition to 95 refereed journal articles, books, book chapters, and over 150 other technical publications. Quisenberry has been a leader within numerous professional societies as well as many international, national, regional, state, and university committees and boards, but her service and contribution to the Entomological Society of America has been beyond compare since she became a member in 1975.

Working at the Branch, Section, and ESA Central levels, she has contributed to over 30 committees (e.g., Program Chair; Local Arrangements Chair; Editorial Board Chair; Branch Student Awards Chair) and numerous leadership roles (e.g., ESA President; ESA Secretary-Treasurer; Section F Secretary and Chair-Elect; Pacific Branch Secretary-Treasurer). When Quisenberry became President in 2000, there were extreme organizational and financial challenges affecting the very solvency of ESA. She provided leadership to the Governing Board and membership to re-focus on core components and services (e.g., free online journals, new editorial structure, meeting inclusiveness/innovation) and to create a “member friendly” (e.g., Town Halls) organization, while balancing the budget for the first time in years through decisive action and management practices. Her leadership served the Society well by creating the foundation for subsequent changes to ensure sustained growth of the ESA.

Founders’ Memorial Award—At each ESA Annual Meeting, the recipient of this award addresses the conferees during Sunday’s opening Plenary session to honor the memory and career of an outstanding entomologist. Dr. Ken Raffa is a professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He studies the ecology of tree-feeding insects, with special emphasis on complex interactions that influence whether herbivore populations remain stable or erupt to landscape-scale disturbances. These studies have included explorations of host plant relationships, predator-prey interactions, and symbioses. Chemical signaling has been a driving theme throughout much of this work.

Ken grew up exploring nature in Delaware, and received a B.S. in biology from St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia in 1972. He then wandered about doing odd jobs, until fortuitously finding temporary positions with the U.S. Forest Service in Asheville, NC during the summers of 1973 and 1974. Experiences with aerial sketch-mapping and ground-truthing outbreaks spurred his love of forest entomology. He received an M.S. in entomology from the University of Delaware studying biological control of gypsy moth, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University studying conifer-bark beetle interactions. Ken was a research entomologist for DuPont from 1981-1985, helping to develop strategies for delaying insecticide resistance and incorporating plant-insect interactions into agricultural crop protection. Ken joined UW in 1985.

During the course of his career, Ken has collaborated with outstanding scholars from a diverse array of disciplines. These joint studies have helped improve our understanding of the complex and often subtle roles that insects play in the health of forest ecosystems, and helped devise management practices when external forces or human interests place our goals in conflict. Ken has served on numerous state and federal agency committees, many dealing with invasive species. He has received several honors, such as the Silverstein-Simeone Lecture of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, the Spitze Land Grant Faculty Award, the Beers-Bascom Professorship in Conservation, and the ESA Comstock Award.

Ken teaches classes in plant-insect interactions, forest protection, and scientific presentations. His proudest contribution is his role in the training of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral associates who have gone on to successful and fulfilling careers. Many of them are now providing strong leadership in academia, government, and industry.

Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension—This annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to extension entomology. Dr. Marlin E. Rice is a senior research scientist with Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Previously, he was an extension entomologist at Texas A&M University, the University of Idaho, and Iowa State University, where he was a professor of entomology. At Iowa State he developed and delivered IPM information to the agricultural community in a wide variety of print, photographic, and electronic media. His extension efforts have been nationally recognized as practical, innovative, and of the highest quality.

Marlin has given 707 presentations at field days and short courses, authored 105 extension and 85 refereed publications, written nearly 750 newsletter articles, and co-authored with Larry Pedigo two editions of Entomology and Pest Management. He was executive editor of Integrated Crop Management, which he transformed into the first full-color, weekly, crop-focused, print newsletter in the nation published by a land-grant university. Later, the newsletter was posted open-access on the Internet, and during 2007 it received 1,084,237 page views. In 2006 he recorded BugCasts—the first series of podcasts on insects and their management. His perspectives on Iowa agriculture have been quoted in the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and numerous farming magazines. He co-founded with Kevin Steffey the Journal of Integrated Pest Management—the first peer-reviewed, Internet open-access, extension-based, pest management journal.

He received his M.S. from the University of Missouri and his Ph.D. from Kansas State University. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Zimbabwe, and has served as ESA Governing Board Representative, Secretary-Treasurer, and President.

Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching—This award is presented annually to the member of the Society deemed to be the most outstanding teacher of the year. Dr. Sujaya Rao is a professor at Oregon State University (OSU) where she is involved with research, teaching, and extension. Her passion for education was evident from her doctoral student days at the University of Minnesota, where she attended teaching workshops and obtained her first education grant. She continued to seek teaching opportunities as a postdoc at the University of Delaware and University of California, Berkeley. At OSU, she has created innovative “outside the box” learning opportunities to empower students with scientific communication skills so that they are engaged in entomological instruction, thus enabling the discipline to stay alive without a department. Besides graduates and undergraduates, her educational programs have impacted colleagues on campus, K-12 students and teachers, and the public. The creative aspects of her programs and the far-reaching outcomes enabled her to secure more than $1.7 million for educational programs alone from the National Science Foundation, the Toshiba America Foundation, the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and other private agencies. She is the recipient of an NSF GK-12 and an NSF REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) Site Award. These successes were achieved while simultaneously leading successful research programs on field-crop pests and on native bee pollinators in wild and managed systems. Dr. Rao has organized several ESA teaching symposia, and she chaired the Education and Youth Committee. She is also an Entomological Foundation counselor. Regionally, she has organized the Linnaean Games and student competitions, served as Program Chair, and is currently President-Elect of the ESA Pacific Branch.

Distinguished Service Award to the Certification Program—This award encourages, recognizes, and rewards outstanding contributions to the ESA Certification Program and the professionalism of entomology. Colonel (Dr.) Mustapha Debboun is a medical and veterinary entomologist in the U.S. Army Medical Department. He earned his B.A. in cellular and molecular biology from Skidmore College, his M.S. in medical entomology from the University of New Hampshire, and his Ph.D. in medical and veterinary entomology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Dr. Debboun has worked in public-health and preventive-medicine operations, research and development of arthropod repellents, and personal protective measures. His assignments and fieldwork took him to over 22 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. His main goal is the integration of medical entomology with other operational public-health fields to provide efficient and sustainable management of disease vectors and troop protection from vector-borne disease threats.

Dr. Debboun became a board certified medical and veterinary entomologist in 1991. Since then, he has served as proctor for BCE examinations, a member of the BCE Examining Committee, and as an ad hoc military liaison where he is actively promoting and recruiting new members for ESA’s Certification Program within our armed forces. He served as the Army’s Pest Management Certification Official and as Vice-Chairman of the Education and Training Committees of the Armed Forces Pest Management Board. He has authored or co-authored over 65 peer-reviewed publications and two books: Insect Repellents: Principles, Methods and Uses and Prevention of Bug Bites, Stings, and Disease. He also organizes ESA symposia, serves on five journal editorial boards, is a scientific reviewer for six peer-reviewed journals, and is the 2010 Chair of ESA’s International Affairs Committee.

Dr. Debboun is nationally and internationally recognized for his work on arthropod repellent research and development. His professional awards include the Agricultural Research Service Award (2002), the Order of Military Medical Merit (2003), and the Surgeon General’s “A” Professional Proficiency Designator for expertise in Medical & Veterinary Entomology (2003).

Early Career Innovation Award—Sponsored by BASF, this award honors young professionals working within the field of entomology who have demonstrated innovation through contributions within any area of specialization (research, teaching, extension, product development, public service, etc.). Dr. Patrick Tobin works as a research entomologist with the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, in Morgantown, West Virginia. His research focuses on the population ecology of biological invasions in forest ecosystems, the spatial and temporal dynamics of natural enemy-victim interactions, and the role of climate change on insect seasonality. He is particularly interested in the role of Allee effects on the establishment and spread of non-native species. Patrick is also active in regional-scale IPM programs against the gypsy moth, serving on the executive committee for the National Gypsy Moth Management Board and chairing a science advisory committee in support of the gypsy moth Slow-the-Spread program. He has been an active member of the Entomological Society of America since 1997, and has served as a subject editor for Environmental Entomology since 2005. He has published more than 85 scientific papers, technical reports, conference proceedings, and book chapters in his career. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Georgia (1991), and M.S. (1997) and Ph.D. (2002) degrees from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to attending graduate school, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, where he worked on urban environmental management, malaria prevention, and Guinea worm eradication. He lives in Morgantown with his wife, Ahnya, and their two sons, Elliott and Milo.

Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology—Each year this award is given to an ESA member who is able to demonstrate through his/her projects or accomplishments an ability to identify problems and develop creative, alternative solutions that significantly impact entomology. Dr. Zeyaur R. Khan, a distinguished international professional entomologist, is a principal scientist and program Leader with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya, and a visiting professor of entomology at Cornell University. Dr. Khan has dedicated his research career to advancing the science and practice of entomology, and applying chemical and behavioral ecology, plant-plant communication and insect-plant interactions to improve agricultural production to combat poverty and food insecurity in Africa. He is responsible for the discovery and widescale implementation of a pro-poor scientific innovation called “Push-Pull” technology (www.push-pull.net) for enhancing food security and environmental sustainability in Africa. Push-Pull, a biologically-based IPM technology for smallholder cereal-livestock African farmers, makes innovative use of trap crops, that remove stem borer pests, along with fodder legumes that repel borers, attract borer natural enemies and have strong allelopathic effects on striga weed, a root parasite of cereals. At present more than 250,000 African people, belonging to over 30,000 families of smallholder farmers in East Africa, are benefiting from the push-pull technology. Dr. Khan continues to expand the utility of the push-pull system for additional African producers in arid zones and is also exploring ways to use induced defenses of plants to improve the system. His work demonstrates that creativity and innovation in entomology can provide practical solutions for the real problems of millions of poor farmers and promote their food security and sustainable livelihoods. The push-pull system results in better nutrition and purchasing power for farmers, and the achievements of Dr. Khan are in line with the poverty reduction strategies of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.

Recognition Award in Entomology—Sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection, this award recognizes entomologists who are making significant contributions to agriculture. Dr. C. Michael Smith, a professor of entomology at Kansas State University, was born and raised in Oklahoma and is a Cherokee Indian Nation citizen. He received his B.S. in biology at Southwestern Oklahoma State Unversity, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Mississippi State University. Following a postdoc at North Carolina State University and faculty appointments at Louisiana State University and the Univerity of Idaho, he has served as professor of entomology at Kansas State University since 1990. Smith’s K-State research group has identified numerous genes in barley and wheat plants resistant to Diuraphis noxia and established that transcriptomes of resistant plants are expressed more rapidly and at higher levels than those of susceptible plants. A putative D. noxia resistance gene in wheat was recently silenced using virus-induced gene silencing. As a Fulbright scholar, Smith’s collaborations with European and African scientists identified the first Diuraphis noxia biotypes in North Africa and South America. Recent research by Smith’s group has revealed evidence of a second D. noxia North American invasion in 2004. Smith has served as Chair of former ESA Section Fa and as the Section F Governing Board Representative, and he was designated an ESA Fellow in 2006. He is currently a subject editor for Journal of Economic Entomology, a founding editor of Arthopod Plant Interactions, and author of three host plant resistance textbooks, the most recent being Plant Resistance to Arthropods: Molecular and Conventional Approaches. Smith is married to Rita Reid Smith (RPh). They have two daughters: Dr. Segen Smith Chase (internal medicine) and Dr. Sonder Smith Crane (pediatrics).

Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology—Sponsored by Bayer CropScience, this award was established in 1996 to recognize and encourage innovative research in the areas of insect physiology, biochemistry, and toxicology in the broad sense. Dr. Gary J. Blomquist received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1969 and his Ph.D. degree in chemistry/biochemistry from Montana State University in 1973. He spent four years as an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi and moved to the University of Nevada, Reno in 1977, where he has served as the chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2001. He has served as a mentor for 20 postdoctoral associates and 24 graduate students, and has worked with over 60 undergraduates. He has edited three books and has published over 200 research papers, reviews, and chapters. His research has focused on pheromone production--particularly in bark beetles, the housefly, and insect hydrocarbons--with an emphasis on their biosynthesis, endocrine regulation, and chemical analysis. He has served as the president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology and also hosted an annual meeting for the organization. He was elected a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was awarded the Maurice O. Graff Distinguished Alumnus award by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He serves on the editorial boards of four journals and has been awarded the University of Nevada's Outstanding researcher Award and the Nevada Regents Research award.

Student Activity Award—Sponsored by Monsanto Company, this award is presented annually to recognize a student for outstanding contributions to the Society, his/her academic department, and the community, while still achieving academic excellence. W. Vanessa Aponte-Cordero obtained her B.S. degree in crop protection at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus. Then she acquired her M.S. degree in entomology at Penn State University, where she specialized in the temperature development biology of Aphis glycines. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in entomology at Penn State University, where she specializes in plant-insect interactions. She studies induced resistance of tomato plants with different dosages of methyl jasmonate seed treatments and their effects over herbivore populations in different agricultural systems. She has been very active both in the professional and community outlets during her graduate studies. From 2004-2006, she worked as the Chair of the ESA Eastern Branch Student Affairs Committee (SAC), and from 2005-2007 she worked as the Co-Chair and Chair of the National ESA SAC. As the SAC Chair, she helped create the student information section on the ESA website and made it more accessible for student members. She has participated in 15 committees between the ESA and the Penn State Department of Entomology. Vanessa has also worked as co-director in the Summer Research Opportunities Program at Penn State University and assisted over 60 underrepresented undergraduates in a program that provided research experience, paper writing skills, and professional development. She has given extension presentations to farmers, insect presentations to children, and has volunteered in many other activities both academically and in the community.

Student Certification Award—Sponsored by Springer Pest Solutions, this award recognizes and encourages outstanding entomology graduate students with interest in the mission of the ESA certification program, and to promote the understanding and importance of the program. Ralph B. Narain received his B.S. in environmental science (chemistry major) in 2003 from SUNY College at Oneonta. He received his M.S. in entomology (2010) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in urban entomology at the same institute. Ralph’s Ph.D. research focuses on population genetics in ants. He has participated in a wide variety of research projects, such as termite inspections, liquid termiticide and baiting treatment applications, and evaluating liquid and gel-bait insecticide products for nuisance ant control. He has been an ESA member since 2007 and Pi Chi Omega since 2009. Ralph is also a member of the National Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and has been listed in the Marquis Who’s Who since 2007. Ralph has given professional presentations at ESA North Central Branch meetings and at the National Conference on Urban Entomology (NCUE). He also volunteers his services at ESA meetings, as well as other extension and outreach programs, such as the Nebraska Urban Pest Management Conference, the Lancaster County Extension Termite School NCUE meeting, and at the Nebraska State Fair.

John Henry Comstock Graduate Student Awards—These six awards are given to one graduate student from each ESA Branch to promote interest in entomology and to stimulate interest in attending the ESA Annual Meeting.

Dr. Gaylord A. Desurmont (Eastern Branch) is a postdoctorate researcher at Cornell University. He moved to the U.S. from France to complete graduate studies in entomology at Cornell University, where he received his master’s degree in 2005 and his Ph.D. in 2009. Dr. Desurmont received the Comstock Award for his dissertation work on the ecology, behavior, and biological control of viburnum leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull), a landscape pest in the Northeast. He is considered a leading expert on P. viburni. His research contributed vital knowledge about the oviposition behavior and plant-insect interactions of P. viburni, with potential applications for pest management. From his dissertation, Dr. Desurmont has authored a book chapter, submitted five publications to peer-reviewed journals, and has presented his findings at more than 15 scientific meetings and interdisciplinary conferences.

Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Trout Fryxell (Southeastern Branch) obtained her B.A. in biology from Transylvania University and her M.S. in entomology from the University of Kentucky. Her research with Dr. Grayson Brown focused on reducing mosquito populations in the peridomestic environment. After completing her M.S. research, Becky started a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas under the advisement of Dr. Dayton Steelman and Dr. Allen Szalanski. Her dissertation provided information on the distribution and occurrence of ticks in Arkansas, as well as information on tick and host pathogen interactions. She has given several presentations as an invited speaker and has 11 refereed publications. Becky's awards include runner-up for ESA’s President Prize, the Isely-Dupont Entomology Scholarship, the Joseph H. Camin Fellowship, and she was a member of the 2007 Linnaean Games National Championship team. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Ashfaq A. Sial (Pacific Branch) completed his Ph.D. in August 2010 under the guidance of Dr. Jay F. Brunner at Washington State University. His dissertation research focused on characterizing a complete toxicity profile, including lethal and sublethal effects of recently developed reduced-risk insecticides, assessing the risk of resistance evolution, and determining the mechanisms conferring resistance to the novel chemistry insecticides in obliquebanded leafroller. Ash has eight peer-reviewed publications with several others in the process. Ash has given 29 presentations, including seven invited talks and six posters, and has also published 22 abstracts in conference proceedings. Ash has authored or co-authored several successful research grants, including a highly competitive Western SARE Graduate Student Research Grant. He has demonstrated tremendous leadership in student activities, including the Linnaean Games and ESA student debates, and has taken initiative in organizing symposia at the regional and national levels. Ash is currently serving as Chair of the ESA Student Affairs Committee, and has also volunteered his time and expertise in reviewing manuscripts for various journals. He has received the WSU President’s Award, the WSU Excellence Award, the Dr. William R. Wiley Award, the Dr. C. C. Burkhardt Graduate Student Award, a Robert & Mary Lou Harwood Graduate Fellowship, a Louis W. Getzin Fellowship, and an H. S. Telford Fellowship. Ash plans to start his postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley.

Anna K. Fiedler (North Central Branch) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Insect Ecology and Biological Control laboratory of Dr. Douglas Landis at Michigan State University, where she is examining the effect of glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) on prairie fen abiotic factors, pollinator function, and the structure of pollinator-plant interactions, with the goal of assessing long-term conservation of prairie fen habitat. Anna’s research interests involve measuring and understanding human effects on the environment, and she wants to determine ways to best ameliorate the negative effects through conservation and restoration efforts. She is co-author of the grant that is funding her entire Ph.D. project. In addition to a number of peer-reviewed publications and presentations to scientific societies, she has been actively engaged in public education and extension. She developed and maintains two websites, and has co-authored a series of podcasts to help people see their connections to insects and the environment. Her work has garnered her more than ten awards, including the 2006 NCB Graduate Scholarship. Anna has formed partnerships with a number of conservation organizations, and she wants to continue to expand upon these relationships after graduation.

Joe Louis (Southwestern Branch) received his BS in agriculture from Kerala Agricultural University in India and his MS in entomology from Kansas State University (KSU). He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas (UNT). Joe has utilized Arabidopsis thaliana, a genetic model for studying plant growth, development and stress responses, to understand the basis of plant-aphid interactions, and his research has helped to identify a lipid or lipid-derived product that is involved in providing plant defense against aphids. He hopes that his research will help to understand the plant genes/mechanisms that control aphid infestation and also facilitate development of plants that have enhanced resistance to aphids. Joe has authored or co-authored eight peer-reviewed publications and also contributed to more than 40 oral and poster presentations at various professional conferences. His research has earned him several awards, including the Lillian & Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology from the Entomological Foundation, the Love of Learning Award from Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Outstanding Graduate Student MS Research Award from Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society, the KSU Don C. Warren Genetics Award, and the UNT Doctoral Academic Achievement Scholarship. Joe has contributed to ESA by volunteering and also by co-organizing symposia at both the Branch and the national ESA meetings.

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Arthropod Management Tests 2010, Volume 35 Released

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has released the 2010 edition of Arthropod Management Tests (AMT).

Reports published in AMT 2010 are organized as a database, and access is free for all ESA members.

A list of reports and their titles is displayed that link the search criteria with a link to each report. Access to the reports is for institutional and individual subscribers and ESA members.

This issue of Arthropod Management Tests is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Paul Heller, Professor of Entomology at Penn State University, who passed away on 19 January, 2010. Paul was a longtime contributor and served as Subject editor for the Ornamentals and Turf Section for Arthropod Management Tests for more than 10 years. His dedication to his Subject Editor duties was unmatched. Not only was Paul a recognized leader in turf and ornamental entomology, but he also touched the lives of many students and colleagues with his generous, caring nature. Paul will be missed by everyone who had the pleasure of working with him.

Click here to view Arthropod Management Tests 2010.

Entomology 2010 Schedule Now Available

The Online Schedule for Entomology 2010 is now available. The schedule shows the dates and times for all sessions, including scientific presentations, social functions, and business meetings. To search the Online Schedule, click here.

Entomology 2010 -- ESA's Annual Meeting -- will be held in San Diego California, from December 12-15, 2010.

ESA's Annual Meeting is its premier event each year. For a four-day period, thousands of entomologists and professionals from related disciplines gather from around the world to exchange scientific information and ideas, enhance professional knowledge and skills, network with colleagues and re-acquaint with old friends, and conduct the business of the Society.

The Annual Meeting agenda includes symposia, workshops, ten-minute papers, and poster presentations. Typically, between 1,800 and 2,600 presentations are given annually! In addition, students compete in the President’s Prize and in the Linnaean Games, and there is a Career Center where job vacancies and resumes are posted. A commercial exhibition features entomological equipment, supplies, and reference materials, as well as the opportunity to purchase gifts for friends and family. During this time, other groups such the Entomological Foundation, the Entomological Collections Network, and Coleopterists’ Society have their meetings as well. And, of course, there are receptions and social events to round out the attendees’ schedules.

Click here for the Online Schedule.

Click here for more information on Entomology 2010.

Bed Bug Symposia to Address Public Health Concerns at Entomology 2010

Entomology 2010, the 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), will feature a full day of bed bug presentations by the nation’s leading bed bug experts. The meeting will take place in San Diego, California, December 12-15, 2010.

The bed bug presentations, which are scheduled for Tuesday, December 14 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, will include the following titles and speakers:

* Bed Bug Demographics and Economic Impacts in Rental Facilities; Dini Miller, Virginia Tech

* The Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force: A Diverse Collaborative Endeavor; Susan Jones, The Ohio State University

* Bed Bugs, People, and Politics; Dini M. Miller and Susan C. Jones

* The Bug that Nobody Knows: Extension Entomology's Worst Nightmare; Michael Potter, University of Kentucky

* Bed Bugs' Impact on Health and Public Workers; Harold Harlan, Medical Entomologist

* New York City Bed Bug Advisory Board: Lessons Learned; Louis N. Sorkin, BCE, American Museum of Natural History

* Arming an Unarmed Populace; Mark D. Sheperdigian, Rose Pest Solutions

* Bed Bug Infestations in Low-Income Housing; Changlu Wang, Rutgers University

* Extension Education to Prevent the Spread of Bed Bugs: Helping Public Health and Social Service Workers Cope with Bed Bug Infestations; Stephen Kells, University of Minnesota

* Cultural Adaptation and Deployment of Scientific Advances Pursuant to Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius) Elimination in the United States; Janis Reed, Shripat T. Kamble, Stuart Mitchell, Robert Davis, and Jerry Hatch

In addition, meeting attendees will have the opportunity to purchase Monograph of Cimicidae, the definitive resource on bed bugs which has recently been reprinted by ESA.

Members of the media who would like to attend Entomology 2010 can contact ESA at sro@entsoc.org or (301) 731-4535, ext. 3009 for a press pass. Proper media credentials must be presented upon arrival and registration to the ESA Meeting, and the credentials must show a direct affiliation with an accredited news organization (print, TV or radio). Public Information Officers from universities may also receive press passes with proper credentials and ID. Freelance journalists who do not have media credentials and a professional affiliation will not receive press passes. However, exceptions will be considered by the Executive Director of the ESA if freelancers belong to the National Association of Science Writers or a similar organization.

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. For more information about Entomology 2010, visit http://www.entsoc.org/am/cm/index.htm.

Christopher Marley and James McWilliams to Give Plenary Speeches at Entomology 2010

Entomology 2010, the 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, will feature two plenary speakers during the meeting in San Diego, California, December 12-15, 2010.

Christopher Marley, an author and insect artist, will explain how he changed from a former “insect-phobe” into an aficionado during a speech called "The Aesthetics of Insects." Marley's life path started in Covina, CA in the late 1960’s, where he had a great aversion to insects that persisted throughout his childhood in Oregon and even into his time as a missionary in Northern Chile. Upon his return from his missionary trip, he alternated semesters at BYU studying design, with travels abroad working in fashion advertising. Over time, his perspective on insects began to morph from phobia to intense appreciation. The radical morphological variances of insects became an almost obsessive fascination, and he began to incorporate insects into his design work until they became the central focus. He opened his first gallery in Hermosa Beach, CA in 1999, and after two years took his unique form of artwork into hundreds of stores and galleries throughout the US, Canada, Japan. Meeting attendees will see samples of his beautiful work shown in galleries around the world, and they’ll have the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of his book Pheromone on Monday at the ESA booth.


James McWilliams, a historian at Texas State University and the author of four books, including American Pests: Our Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT, writes regularly for the New York Times, Slate, and The Atlantic, and is a contributing writer at the Texas Observer. In 2009 he received the Heitt Prize in the Humanities, given by the Dallas Institute for the Humanities to a scholar whose work promises to "change the way the world thinks." During his speech entitled "Historical Perspectives on Insect Control in Early America," he will share his insights on the history of early American pest control and much more.

Christopher Marley will speak Monday, December 13, from 12:30-1:15. James MCWilliams' speech will be held on Tuesday, December 14, from 12:15-12:45.

During Entomology 2010, thousands of entomologists and professionals from related disciplines will gather from around the world to exchange scientific information and ideas, enhance professional knowledge and skills, network with colleagues and re-acquaint with old friends. In addition, students will compete in the President’s Prize and in the Linnaean Games, and there is a Career Center where job vacancies and resumes are posted. A commercial exhibition will feature entomological equipment, supplies, and reference materials, as well as the opportunity to purchase gifts for friends and family, and attendees will have the opportunity to participate in tours around San Diego.

Click here for more information about Entomology 2010.

Bed Bug Book Reprints Available Now

Monograph of Cimicidae, the definitive resource on bed bugs, has been reprinted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

As bed bug problems have grown in the United States and abroad, so has interest in this hard-to-find book.

The newly published paperback version is now available to ESA members for $59.00 and to non-members for $74.00, including shipping within the continental U.S.

First published in 1966, this classic text by Robert L. Usinger covers the feeding habits, ecology, disease transmission, control, morphology, anatomy, physiology, embryology, cytology, systematics, and taxonomy of the insect family Cimicidae, which includes human bed bugs.

The 585-page book is divided into 14 chapters, and it features photographs and illustrations of both adult and immature Cimicids, treating 74 species arranged in 22 genera and 6 subfamilies.

Monograph of Cimicidae (ISBN 0-9776209-2-1) is a valuable resource for entomologists, epidemiologists, ecologists and pest-control professionals.

To order, call 410-263-3622; send email to sales@entsoc.org; or download a form and order the bed bug book online (book code is TS7).

Only 300 copies were issued for this reprinting.

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 5,700 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. ESA's membership includes representatives from educational institutions, government, health agencies, and private industry.

For more information, write to sales@entsoc.org or call 410-263-3622.

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Registration open for Entomology 2010

Entomology 2010 is the 58th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America.

This year's ESA Annual Meeting will take place December 12-15, 2010 in San Diego, California, where 3,000 scientists are expected to gather from around the world to exchange scientific information and ideas, enhance professional knowledge and skills, network with colleagues and re-acquaint with old friends, and conduct the business of the Society.

This year's meeting will feature 84 symposia on insects.

Register for Entomology 2010.

More information on Entomology 2010.

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Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of nearly 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. ESA's membership includes representatives from educational institutions, government, health agencies, and private industry.

Entomological Society of America Names 2010 Fellows

The ESA Governing Board has elected ten new Fellows of the Society for 2010. The election as a Fellow acknowledges outstanding contributions in one or more of the following: research, teaching, extension, or administration. The following Fellows will be recognized during Entomology 2010 -- ESA's Annual Meeting -- which will be held December 12-15 in San Diego, California:

Dr. Gary J. Blomquist received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse in 1969 and his Ph.D. degree in chemistry/biochemistry from Montana State University in 1973. He spent four years as an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi and moved to the University of Nevada, Reno in 1977, where he has served as the chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2001. He has served as a mentor for 20 postdoctoral associates and 24 graduate students, and has worked with over 60 undergraduates. He has edited three books and has published over 200 research papers, reviews, and chapters. His research has focused on pheromone production--particularly in bark beetles, the housefly, and insect hydrocarbons--with an emphasis on their biosynthesis, endocrine regulation, and chemical analysis. He has served as the president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology and also hosted an annual meeting for the organization. He was elected a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was awarded the Maurice O. Graff Distinguished Alumnus award by the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse. He serves on the editorial boards of four journals and has been awarded the University of Nevada's Outstanding researcher Award and the Nevada Regents Research award.

Dr. David J. Boethel, vice-chancellor, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in entomology from Texas A&M University. After receiving a Ph.D. in entomology from Oklahoma State University in 1974, he joined the LSU Pecan Research and Extension Station with responsibilities for pecan insect IPM. In 1980, Dr. Boethel transferred to the LSU Department of Entomology, where for 17 years he conducted research on soybean IPM, taught biological control, and mentored 20 graduate students. The applied research of Dr. Boethel and his students advanced the understanding of multiple pest complexes, early season production systems on soybean IPM, and the role of stink bugs in delayed maturity, while fundamental studies examined multi-trophic interactions involving plant resistance and biological control. He published numerous original research and extension articles, many constituting the seminal basis of soybean IPM literature recognized nationally and internationally. In 1992, the Department of Entomology at OSU recognized him as a distinguished alumnus. He has served as chair of the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (SAAESD), chair of the ESCOP Budget and Legislative Committee, and as administrative advisor of the soybean entomology project. In 2009, he was awarded the ESCOP National Excellence in Multi-State Research Award, and in 2010 the SAAESD recognized him with its Excellence in Leadership Award. An ESA member since 1968, Dr. Boethel served as Program Chair and President of the Southeastern Branch, was a member of the ESA Governing Board, was on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Journal of Economic Entomology, and on the Editorial Board of Journal of Medical Entomology. He was also co-editor of The Handbook of Soybean Insect Pests, the first of the ESA pest handbook series.

Dr. Bruce Hammock, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, received his B.S. from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. from the University of California in entomology. He trained with John Casida at Berkeley and Larry Gilbert at Northwestern. He worked at UC Riverside from 1976-80 and then at UC Davis, where he is a distinguished professor. He has been a visiting faculty member at CSIRO, ANU, and the Universities of Strasbourg, Brisbane, and Oxford. As an insect developmental biologist, his lab manipulated JH by inhibiting its degradation. This generated giant larval insects. Feeding could be terminated by inserting genes for insect enzymes into baculovirus vectors resulting in tiny insects. From a practical standpoint, his laboratory pioneereed the use of transition state theory to inhibit enzymes with small molecules and recombinant viruses as green pesticides. A major effort has been in environmental chemistry, where he pioneered the use of immunochemistry for pesticide analysis. The laboratory currently uses nanobodies and phage display technologies to improve reagents for the design of biosensors. From his time as a graduate student, his laboratory has focused on xenobiotic metabolism and largely on esterases and epoxide hydrolases. Current projects involve examining the role of esterases in insecticide resistance and human metabolism of pyrethroids. His laboratory is exploiting inhibitors of epoxide hydrolases as drugs to treat diabetes, inflammation, ischemia, and cardiovascular disease. Compounds from the UC Davis laboratory are in human trials. Dr. Hammock is a member of the UCDMC Cancer Center and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Zeyaur R. Khan, a distinguished international professional entomologist, has been working for the last 17 years at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Khan has dedicated his 30-year career as an entomologist to advancing the science and practice of entomology by studying and applying chemical ecology, behavior, plant-plant communication, and insect-plant interactions to improve agricultural production to combat poverty and food insecurity in Africa. He is responsible for the discovery and wide-scale implementation of a pro-poor, scientific innovation for enhancing food security and environmental sustainability in Africa. This was achieved through a biologically-based IPM technology called "Push-Pull" (www.push-pull.net), developed for small-holder cereal-livestock African farmers. This highly science-based technology makes innovative use of trap crops, whicht remove stem borer pests, and and fodder legumes, which repel borers, attract borer natural enemies, and have strong allelopathic effects on striga weed, a root parasite of corn. At present 250,000 African people, belonging to 30,000 families of smallholder farmers in East Africa, are benefiting from the push-pull strategy. Dr. Khan continues to expand the utility of the push-pull system for additional African producers in arid zones, and is also exploring ways to use induced defenses of crop plants and companion plants to improve the system. Dr. Khan's work is a wonderful example demonstrating that creativity and innovation in entomology can provide practical solutions for the real problems of thousands of small-holder poor farmers and promote their food security and sustainable livelihoods. The push-pull system results in better nutrition and purchasing power for small-holder cereal-livestock farmers, and the achievements of Dr. Khan are in line with the poverty-reduction strategies of African countries and the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.

Dr. Dennis D. Kopp was born and grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated from Loras College in 1965, majoring in biology. He taught high school biology and earth science from 1966-1968. In the summer of 1968, he entered graduate school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, completing his M.S. in 1971, and his Ph.D. in 1977. In 1978, he accepted a position as extension entomologist at North Dakota State University, responding to public inquires and developing and presenting extension educational programs on pest management issues relating to crop and livestock production, public health, and urban entomology. He advanced to the rank of professor of entomology in 1987. In 1990, he accepted a position in Washington, D.C. as national program leader for entomology, and in 1997 became plant section leader in USDA/CSREES. In January 2003, he received a seven-month Brookings Institute LEGIS fellowship which allowed him to work as a legislative assistant in the office of Congressman Ron Kind, Third District of Wisconsin. Upon completion of his fellowship experience, he returned to the USDA and since March of 2005 he has served as assistant administrator for program and analysis for the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. His professional entomological interests have included insect identification and classification, insect ecology, insect biology, pest management, and the promotion of entomology as a career of choice for young people. He has been an active member of ESA since 1968, and he strongly supports the work of the Entomological Foundation.

Dr. Thomas A. Miller is a professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside, where he got his Ph.D. in 1967. He worked as a research associate at the University of Illinois and as a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at Glasgow University. He then returned to UC Riverside in 1969, where he has taught ever since. His research has included structure and function of the insect circulatory system; mode of action of insecticides; insect neuromuscular physiology; physiology, toxicology and behavior of pink bollworm in cotton fields; transgenic insects; and applied symbiosis for crop protection and biopesticides for crop protection. His university teaching includes insect physiology, insect toxicology and first year biology. Current projects include control of bush cricket pests of oil palm trees in Papua New Guinea, oversight of field trials of transgenic grapevines with resistance to Pierce's disease, biotechnology for control of desert locust, and regulatory control of insect transgenic technologies. In 2003 he was awarded the Gregor J. Mendel Medal for Research in Biological Sciences by the Czech Academy of Sciences, in 2005 he was invited to give the Verrall Lecture at the Royal Entomological Society, and in the summer of 2010 he is taking a one-year appointment as Jefferson Science Fellow at the US State Department.

Dr. Thomas W. Scott earned his Ph.D. in ecology from Pennsylvania State University, was a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine, and held his first faculty position in the Department of Entomology, University of Maryland. In 1996 he relocated to the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, where he is professor and director of the UC Davis Mosquito Research Laboratory and was a co-founder of the Center for Vector-Borne Research, Director of the Davis Arbovirus Research Unit, and Department Vice-Chair. He has been a member of ESA since 1983, was Chair of Section D, and published over 175 research articles, reviews, and book chapters. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was a National Research Council Associate, is a past-president of the Society for Vector Ecology, is chair of the Mosquito Modeling Group in the program on Research and Policy in Infectious Disease Dynamics, and is a subject editor for the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dr. Scott's research focuses on mosquito ecology, evolution of mosquito-virus interactions, epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease, and evaluation of novel products and strategies for mosquito control and disease prevention. He aims to generate the detailed, difficult to obtain data that are necessary for assessing current recommendations for disease prevention, rigorously testing fundamental assumptions in public health policy, and developing innovative, cost- and operationally-effective strategic concepts for prevention of some of the most important infectious diseases of humans.

Dr. Daniel E. Sonenshine is internationally recognized for his research on the biology of ticks and tick-borne diseases. He has published more than 200 refereed articles, as well as numerous monographs and chapters in books on this subject. He is best known for his seminal book, Biology of Ticks, a two-volume work on all aspects of tick biology, anatomy, ultrastructure, physiology, and tick-borne diseases. Among his most important contributions are his studies on the ecology and population dynamics of tick vectors of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease agents, the role of pheromones in regulating the mating behavior of ixodid ticks and host-parasite relationships, the importance of innate immunity and its relation to tick vector competence, and the molecular biology of tick reproduction. Dr. Sonenshine's studies on the pheromones of ticks led to the discovery of the components of the mate finding process in a variety of ixodid ticks, especially 2, 6-dichlorophenol, the female sex attractant, the mixtures of cholesteryl esters that comprise the mounting sex pheromone, and the fatty acid/ecdysteroid mixture that comprise the genital sex pheromone. These enabled him to formulate an artificial sex attractant device, the "tick decoy." Dr. Sonenshine showed that impregnating plastic mimics of the female tick body with these semiochemicals and an acaricide would attract and kill up to 100% of male ticks attempting to mate with these artificial devices. The technology was patented and led to a novel technology using pheromone-impregnated tail tags to control bont ticks, the vectors of the deadly heartwater disease in livestock in southern Africa and the Caribbean, providing a valuable alternative to pesticide-intensive tick control techniques. Dr. Sonenshine's studies on innate immunity showed that ticks express a variety of antimicrobial peptides, especially defensin and lysozyme, and that these molecules were important in preventing infection of Dermacentor variabilis by invasive microbes. In the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, he and his colleagues showed that defensin is expressed but not secreted, and that its absence may be an important factor in the survival and transmission of the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi. Further studies on these innate immune mechanisms are in progress. Dr. Sonenshine's most recent work focuses on the molecular biology of tick reproduction, including the identification and characterization of vitellogenin, vitellogenin receptor, the role of ecdsyteroids in regulating expression of these molecules, and the role of male factors in stimulating female engorgement.

Dr. Anthony (Tony) Shelton, a professor at Cornell University, has developed a program that is recognized worldwide for its excellence and breadth in developing crop protection practices based on sound ecological concepts and its ability to shepherd these practices into commercial practices. During the early phases of his research career at Cornell, he focused on ecological studies of pest and beneficial arthropods in the varied agroecosystems of the Northeastern U.S. and on developing the core IPM components for its major vegetable crops: monitoring, sampling methods, thresholds, and control strategies for the diverse set of insect pests infesting crucifers, sweet corn and onions. His program is credited with developing the first IPM program for processing sweet corn in the northeast, and these efforts led to a nearly 50% reduction in the use of insecticides. Similarly, his collaborative efforts on cabbage led to a 45% reduction in insecticide use and a nearly 50% increase in efficacy of insecticides, while maintaining high quality standards for the harvested product. From these early successes, his program branched off into longer term studies on insecticide resistance management for conventional insecticides and Bt crops, habitat manipulation, invasive species, trap cropping, host plant resistance, effects of conventional insecticides and Bt plants on non-target organisms, and international projects in dozens of countries. In addition to his research efforts, Dr. Shelton has demonstrated a strong outreach effort and has developed popular websites on agricultural biotechnology, biological control, organic agriculture, and pest identification and management.

Dr. F. Tom Turpin is a professor of entomology at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He received his B.S. degree in biology from Washburn University, and a Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University, where he worked on soil insects of corn. For two years during his Ph.D. study he was a high school science and math teacher and coach. He began his career at Purdue in 1971 as a researcher in the area of biology and management of insects associated with corn. His research resulted in a better understanding of the biology of corn rootworms, economic injury levels for insect pests of corn, and management decision processes of growers. Dr. Turpin has taught a variety of courses at Purdue, including insect pest management, introductory entomology, bee keeping, insects in prose and poetry, and honors courses on insects in literature and art and insects in theatre. He has won several teaching awards, including the ESA Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching, the Purdue Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, and the CASE professor of the year award for the state of Indiana. Dr. Turpin has served in many leadership roles for ESA, including President in 1992. He has always been a proponent of outreach for the science of entomology. In this regard he started the Bug Bowl at Purdue University and the Linnaean Games for ESA. He writes a regular popular column on insects for newspapers entitled "On 6 Legs' and is the author of two popular books on insects.

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. ESA's membership includes representatives from educational institutions, government, health agencies, and private industry.

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Kenneth F. Raffa to Give Founders’ Memorial Lecture at Entomology 2010

Dr. Kenneth F. Raffa, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Department of Entomology, has been selected to deliver the Founders’ Memorial Award lecture at Entomology 2010 – the 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) – this December in San Diego, California. The honoree is the late Dr. Andrew Delmar Hopkins.

ESA established the Founders’ Memorial Award in 1958 to honor scientists whose lives and careers enhanced entomology as a profession and who made significant contributions to the field in general and in their respective subdisciplines. At each Annual Meeting, the recipient of the award addresses the conferees during Sunday’s opening Plenary session to honor the memory and career of an outstanding entomologist.

Dr. Raffa has been professor of forest entomology for the last 25 years at the University of Wisconsin. He has been highly prolific, producing 290 scientific publications (200 peer-reviewed papers, two co-edited books, two annual reviews, 58 book chapters/proceedings, 28 technical/outreach reports). He has mentored 39 graduate students, 11 postdoctoral associates, 15 undergraduate interns, worked closely with approximately 200 undergraduate assistants, and served on approximately 65 graduate student committees. He teaches three regular courses, and has taught five graduate seminars. Dr. Raffa has participated in approximately 60 special committee assignments and panels for the university, and state and federal governments, many of the latter dealing with invasive species. He has served as an associate/subject editor for three major North American journals (currently Environmental Entomology and Ecology).

Dr. Raffa has devoted much of his career to studying factors that affect the population dynamics of bark beetles, particularly their interactions with constitutive and induced plant defense chemistry, microbial symbionts, and natural enemies. He has also studied the ecology and behavior of sawfly and caterpillar defoliators of conifers and deciduous trees, rhizophagous weevils, ground beetles, natural enemies, and gut symbionts of Lepidoptera.

Born in 1857, Dr. Andrew Delmar Hopkins is widely recognized as the father of North American forest entomology. His contributions were unique and far-reaching in that he generated vast amounts of basic information on species descriptions, host plant associations, geographic ranges, and insect life histories, and also developed some of the most formative basic theories of plant-insect interactions and bioclimatic principles. He headed the Division of Forest Insects within the fledgling USDA for 19 years, laying the groundwork for its mission, structure, and approaches for decades to come. He interacted with many of the formative figures of American entomology, first as an employee and then as a recruiter and supervisor. In the process he shaped much of the fields of insect ecology and forest entomology as we practice them today. He received a number of awards, including being named an ESA Fellow in 1938.

“It is highly appropriate that ESA acknowledges Hopkins, considered by some as ‘the Father of North American Entomology,’ and I do not hesitate to place Dr. Raffa among the handful of top forest entomologists of my own generation,” said Dr. John Spence, professor and chair of the University of Alberta's Department of Renewable Resources. “Ken’s collective accomplishments as a thinker, a researcher, and educator have been second to none and they connect strongly to the foundations established by Hopkins.”

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of nearly 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. ESA's membership includes representatives from educational institutions, government, health agencies, and private industry.

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ESA Program Committee Co-Chairs Welcome

Come, join us in sunny San Diego, California, for the 58th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America! The theme for ENTOMOLOGY 2010 is “ENTODIVERSITY: Disciplinary, Biological, and Geographical.”

The program this year includes record numbers of symposia, submissions of regular and student oral and poster presentations, and virtual posters. New this year is a special category for undergraduate students to present their research and compete.

The symposia include six program symposia, 36 Section symposia, and 42 member symposia. In addition to symposia are 940 ten-minute papers in 75 sessions divided among general submissions and student competitions. There are 741 posters divided among general submissions and student competitions.

The 29 sessions of student ten-minute papers include three undergraduate sessions with 27 presentations and 26 graduate sessions with 363 oral presentations. The 19 sessions of student posters include five sessions of 58 undergraduate posters and 14 sessions of 182 graduate posters.

Included again this year will be an opportunity for entomologists outside of North America to present their research through a Virtual Poster session led by Grayson Brown. The Virtual Posters can be viewed at the Annual Meeting in San Diego, and those who submitted posters will be virtually present to discuss their research.

We thank all the volunteers who help make the Annual Meeting possible. Volunteers are needed for judging the student competitions, moderators, members of committees, and many other activities. Volunteers also include 110 students.

We especially thank the ESA staff, including Liz Caesar, Adele Compton, Mary Falcone, Alan Kahan, Ann Kenworthy, Richard Levine, André Owens, Debi Sutton, and Neil Willoughby. ESA contracts with the Tri-Societies to help manage our Annual Meeting. Our meeting would not be possible without the hard work of Keith Schlesinger, Stacey Phelps, and Cassie Mescher with Tri-Societies.

The Program Committee this year is comprised of the following ESA members who are Presidents and Vice-Presidents of our Sections:

- Marianne Alleyne and Jeffrey Scott (Integrative Physiological and Molecular Insect Systems – IPMIS)

- Michael Merchant and Douglas Norris (Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology – MUVE)

- Paul Borth and B. Rogers Leonard (Plant-Insect Ecosystems – P-IE), and

- Anthony Cognato and Jason Cryan (Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity – SysEB).

Poster Co-chairs are Clint and Carol Pilcher (2009 Program Co-chairs). Student Competition Co-chairs are Paul Ode and Andrew Norton. The Student Liaison to the Program Committee is Ashfaq Sial.

Enjoy the diverse entomological program during ENTOMOLOGY 2010. Appreciate “ENTODIVERSITY: Disciplinary, Biological, and Geographical” as we network with colleagues and friends in sunny San Diego!

Megha Parajulee and Bonnie Pendleton
2010 Program Committee Co-chairs