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October 19, 2015

Posted by entomology.office | October 21, 2015

ANNOUNCEMENTS

State of the University Address “Successes and Next Steps: Positioning for the Future” will be in the CUB Auditorium on Tuesday, October 27th at 3:00 PM. There will be a reception following at 4:00 PM.
Interim President Dan Bernardo will discuss progress on WSU’s strategic initiatives and outline next steps as the university prepares for a new president.

The next Entomology Faculty meeting will be on Friday, October 23rd at 11:00 AM.  The AMS dial # is: 5702199

Betsy Beers was mentioned in a WSU News article on October 22, 2015. The article titled: New ’Alien’ Wasp Discovered in Washington State. To read the article go to: https://news.wsu.edu/2015/10/22/new-alien-wasp-discovered-in-washington-state/ This article was picked up and was also in several local newspapers.

Our next Entomology Department Colloquium will be on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. The presenter will be Dr. Carmen Blubaugh.  She is a postdoctoral scientist with the Snyder Lab in the WSU Dept of Entomology.  The title of her presentation is “Undercover Predators: Vegetation Mediates Foraging Behavior, Trophic Cascades, and Biological Control by Omnivorous Weed Seed Predators.”  For more info about Dr. Blubaugh go to: https://chroniclevitae.com/people/86261-carmen-blubaugh/profile

Colloquium presentations are each Wednesday at noon in FSHN 354 and the AMS dial # is 5709215.

 Our next Lunch & Learn will be at noon on Friday October 30thOur presenter will be Hannah Merley with the office of Grant and Research Development aka OGRD.  She will explain the services OGRD offers grad students and faculty.  I am working on getting someone from Student Health to talk to us to explain their services and plan information for grad students and on the services the WSU Libraries offer to students, faculty and staff.  Dates for those to be determined.

 Congratulations to Alix Whitener who successfully passed her PhD Preliminary Exam on Tuesday, October 13th.  Alix’s advisor is Betsy Beers.

Congratulations to former student Ashfaq Sial (PhD 2010, advised by Jay Brunner) who received a $2 million grant to develop control for blueberry-destroying fly from NIFA.  Ash is on the faculty of at the University of Georgia. We are happy to see the accomplishments our graduates.

Congratulations to the following graduate students for receiving the 2015 travel awards!

  • Winners of the “Early Career” Travel Award are:
  • Jennifer Finitzer and Robert Orpet received the H. S. Telford Entomology Scholarship for travel to the joint SSA-CCA-Entomology Society of America Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Rachel Olsson received the Donald Hastings Entomology Scholarship for travel to the Entomology Society of America Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Winners of our “Late Career” Travel Awards are:
  • Paul Chisholm who received the Louis W. Getzin Memorial Scholarship for travel to the joint CSA-SSA-Entomology Society of America Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
  • Alix Whitener received the George Tamaki Scholarship for travel to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp, Sweden.
  • Thank you all for your interest and applications for the 2015-2016 travel scholarships.

 

Remember, March 1 will be the deadline for our 2016 Research scholarship applications: “Student of the Year” and “Paper of the Year” award submissions.   These two awards will be respectively supported by the Robert and Mary Lou Harwood and Howard and Hermina Hargarth scholarship endowments.  The “Student of the Year” award will be given in recognition of the student’s academic achievements and scholarly service contributions. The “Paper of the Year” be awarded in recognition an exceptional manuscript with a student as lead author. For consideration of the Paper of the Year award, the paper must be accepted for publication or has appeared in print over the 12 months preceding the March 30 application deadline. Application for this award includes an additional requirement:  A copy of the manuscript, along with a copy of the letter (email) from the journal indicating the paper has been accepted for publication.  There will also be two graduate fellowship research awards from the Errett Deck Fellowship.  These fellowships will support expansion of a student’s research project.

Research scholarship applications will have the below three components:

  1. A 500 word (or less) essay from the student concisely explaining why they deserve the award. For Travel Award consideration, you might describe the significance of your presentation (is it an invited talk? is this a major national meeting? have you recently submitted or published particularly significant findings?).  Are there specific plans to build ties with possible postdoc advisors or other collaborators, etc.?  Travel awards can also be used to meet with collaborators outside of a national meeting; the need for this form of travel award funding should be justified.  For Research Award consideration, In the case of the Deck research fellowship, the student should describe specifically what component the funds will add to their research program. In the case of the Hargarth “Paper of the Year” award, the student should provide a narrative of why the work is an important contribution to the literature.
  2. The student’s updated CV.
  3. A 250 word (or less) memo from the major advisor describing why they feel their student is deserving of the award.

Your applications must be emailed to Adam (adam.williams@wsu.edu) before the above stated deadlines.

Vince H, Rich, and Paul

The Student Awards Committee

The WSU Presidential Search Advisory Committee invites your input about the considerations important in selecting the University’s next president during a series of statewide community forums that begin next week.  Please share your thoughts about:

  • Opportunities for WSU and our next president
  • Challenges the president may face
  • Ways to measure the president’s success

Your feedback will be shared with the committee and others involved in the search process.
The WSU Pullman Community Forums are on Wednesday, Oct 21

Faculty                                                          12:10-1:30 p.m.             CUB Auditorium

Staff, Palouse-area community         4:10-5:30 p.m.               Todd 133

Students                                                      6:30-7:30 p.m.               Todd 133

For More information and to provide feedback online:  presidentialsearch.wsu.edu

To see other locations and dates go to: http://from.wsu.edu/president/search/email-october-12-browser.html We hope you will be able to attend and share your thoughts.  The Presidential Search Advisory Committee

 

The call for nomination letters for 2015-2016 CAHNRS Advising, Extension, Research, Staff, Teaching, and Team Awards (the deadline is Friday, October 30, 2015).  Administrators, faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to nominate deserving candidates from your department or program in as many categories as possible, but request nominations be limited to one person per award category per department. As always, people must be nominated to have an opportunity to receive these awards.  Acknowledging people for “beyond the call of duty efforts” creates a celebratory moment for deserving awardees. We often spend our time focusing on what we are concerned about or frustrated with in this environment.  The award process creates a rare opportunity for all of us to acknowledge what we value and appreciate about people that work tirelessly to do their best to make a positive contribution on a daily basis.  It also is important to note that winning a college award typically serves as a gateway for people to be competitive for university, regional and national awards.  Please carefully consider making an effort to acknowledge those among us who have made extraordinary efforts to contribute to the CAHNRS experience, because they deserve to be commended for their efforts. Discuss your intention to nominate a candidate with your department chair/director prior to submitting a letter to coordinate the process across your program/department. Details concerning the nomination and selection process are as follows:

  1. To access the official CAHNRS awards webpage where you will find a list of advising, extension, research, staff, teaching, and team awards >> more here.
  2. For more information about these awards and instructions on how to nominate deserving individuals, please click on Advising, Extension, Research, Staff, Teaching and Team Award Nomination Process.
  3. On the award nomination process page, you will find:
  4. Deadline Dates and Activities
  5. Award Eligibility
  6. Specific details and guidelines for each award can be accessed by clicking on the link for that specific award.
  7. A one-page electronic nomination letter is requested that justifies the merit of the nominee and lists worthy accomplishments related to the intentions of the award.

Submit letters to Alanna Ellis (acellis@wsu.edu) by Friday, October 30, 2015

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Alanna Ellis (509-335-4562, acellis@wsu.edu) in the CAHNRS Academic Programs Office.

New Vehicle Accident Reporting Procedures: Washington State’s Office of Risk Management now requires use of their on-line State Employee Vehicle Collision Report Form (SF137). Link to this form is: https://etort.des.wa.gov/incidentreport. Use of this form is effective immediately and paper versions are no longer accepted by the state or WSU Risk Management. Please continue to stock the paper version of the SF137 in your vehicle glove boxes. Drivers can use this form as a template for capturing necessary information, as the automated report requires the same data. Drivers are required to print a PDF copy of the report and provide it to their supervisor. Supervisors will forward a copy to the WSU Office of Risk Management Services via email. The State’s Administrative and Accounting Manual, Chapter 12, Transportation, and WSU Safety Policies and Procedure Manual 7.20, Motor Vehicle Accidents, requires all traffic accidents be reported within 48 hours, regardless of how minor. If you have any questions about these procedures, or the form, please contact:
Pam Merryweather
WSU Office of Risk Management Services (509) 335-3682, pamerrywx@wsu.edu

 

EMPLOYMENT:

  1. Asst Professor, Plant Pathology Dept., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC
  2. Asst Professor, Plant Vector Entomology, Univ. of Florida, Davie, FL
  3. Agricultural Science  Research Tech, USDA/ARS, Stoneville, MS
  4. Assistant/Associate Professor of Invertebrate Zoology, Univ of North Carolina, Pembroke, NC
  5. Asst Prof of Ag Entomology, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE

IMPORTANT DATES TO KNOW:

  • Remember to turn your clocks back on Nov. 1.
  •  WSU will be closed Nov. 11 for Veteran’s Day and Nov. 26 for Thanksgiving Day and Nov. 27 for Native American Heritage Day.
  • The Bookie Instructor Appreciation Day date is set for October 21st this year.  More details to come.
  • Students: Be sure to check out the WSU Grad School Scholarship page for a list of scholarships.  Most have a submittal date of Dec 15, 2015.  The link is:  http://gradschool.wsu.edu/Scholarships-2016/#Richard
  • 2016 International Congress of Entomology, Sept. 25-30, 2016, Orlando, FL.  Website: http://ice2016orlando.org/
  • ESA Annual Meeting is November 15-18, 2015 in Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, MN. Theme is Synergy in Science: Partnering for Solutions.
  • ESA Pacific Branch meetings are April 3-6, 2016 in Honolulu, HI at the Pacific Beach Hotel.