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Bringing Canada to the International Congress of Entomology 2016

Call for an ESC symposium at the International Congress of Entomology in Orlando 2016

The ESC Ad Hoc Committee for the International Congress of Entomology, chaired by Murray Isman, is inviting proposals for a Canadian-focussed symposium at ICE. This should be a showcase for an area of entomology in which Canada has a special strength but which would also be of interest to an international audience. Symposium submissions should fit into one of the section topics for ICE, and are due by March 2 2015. Details of the information needed to submit a Symposium proposal can be found at http://ice2016orlando.org/preview-symposium/. Anyone wishing to submit a proposal should contact the Secretary, Alec McClay at secretary@esc-sec.ca, as soon as possible, with details of their proposed topic area and potential speakers. The Executive will review proposals and select one to be developed for submission. Some financial support may be available from ESC for the selected symposium. You can also advise us if you have already submitted a symposium proposal and wish to have it considered as the ESC symposium.

Appel à soumission pour un symposium de la SEC au Congrès international d’entomologie (ICE) 2016 à Orlando

Le comité Ad Hoc de la SEC pour l’ICE, présidé par Murray Isman, invite les soumissions pour un symposium d’intérêt canadien à l’ICE. Il s’agira d’une vitrine pour un domaine de l’entomologie dans lequel le Canada est spécialement fort, mais qui pourrait être d’intérêt pour une audience internationale. Les soumissions de symposium devraient pouvoir être liées à un des thèmes de l’ICE, et sont attendues pour le 2 mars 2015. Les détails sur l’information requise pour soumettre une proposition de symposium se trouvent sur http://ice2016orlando.org/preview-symposium/. Toute personne désirant soumettre une proposition doit contacter le secrétaire, Alec McClay, à secretary@esc-sec.ca, le plus tôt possible, avec les détails du sujet proposé et les conférenciers potentiels. Le conseil exécutif va réviser les propositions et en sélectionner une qui sera développée pour être soumise. Un soutien financier pourrait être disponible de la SEC pour le symposium choisi. Vous pouvez également nous aviser si vous avez déjà soumis une proposition de symposium et que vous voudriez qu’elle soit considérée pour le symposium de la SEC.

Alec McClay, Ph.D.
Secretary, Entomological Society of Canada

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What is a President’s Prize worth?

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Sabrina Rochefort – winner of the President’s Prize for best poster

At the recent ESC/ESS JAM in Saskatoon, not only were we treated to some great science and camaraderie, but the beloved institution of the President’s Prize sessions for student talks and posters provided some of the most stimulating and exciting times. This was my first year not being in the competition, and I would like to offer my views on the subject.

1) The President’s Prize encourages excellence: Students are definitely motivated to deliver polished and professional presentations in the hopes that their efforts will be recognized publicly. This reaches further than the conference, to encourage students to vet their talks and posters within their laboratories and departments in formal and informal settings in order to make the best presentation possible. This can only be a good thing.

2) The recognition is important: this prize, although modest financially, has amazing value as something to put on one’s CV. This enhances the career prospects of the winners and also the recognition that conference travel for students is worth funding within departments. Again, the value of this prize reaches much further than the conference, as students returning with the tangible benefits of a prize winning talk encourages others to make it a priority to attend and give an excellent talk next year.

The President’s Prize and the more recent innovation of the Graduate Student Showcase are thus valuable to the society as a whole. By encouraging and recognizing the efforts of students who attend our conferences to present well-polished research results, we promote excellence in scientific communication. We can all learn from the skill and innovation of these students!

With all of this in mind, I would like to make some recommendations:

1) For every conference, pre-publish the scoring rubric to be used by the judges. This will ensure that students entering a talk or poster know what points they have to hit to make their talk a candidate for the prize. These rubrics should not penalize creativity on the part of the students or discretion on the part of the judges, but should ensure that there is a baseline for what is expected.

2) At every conference, formally recognize runners-up in every session: It costs nothing but a bit of extra time during award presentation, but the chance to bestow recognition on a few more students should not go to waste. Many sessions have many excellent talks, and to send an excellent presenter home with nothing does no one any good.  It has been a bit hit and miss in recent years at ESC meetings with regards to runners-up, and I think it should be the case that every conference includes this important recognition.

3) Send all competitors home with the judging sheets. This is a bit more onerous on the part of the judges, but the judges can definitely jot down some notes on their scoring sheet and show the tally for how well the talk lived up to the rubric. This is important to show that the criteria used to score the talks informed the decision. More importantly, it allows students to see how well their talk met the judges’ expectations, and to improve their presentations for the next year. This has been done at a couple of ESC meetings over the last few years and as far as I know, students found the feedback they got very valuable and were able to use it to improve their science communication skills.

 Thanks to Mile Zhang for photos of the poster competitors, and to Catherine Scott for helpful suggestions. Congratulations to all this year’s winners, runners-up, and competitors!

 

 

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More than a meeting – Workshops at JAM 2013

This year’s Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Societies of Canada and Ontario is shaping up to be the event of the century, or perhaps more correctly, a Sesquicentennial Event, as the ESC & the ESO are celebrating their 150th birthday! While all the usual JAM events will be taking place (like Plenary Sessions with exciting invited speakers, student presentations & posters, a whole suite of special symposia, and plenty of social events to unwind in the evenings), this year will also see the expansion of training workshops for not only meeting attendees, but also the public!

This year, the ESC and the ESO will be holding 3 workshops which we invite entomologists and insect-lovers alike to register for, and which will be held before, after and during the ESC-ESO JAM 2013 in Guelph, from October 19 to 24, 2013.

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UP CLOSE: Insect Photography with Alex Wild – Oct. 19, 2013 – University of Guelph Arboretum Centre ($65 registration fee)

Come spend the day learning how to improve your insect macrophotography skills with Alex Wild. This full day workshop (9:30a-4:30p, lunch provided) will help you take better photos of insects, both in the lab and in the field. For more information, and to learn how to register, please visit the workshop website here. Space is limited, so register today!

Alex Wild Guelph Photography Workshop Poster—————–

CFIA Regulated Plant Pests Identification Workshop – Oct. 22, 2013 – University of Guelph, Graham Hall Rm 3309 (Free Registration!)

Come learn about the 69 plant pests whose movement is legally regulated by CFIA. First, a brief introduction to what such regulation means for people who move insects and goods. Then, most of the workshop will be a hands-on session with microscopes (20), specialists (3), and specimens of species of: mites (2), beetles (18), flies (4), Hemiptera (5), Hymenoptera (2), moths (29), and snails (9). This is meant to get participants the information that they most need: we will help you get
to know the regulated pests that are most relevant to your work. Please register with hume.douglas@inspection.gc.ca to secure your space. More information is available on the ESC-ESO JAM website, but space & microscopes are limited so register early.

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Emerald Ash Borer Workshop – Oct. 24, 2013 – University of Guelph Arboretum Centre (Free Registration!)

This workshop is intended for all those interested in the management of emerald ash borer.

The morning session will review current tools and techniques for the management EAB, including a presentation on the risk assessment process in Canada. Other speakers will provide case-studies of their response to EAB in municipalities in Southern Ontario, and on the management of wood from infested trees.

The afternoon session will be round-table discussions among all participants. These discussions will include: what future research is needed to manage emerald ash borer, what questions about the beetle are still unanswered, and what are the challenges to implementing current management techniques. The goal of the afternoon session is for you to provide feedback to the research community on where effort needs to be directed as the emerald ash borer enters its second decade in Canada. There is no charge to attend this workshop, but space is limited. For more information, and to register, please see the workshop flyer on the ESC-ESO JAM Website (PDF).

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Grant Writing: Success in Preparation – October 20, 2013 – University of Guelph Rozanski Hall

This workshop is still in development (check back soon for details), but will be held Sunday, Oct. 20 from 9:30a-11a, before the Opening Ceremonies and Plenary Session. Designed for entomologists at all stages of their careers, from students to post-docs, and early career researchers to tenured professors, we hope this workshop will help get you all set for your next grant writing session. Free & open to all meeting registrants!

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Lunch Workshops

We’ll also be hosting several other workshops over the course of the meeting for registered attendees, including workshops on bringing social media into your lab, teaching in entomology, and how to prepare a CV or Resume. These workshops are for meeting attendees only, and will be held daily over lunch break (your lunch is provided with meeting registration this year).

If you haven’t registered for the ESC-ESO JAM yet, there’s still time to do so online (expires October 6). We hope to see you in a few weeks time at the 2013 ESC-ESO JAM in Guelph!

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ESC/ESO 150th Anniversary Joint Annual Meeting

By Gary Umphrey, University of Guelph & President of ESC-ESO 2013 JAM Organizing Committee

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Greetings Fellow Entomological Enthusiast:

I wish to draw your attention to the following photo, which is of the participants at the Entomological Society of Ontario’s 50th Anniversary meeting, held in Guelph Aug 27-29, 1913. Yes, this meeting was held 100 years ago this past week. And if you peruse the distinguished individuals in the photo you may recognize William Morton Wheeler, the iconic ant man and Ed Wilson’s predecessor in myrmecology at Harvard, sitting on the far left in the front row. Indeed Wheeler was scheduled to present a public lecture, succinctly titled “Ants”, at 8:00 pm on August 28, 1913. Wheeler was only one of the distinguished entomologists at the meeting, and I invite you to check out the second file which will attach names to the people you may not recognize.

ESO 50th Anniversary, 1913

ESO 50th Anniversary, 1913 - names

I am not sure how (or if) you celebrated the anniversary of Wheeler’s talk (a Bitburger in my Ants! cup worked for me), but in any case I might suggest that a good way for you to do so would be to register for the special 150th Anniversary entomological extravaganza, the Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and Entomological Society of Ontario in Guelph, Oct 20-23, 2013. The deadline for early registration at a deep discount is fast approaching — indeed it is TODAY! The conference website is at:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/debu/esc-eso2013/esc-eso.html

This will be a very full program this year, and it has been necessary to extend it to include Wednesday afternoon. To ensure that you won’t have to miss out on any presentations you might want to attend, we are including lunches with your registration fee for the Monday to Wednesday concurrent sessions at the Delta Hotel. Registration also includes the opening reception and banquet.

An unadvertised attraction of this meeting: you will have opportunities to have your photo taken with Jeremy McNeil, the King of Entomological T-Shirts! You will probably want to be wearing an entomology t-shirt yourself. If you don’t bring a favorite shirt (or even if you do) we will have a limited supply of commemorative 150th JAM t-shirts. If you find the official logo too edgy, are troubled by the raging controversies that have surrounded this logo, or simply don’t like biting flies, we will have t-shirts with an alternative logo as well.

The deadline for submitting a presentation (talk or poster) is September 15. Note that abstracts are not required, we only want your title. Space on the program for talks is limited, so don’t delay if you want to present.

The Delta Hotel is our official conference hotel, and we have a block of rooms available at a special price that includes parking (regularly $12/day). While there are certainly other hotels in Guelph, and some at lower prices, the Delta is a very nice hotel and there is real convenience in staying at the conference hotel, especially if we get some nasty weather. The reserved block is quite limited, and so if you wish to stay in the Delta I would suggest making your reservation as soon as possible.

To our entomological colleagues in the U.S.A., YOUR PRESIDENT WILL BE HERE! Yes, Dr. Rob Wiedenmann, President of the Entomological Society of America, will be speaking on Sunday in the opening session, and we would be delighted if you could attend as well (subject to meeting capacity, we certainly can’t handle the numbers that attend an E.S.A. meeting). Here’s a chance to burnish your international reputation and meet your President at the same time, simply by making a jaunt to Canada to attend our meeting!

I would encourage you to join us in the celebrations of the ESC/ESO Sesquicentennial Anniversary JAM and join William Morton Wheeler and his colleagues in the rich historical legacy of special anniversary entomological meetings in Canada.

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ESC Members: It’s official now! — Membres de la SEC: c’est maintenant officiel!

Français

We are pleased to announce that we will be co-locating our 2016 annual meeting with the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in Orlando, Florida (see http://ice2016orlando.org/)! The ESC Governing Board has voted to accept the ESA’s invitation to join them and other national entomological societies at the ICE 2016 venue.

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We also are pleased to introduce Murray Isman (UBC) as our appointed representative to the ICE Organizing Committee. Murray is already poised to collaborate with the ESA in ensuring a smooth merger of meetings. Of the options presented to us by the ESA in their invitation, we have opted for a separate, pre-ICE conduct of our Society’s business, and then full access to what will be a diverse and rich ICE scientific program under the theme of Entomology without Borders.

So mark your calendars for September 23- 30, 2016, and look forward to more announcements as we move closer to the big event.

Your ESC Executive
Orlando_Lake Eola1

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English

Nous sommes heureux d’annoncer que nous tiendrons notre réunion annuelle 2016 sur le site du International Congress of Entomology (ICE) accueillit par la Société d’entomologie d’Amérique (ESA) à Orlando en Floride (voir http://ice2016orlando.org/)! Le conseil d’administration de la SEC a voté pour accepter l’invitation de l’ESA à nous joindre à eux et à d’autres sociétés entomologiques nationales sur le site de l’ICE 2016.

ICE2016_logo

Nous sommes également heureux de présenter Murray Isman (UBC) comme notre représentant nommé sur le comité organisateur de l’ICE. Murray est déjà prêt à collaborer avec l’ESA afin d’assurer une fusion harmonieuse des réunions. Parmi les options présentées par l’ESA dans leur invitation, nous avons opté pour une réunion séparée, pré-ICE, pour les affaires de notre Société, suivie d’un accès complet à ce qui devrait être un programme scientifique riche et diversifié à l’ICE, sous le thème de Entomology without Borders[1].

Alors réservez les dates du 23 au 30 septembre 2016 à vos agendas, et nous avons hâte de vous communiquer d’autres annonces alors que nous approcherons du grand évènement.

Votre conseil exécutif de la SEC

[1] Entomologie sans frontières

Orlando_Lake Eola1

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Happy 150th Birthday ESO & ESC!

Today is the day, April 16, 1863, in Toronto, Ontario, when it all began….when we became open to “all students and lovers of entomology”….when the colourful histories of the Entomological Societies of Ontario and Canada became “inextricably entwined” (Timms 2010, ESC Bulletin, 42(2):77-83). Despite some early, shared pain in our respective emergences as separate, adult societies, we cannot be anything but jointly proud on this date of our inauguration 150 years ago. We thankfully today can both lay claim to being one of the oldest scientific societies in North America and can happily share our heritage without a bun fight, as of yore.

So happy birthday to us, and please join us in celebration in Guelph at the Joint Annual Meeting of the ESC and ESO, October 20-23, 2013.

HappyBirthdayESOC

 

 

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The co-chairs – Chandra Moffat and Boyd Mori. Photo credit: Adrian Thysse
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Meet your ESC Student Affairs Committee

By Julia Mlynarek, PhD Candidate (Carleton University)

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Well it’s a New Year! 2013!

I’m writing a post on behalf of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC). Many people, especially students, don’t really know who we are and what the Student Affairs Committee actually does. So I figured I’d try to clear it up…

Who are we?

The SAC is composed of several graduate students distributed as evenly as possible across Canada. At the moment, there are seven students serving on the Student Affairs Committee. Part of these seven and Chandra Moffat (Fredericton, NB) and Boyd Mori (Edmonton, AB) who are also co-chairs of the SAC this year making sure things run smoothly.

The co-chairs – Chandra Moffat and Boyd Mori. Photo credit: Adrian Thysse

The co-chairs – Chandra Moffat and Boyd Mori. Photo credit: Adrian Thysse

Via e-mail, we consider how improve or maintain student success and visibility in the ESC. Other members include Ikkei Shikano (Burnaby, BC), Brock Harper (Toronto, ON), Paul Abram (Montreal, QC), Léna Durocher-Granger (Quebec/Honduras), Guillaume Dury (Montreal, QC) and me (Julia Mlynarek (Ottawa, ON)).

What do we do?

The mandate of the SAC is two-fold; 1- we advise Student Members, the Governing Board, and the Society on programs of the Society for students and on other matters concerning students and 2- we advise Student Members and the Society on the training of entomologists and on the future job opportunities for entomologists in Canada. This mandate is very broad but throughout the year we try to set specific goals to help students succeed in entomology. This year for example, we will be trying to post more regular updates on the ESC blog to let the Members know what we are up to. We are also working on an updated version of the Directory of Entomology. Of course we continue working hard on letting the Student Members know of Job and Research postings. Additionally, we let the community know if a student has defended their thesis successfully in the thesis round-up (either on the ESC website, or in the Bulletin). So if you’re a student that has just submitted a thesis, let us know! We also help with organization of the annual meeting such as trying to keep the costs for the meeting as low as possible (but still sustainable) for the student, the student mixer during the meeting, the Graduate Student Symposium and the Silent auction. The proceeds of the silent auction actually come back to help the students. So a successful silent auction means extra funds for the students!

Great turn out to the ESC student mixer! Photo credit: Seth McCann

Great turn out to the ESC student mixer! Photo credit: Seth McCann

Student affair committee members (Chandra Moffat and Paul Abram) manning the silent auction at the last ESC annual meeting. Photo credit: Adrian Thysse

Student affair committee members (Chandra Moffat and Paul Abram) manning the silent auction at the last ESC annual meeting. Photo credit: Adrian Thysse

We work hard in our spare (non-thesis) time to encourage students pursue their dreams of working with insects. The actions we take today will influence the future entomology students which could potentially be our students in the future. We want Canadian Entomology to be the best it can be so that is respected in the world as it has been since the inception of the ESC.

If you (as a student) are interested in getting involved please contact us – students@esc-sec.ca or post a message on the ESC student facebook page. We would love to hear from you.

Enjoy the insects.

Till next time,

Julia

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Smoky Mountains photo by Staffan Lindgren
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A Canadian Entomologist in Knoxville: Report on the ESA meeting in Knoxville, TN

Today’s post is by Dr. Staffan Lindgren, University of Northern British Columbia, and Second Vice-President of the Entomological Society of Canada.

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I have just returned from the Entomological Society of America conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, and thought that this would make a suitable topic for my first ever blog. As I attended the ESC-ESA JAM the week before, it gives me a suitable reference point for evaluating the ESA meeting.

The ESA conference attracted ~3000 or so delegates, and consisted of numerous concurrent submitted sessions, over  100 symposia, and a sizeable poster session, with each set of 300+ posters available for viewing one day. In return for the $400 registration, you received a name tag, a program book, and some items encouraging you to attend the exhibition. If you were savvy and well connected, you could get some free snacks and drinks at one or several of the numerous university or ESA staff-specific mixers held more or less nightly (yes, I am savvy and relatively well connected). As a younger man, armed with enthusiasm, curiosity and at least a modicum of drive, I would identify all the talks relevant to my own research, and then run between sessions to catch them. Now I tend to pick a symposium or session and sit through it, as I find that I am more likely to get exposed to new and different ideas that way. When you have over 100 symposia over four days, however, it is near impossible to catch even a fraction of the sessions you wish to attend. I also like to browse the posters, rather than identify specific ones, but again – during a big meeting like ESA it is sometimes hard to get the time. It is extremely helpful when posters have 8×11 versions that you can take with you to read later, and you could scan QR codes with information on the posters (as well as sessions and exhibitors) into your smart phone/tablet if you were so inclined (I haven’t quite gotten there yet).  I would think these approaches are the future when the techies replace us old traditionalists. The meeting also had virtual posters for non-North American students unable to attend the meeting, which was a neat idea (even if I didn’t get around to looking at them either)!

Smoky Mountains photo by Staffan Lindgren

Smoky Mountains photo by Staffan Lindgren

The location of a meeting is obviously important. Knoxville has a lot to offer, not least of which is the “body farm”, or the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center Research Facility. Tours were offered to the site, but I don’t have the stomach for it, so I went with some colleagues to the Smoky Mountains instead (we did look at hemlock woolly adelgid, so it was an entomological trip!) The layout of the meeting venue is extremely important, I realized. Ideally, the session rooms should be organized around a central area, so that attendees have a chance to interact. The Knoxville meeting was held at the conference center, the layout of which was not conducive to personal interaction, unfortunately. It consisted of a three-storey square building, with the meeting rooms in the middle surrounded by a walkway, and the exhibition hall in the basement.  Consequently you could spend the entire meeting there and still not meet up with colleagues. I ran into two colleagues the evening of the last day I was there, and I failed to find one colleague I was actively looking for!

There are positives and negatives with every meeting, but when contrasting the Edmonton ESC meeting with the Knoxville ESA, or any other ESA meeting for that matter, I think ESC takes the prize both in terms of what you get for your registration fee, and ability to network with colleagues. The scientific program at the ESC meeting was of very high caliber as well, particularly the plenary session. Being small isn’t always a good thing, but when it comes to scientific conferences, I think it is a definite advantage. What do you think?

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ESC-ESA JAM 2012 starts Sunday!

It’s that magical time of year again, when entomologists from across Canada converge to talk about insects, share their science, and make new friends. That’s right, the Entomological Society of Canada Joint Annual Meeting takes place this Sunday and runs until Wednesday afternoon!

This year’s meeting is being held in Edmonton, Alberta in association with the Entomological Society of Alberta, and looks like it’ll be a great time (check out this year’s program and abstracts if you don’t believe me). With a Student Workshop detailing “Perspectives on the Publication Process”, an exciting line up of plenary speakers and a live performance by the Lymantria Bug Band plus an Open Mic JAM following the banquet, there’s something for everyone at this year’s meeting.

Because attending conferences should be enlightening AND fun, we here at the ESC Blog have come up with a little conference BINGO to help you get the most out of your ESC 2012 experience. While there aren’t any prizes (other than the thrill of calling out BINGO! in the middle of a plenary session), we hope you’ll give it a try and see how many of the squares you can cross off your card! You can download the PDF here, and we’ll try and have printed copies available at the registration desk so everyone can play along.

Of course, if you can’t make it to the meeting this year, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Crystal and I plan on providing updates throughout the conference here at the ESC Blog, and you can follow along on Twitter by using the #ESCJAM2012 hashtag (I have it on good authority there will be a strong cohort of entomological Twitterati at this year’s meeting).

For those of you who will be attending the meeting, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to Crystal & I and show off your completed BINGO card! We promise we don’t bite, but don’t be surprised if we bug you to submit an article for the blog. Of course, if you want to share your pictures or experiences from ESC 2012, let us know and we’ll be happy to pass them along to the world right here. Until then, safe travels getting to Edmonton, and remember: have fun, meet new people, and continue getting excited about entomology in Canada!

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L’univers des insectes aquatiques

Vivez une expérience audio visuelle hors du commun en compagnie du conférencier Étienne Normandin. Musiques, sons et vidéos de la BBC et de « Bugs of the underworld » sont au menu dans le but d’émerveiller vos sens à la beauté et à la fantastique entomofaune aquatique.

Les insectes aquatiques ont été les premiers insectes à apparaître sur la Terre, mais aussi les premiers à utiliser la voie des airs. Dans cette conférence dédiée à un public de tous âges, vous en apprendrez plus sur les particularités des insectes aquatiques ainsi que leurs comportements. Ces insectes peuvent être de fameux architectes, des pêcheurs habiles et d’excellents chasseurs. Ils sont aussi très importants pour l’écologie des plans d’eau et sont de bons outils pour les biologistes.

2 novembre 2012, 19h00

Jardin Botanique, IRBV, Local 354

link: www.aeaq.ca
page facebook: Association des entomologistes amateurs du québec
groupe facebook: Association des entomologistes amateurs du québec

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