SEPTEMBER 14–19, 2020

This year BugFest, a North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences annual event, will go online. It will be a virtual infestation!  Join us as we interact with entomologists from North Carolina and around the world to learn about the fascinating world of bugs. We will have SIX days of buggy adventures as we celebrate our theme arthropod … THE FLY!

2020 THEME ARTHROPOD: FLIES!

BugFest 2020 Theme Days:

  • Mosquito Monday
  • Beneficial Tuesday
  • Art and Culture Wednesday
  • Entomophagy Thursday
  • Prime Crime Friday
  • BugFest Bugstravaganza Saturday

What’s in a name? BugFest celebrates all arthropods, a group that includes insects, spiders and scorpions, centipedes and millipedes, crayfish and crabs and many other creatures, as well as true bugs, like cicadas and planthoppers.

 For information and to register for programs visit https://naturalsciences.org/calendar/bugfest/programs/

Submissions are open for Entomology 2020, the Entomological Society of America’s Virtual Annual Meeting. Submit your 10-minute paper, poster, infographic, or student competition presentation or poster now through ESA’s new virtual platform. When you submit to Entomology 2020, you also receive access to four days of live-streamed content and two weeks of on-demand access at no additional cost to you—you are automatically registered when you submit. Submissions are due by August 31Learn more and submit.

About Entomology 2020: ESA’s Annual Meeting, Entomology 2020, will go fully virtual this November, embracing the spirit of Entomology for All—where all entomologists can participate, regardless of location, specialty, or ability to travel. Presenters and attendees at Entomology 2020 will receive access to four days of live-streamed content Nov. 16-19 and two weeks of on-demand content from Nov. 11-25.

The ESC Board would like to draw your attention to the new ESC Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, which is now posted on the website at esc-sec.ca/the-society/statement-of-diversity-and-inclusion/

The 16th Annual Photo Contest to select images for the 2021 covers of The Canadian Entomologist and the Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada is underway. The cover images are intended to represent the breadth of entomology covered by the Society’s publications. Contest details can be found in the Bulletin ( https://esc-sec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Bulletin-Volume52-number2-June2020.pdf).

Submission deadline is 31 August 2020.

Send entries to: photocontest@esc-sec.ca with the subject line “ESC Photo Contest Submission”.

The Scientific Programming committee for the ESC/ESO 2021 JAM – Strength in Diversity – is soliciting invited symposia to be presented at the 2021 JAM to be held at Marriott on the Falls, Niagara Falls Ontario between Sunday October 3rd to Wednesday October 6, 2021.

JAM theme and vision

Strength in Diversity. The insects are among the most diverse group of organisms on the planet, and entomologists are applying an increasingly diverse toolkit to advance knowledge on a diversity of topics in the field. We are keenly aware of the declines in the diversity of insects that threaten vital ecosystem functions, human health, and our economy. We are also becoming increasingly aware of systematic barriers that preclude many from studying and practicing entomology, threats that likely impact the productivity and ingenuity of entomological research in Canada. Our goal for the 2021 JAM – Strength in Diversity – is to showcase state of the art entomological research on a diversity of taxa, ecosystems and disciplines, and to collectively discuss solutions to enhancing equity and diversity in Entomology.

Interested researchers should submit a 1 page symposium proposal containing the following elements:

  1. Title of the proposed symposium
  2. Name(s), contact and affiliation for the Chair of the symposium
  3. Potential list of talks and speakers. Please indicate which speakers have confirmed their willingness to participate.
  4. A brief statement of how the symposia compliments that theme of the JAM.
  5. Time requirements. Our schedule can accommodate both 15 min presentations (12 min talk + 3 min Q&A), or 30 min presentations (25 min talk + 5 min Q&A).
  6. Any additional notes for consideration.

All proposed symposia must give appropriate consideration to equity, diversity and inclusion principles when selecting speakers.

Deadline for submission September 14 2020. Please email submissions to escjam2021@gmail.com

The Entomological Society of Canada is seeking an individual to fill the position of ESC webmaster, beginning as soon as possible. The webmaster is an officer of the society and reports to the Society’s Board of Directors. The duties of the position include maintaining the Society website (see: https://esc-sec.ca/), which was completely redesigned about 2 years ago. The webmaster makes updates to news items and the jobs board, posts the quarterly issues of the bulletin, and periodically updates board and committee membership pages, lists of awardees, photo pages, and the common names and directory of education data bases. The website uses the WordPress content management system, which is easy to learn even for someone with limited experience with website design and maintenance. Note that the membership area of the website and items relating registration and paper submission for joint annual meetings are maintained by the Society’s Association Management Company, and are not part of the ESC webmaster’s responsibilities.

Please express your interest in the position to the President, Gail Anderson, by 15 July 2020 (ESCPresident@esc-sec.ca). The final selection will be made by an ad hoc committee convened by the President. For more information about the position, please contact the current webmaster, Jordan Bannerman: jordan.bannerman@umanitoba.ca.

The Entomological Society of Canada (ESC) is seeking one or two co-Editors-in-Chief for The Canadian Entomologist (TCE) to start as soon as possible.

The co-Editors-in-Chief of TCE are Officers of the ESC and are responsible for the journal’s scientific and editorial integrity. TCE is an international journal that publishes on all aspects of entomology. Published by Cambridge University Press, the journal received about 150 submissions in 2019. TCE celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018 and is one of the world’s longest-running entomological journals.

The Executive Council of the ESC is keen to hear from members of the Society interested in this rewarding and challenging leadership position. The current Editor-in-Chief will become a co-Editor-in-Chief and will share responsibilities with the new volunteer(s). Our goal is to always have at least two co-Editors-in-Chief in these positions to help reduce workload and to increase the diversity and range of expertise of our editorial board.

For more information about this position, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Dezene Huber (huber@unbc.ca).

Please express your interest in the position to the ESC President, Dr. Gail Anderson, (ESCPresident@esc-sec.ca). Please include a cover letter, a CV indicating relevant experience, and contact information for two or three referees whom the ESC can consult. The final selection will be made by an ad hoc committee convened by the President.

On June 8th, we invite you to celebrate National Insect Appreciation Day (NAIAD) with thousands of insect enthusiasts, amateurs, and professionals all across Canada. This year, the in-person activities scheduled for NAIAD were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it will still be possible to participate in the “insect picture challenge” on social media. We hope that this challenge will prompt the public to develop their curiosity towards insects and raise awareness about the presence of insects all around us.

In order to participate in the challenge, a person will have to post a least one picture of an insect during the National Insect Appreciation Day on June 8th. When posting the photo, the participant should include associated hashtags and nominate five friends by inviting them to also post an insect picture.

Hashtags:
#InsectPictureChallenge
#NationalinsectDay

We regret to announce that JAM2020 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We thank everyone involved for their efforts in organizing and supporting the meeting to this point. We hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this time and we will see you at future ESAB and ESC meetings.

The Annual Meeting of Members of ESC will be held by teleconference in fall 2020, at a time and date to be determined. The plebiscite to determine the slate of directors to be elected at the Annual Meeting of Members will take place as usual. Board and other business meetings normally associated with the JAM will be held by teleconference. Details of teleconference meetings will be communicated as they are determined.

This free global event will feature three days of video and virtual poster presentations focused on:

  • Monday, 27 April 2020: Chemical Ecology. Speakers: John Beck, Charles Midega, Zainulabeuddin ‘Zain’ Syed (Baldwyn Torto, org.)
  • Tuesday, 28 April 2020: Genetics, including Insect Molecular Genetics. Speakers: Ehab Abouheif, Ryan Rego, Denise Steinbach (Isobel Ronai, org.) and General Posters
  • Wednesday, 29 April 2020: Biodiversity and Global Change. Speakers: Morgan D. Jackson, Sebastian Seibold, Jessica Ware (Julien Saguez, Charles Vincent, orgs.)

Join us for an opportunity to collaborate and learn from your peers and colleagues around the world in the comfort of your home, lab, or office. To view a list of plenary speakers and poster presentations by topic, visit the Virtual Symposium homepage.

To register for the free event, click on “CREATE A LOGIN AND VIEW THE ONLINE PROGRAM” on the Virtual Symposium homepage and create credentials to gain access. Please note you may already have credentials from a previous ESA event. Your ESA website login credentials are not necessary for this site. The free event is open to all insect-enthusiasts and entomologists; non-International Branch members are encouraged to attend.