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August 1, 2016

Posted by entomology.office | September 27, 2016

Announcements

Congratulations to recent Entomology Department grant awardee:

  • To Doug Walsh who is the recipient of a $82,000 grant from UC-Davis USDA/NIFA (8/1/16)
  • To Betsy Beers who is the recipient of a $105,424 grant from the Fresh Pear Commission (8/3/2016)
  • To Drs. Betsy Beers and Dave Crowder who are recipients of a USDA-SCRI grant “Management of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs  in US Specialty Crops.” The total award was 9.2M with $800,000 to the labs of Beers and Crowder.

Carmen Blubaugh and Megan Asche were presenters at the July 28th WSU Organic Farm Field Day. 

Megan Asche, grad student and WSU Honey Bee Club member, talked about the farm’s new apiary; and Carmen Blubaugh, entomology post-doctoral scholar, shared natural pest prevention through soil health. See attachment for more info.

This summer we have completed the installation of new video/AMS systems in the classroom (354) and the conference room (164).  Contact Adam if you are interested in training for the new set-up contact Adam.

Students on an assistantship need to make sure they are signed up for 10 credits (including at least 2 credits for ENTOM 700/800). The Grad School is in the midst of processing assistantships paperwork for the Fall 2015 semester.  This means that all graduate students need to be enrolled in the required 10 credits before your paperwork can be approved.  Please register for classes as soon as possible so your paperwork can be processed and so you can get paid without any delay.  If you have not done so already, let Dory know where you will be housed for the Fall  ’16 semester. We need to let Student Accounts know not to charge the non-Pullman students the misc  fees. To make sure you won’t be missing a paycheck the tuition and fees are due before the first day of classes, August 22, 2016.  You should also make sure you are set up form Graduate Payroll Deduction between August 8-Sept 5 via myWSU.  See the attached flyer for more info.

Help needed for ENTOM 103 labs:  Rich Zack is teaching Entomology 101 (Insects and People) and Entomology 103 (Lab) this fall and is looking for volunteers that would like to and be willing to teach one of the lab sections.  Everything is provided and you would be responsible for one lab period (2-3 hours) per week as well as some prep time.  I believe that this is a great opportunity for you as you are in charge of your lab session, you can develop professional relationships with the students in your section, you have a chance for one on one interactions and to work with students that have no entomology (and very little science) background – it is fun.  And, you will fulfill your teaching requirement.  Let Dr. Zack know if you are interested or if you have any questions.  Thanks.  Rich Zack  –  zack@wsu.edu  –  FSHN Rm 157.

Save the date to attend the Welcome Back BBQ on Friday, August 26th at Kruegel Park from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM.  Kruegel Park is located between SE Side and Dilke Streets.  We will be joined this year with faculty, students and staff from the School of Food Science who will do the cooking.  Since we all work in the same building it will be nice to interact with our FSHN Building family.  There is a very nice kids playground, tennis courts, soccer fields and baseball field.  If you have a game you would like to play please do bring them.  Please sign up to bring a salad, dessert, fruit or veggie platter.

ENTOM 549 Insect-Plant Interactions will be taught this coming semester at the University of Idaho and will be taught by Sanford Eigenbrode.  We have scheduled the departmental van to transport students to and from WSU –UI.  The van can accommodate 7 riders.  We have 4 students so a couple more can easily fit in to the van.  This cooperative class will be taught on Tuesday & Thursday from 9:30-10:45 in Ag Sci room 141.  If you have questions contact Sanford at sanforde@uidaho.edu.

 

Effective 8/22/16, the Graduate School will no longer accept programs forms via mail, email, or walk-in. Instead, these forms should be submitted via GRM. Programs forms are those documents submitted for active and enrolled graduate students. All documents for prospective students and applicants should still arrive by mail, email, or walk-in. There are a few exceptions:

  1. Update Application for Graduation and Residency Packets: GRM categories exist for your use if a student submits either of these documents, but their use is not required.
  2. Exam Ballots and Memo: Please send scans to gradschool@wsu.edu or bring/mail originals to the Graduate School.
  3. Thesis/Dissertation Drafts: master’s students will still send PDF drafts to gradschool@wsu.edu while doctoral students will upload to ProQuest.
  4. Final Documents: We are accepting these from students – GRM categories exist for the Hold Harmless and Survey of Earned Doctorates if a student brings these to you, but their use is not required.

The Graduate School encourages students to keep their Program of Study up-to-date as they progress through their program. If a student takes different coursework than that listed on their approved program, please have them submit a Change of Program form to the Graduate School. It is important to keep two policies in mind when planning a Change of Program:

  1. Courses receiving a B- or below cannot be removed from the Program of Study.
  2. The student must repeat any course listed on the program in which they earn a grade of C- or below.

I am happy to introduce a new Program of Study form for Fall 2016! The Program of Study is being divided into two forms – the Committee Request Form and the Program of Study Request Form. Expect to see these new documents at www.gradschool.wsu.edu/forms by the end of this week. Here are some details about each:

  1. Committee Request: This form is used by masters and doctoral students to propose their advisory committee. The Graduate School encourages departments to work with their students to submit this form as early in the student’s career as is feasible. At the very latest, this form is due at the beginning of the second semester of study for master’s students and third semester of study for doctoral students.
  2. Program of Study Request: This form is used to identify coursework a student will complete to earn their degree. The first two pages are required and we have added a third page if more space is needed. This form is due at the current Program of Study deadline: the beginning of the third semester of study for master’s students and fourth semester of study for doctoral students.

The Graduate School is sponsoring two workshops: Please encourage your new graduate students, who are U.S. residents with no more than three semesters of graduate school, to sign up for the free New Graduate Student Prestigious Fellowship Workshops. These workshops will guide your students through the process of applying to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and the National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship. This will be accomplished via one-on-one interactions and proposal editing help from previous fellowship winners, reviewers, and grant writing experts.  The average student has a 1 in 8, 1 in 15, and 1 in 10 chance of winning the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and the National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship respectively. However, half of the students who attended the Prestigious Fellowship editing workshop last year won an honorable mention or a fellowship. Students who have a 3.7 GPA or higher, undergraduate research experience, volunteer experience, a publication, and/or an internship have a higher chance of winning. The majority of students who attended the Prestigious Fellowship Editing Workshop won a funding opportunity that required proposal submission within their first year of graduate school (it appears that the workshop helps the students gain confidence in finding and applying to funding opportunities other than the fellowships).  To have your students sign up, please go here:  http://orso.or.wsu.edu/workshops.asp#429

September 9, The Introductory Workshop: Previous winners and WSU Grant Writing Experts will pre-sent on the fellowship essays that the attendees will write. The presenters will individually answer questions/give personal suggestions to attendees. Attendees will be prepared to write their essays by the end of this workshop

October 8 – The Review Workshop:  Attendees of the first workshop will set an appointment with a panel of previous winners and grant writing experts to have a polished draft of their essays reviewed. STUDENTS MUST ATTEND THE FIRST WORKSHOP TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE REVIEW PANEL. The workshops will be held in FSHN T101 from 2-6 PM.  See attachment for more information on how to register and other details.

New graduate student fellowships (such as the NSF GRFP, the NSDEG, and the Ford Predoctoral Fellowship) can offer your graduate students a competitive stipend, tuition and health care coverage, and extra funding to cover international travel and internships. In addition, the graduate student fellowships free up internal resources, which will allow you to support additional graduate students. Finally, students who have won prestigious fellowships reflect favorably on their faculty adviser’s CV. Over the past five years we have been collecting data on student winners of prestigious fellowships across all disciplines.  Our data show that graduate student winners of prestigious fellowships have a research project and an academic adviser within the first few months of graduate school. In addition, on average, WSU students who have won these opportunities within the last 5 years had the following extracurricular accomplishments:

  • at least 1 publication (does not have to be first author)
  • 2 poster presentations
  • 3 laboratory experiences
  • 1 tutoring experience
  • 2 volunteer experiences
  • 1 internship

To increase our number of prestigious fellowship winners, we recommend that each department support students in the following endeavors:

  1. New graduate students who are interested in applying to the major fellowships should be aided in the selection of an adviser and a research project within their first semester.
  2. Students who intend to develop a competitive application for a major fellowship should create a volunteer project shortly after entering graduate school.
  3. New graduate students should be engaged in research projects with the potential for publication and/or poster presentation within their first year.

See attachment for more information.

Help us get the word out:  If you have announcements (i.e., awards, upcoming events) that you would like communicated to others you can do that by going to our SmartSheet Submission page at https://app.smartsheet.com/b/home.  You will also be able to find the Main Office Request(s) forms at this page.    If you have questions contact Adam at adam.williams@wsu.edu

If you experience any difficulties submitting forms via GRM, please email the form along with as much information about the problem as possible (screenshots work great) to ALL of these addresses: gradschool@wsu.edu, gs.tech@wsu.edu, and daniel.vickoren@wsu.edu. This will ensure that your form is received and processed in a timely manner while also providing the Graduate School with the information necessary to investigate the issue and get GRM working for you as quickly as possible. If you or others are in need of GRM training, please contact me to make arrangements. Finally, if you have any questions about how to submit or update a form in GRM, please don’t hesitate to contact the Graduate School. We are happy to help!

On August 23rd, the Office of the Provost will host General James Mattis (Retired General, United States Marine Corps) for an Invited Address entitled, “A Way Ahead for the U.S. in the Middle East.”  The address will start at 2:00 PM in the CUB Junior Ballroom 210.  A reception prior will be hosted at 1:30 PM. This invited address will also be broadcast via AMS (videoconference) for remote participants.  General Mattis was born here in Pullman. He has risen through the ranks to become the commander of US Central Command. For more information contact Kristina Peterson-Wilson at kpeterson2@wsu.edu or 335-8915.

Sign up for Mental Health First Aid training:  Interested in learning how to how to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis? Join Health & Wellness Services for Mental Health First Aid training on September 13, October 13 or December 13th.  Learn how you can identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Get details on the program and see this semester’s training schedule: https://hws.wsu.edu/mental-health-first-aid/

 

Student looking for lab work:  My name is Logan Eres and I am currently working for Dr. Tim Waters at the WSU Franklin County Extension office. I will be returning to WSU to get my Masters in Business Administration in a few days. I am looking for a job while I am in Pullman. This summer I helped Tim in the field and office with his research. I managed data collection for the group and worked in the office identifying pests and entering data. If you have any open position in your lab or with your research I would love to talk to you. Please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.  logan.eres@wsu.edu

Don’t forget the All Campus picnic on Friday, August 19th from 11-1:30.  There will be the barbecue lunch, music and the community fair all brought to us by US Bank, WSU Dining Services and the President’s Office.  You will need to show your WSU ID card for admittance and for the lunch.  This event follows the University Convocation that starts at 10 AM in the Beasley Coliseum.  For more info go to:  http://convocation.wsu.edu/.

 

Tukey Orchard fruit sale:  R. B. Tukey Horticulture Orchard Stone Fruits Already Picked Sales Begin!
Fridays starting August 12 from 3-6pm. The Friday sales will continue through the month of August and September as long as we have fruit to sell.

Various varieties of Apricots, Saturn (mini donut) peaches and Plums.  

Apricots                                               $4.00/pound for 10 lbs or less         $3.00/pound for over 10 lbs.

Plums                                                   $4.00/pound for 10 lbs or less         $3.00/pound for over 10 lbs

Saturn (mini donut) Peaches      $4.00/pound for 10 lbs or less         $3.00/pound for over 10 lbs

Wood Chips for Barbeque           $0.50/pound

Wood chipped into small irregular pieces of apple, pear & cherry wood harvested from the orchard.

They only accept cash or check for payment. Please feel free to recycle your clean shopping bags with us to carry your fruit. We are located at the junction of Terre View Drive and Airport Road.  http://horticulture.wsu.edu/orchard. The Eggert Organic Farm also has produce for sale on Friday’s at 3-6:00 PM through October.  Every Friday the Organic Farm has a public sale from 3-6 p.m.  The farm finally has fresh tomatoes, along with squash, cucumbers, carrots, beets, and wonderful summer greens. Located on Animal Science Rd directly behind the Grizzly Center.  Cash or check only.  For more info go to: http://css.wsu.edu/organicfarm/

Since they are located in close proximity to each other you can visit both.

*****

Employment

See attachment for details on these positions.

  1. Interdisciplinary Entomologist/Plant Pathologist, Dept of Ag, Portland, OR
  2. Assistant Research Scientist, Univ. Florida, Lake Alfred, FL
  3. Asst Professor in Turf Grass & Ornamentals, Univ Georgia, Athens, GA
  4. Pathology Scientist, J.R. Simplot Corp., Boise, ID
  5. Pesticide Section Manager, State of Michigan, Lansing, MI
  6. Director for Lab Operations, Citrus Research Board, Riverside, CA
  7. Entomologist, USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Phoenix, AZ
  8. Plant Industry Administrator, St. of Hawaii, Dept of Ag, Honolulu, HI
  9. MS Grad Student Fellow-Ag Entomology/Irrigated Crops, Hermiston, OR
  10. Tenure Track faculty position in Entomology, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
  11. Entomological Program Specialist, State of North Carolina, Wake County, NC
  12. Senior IPM Specialist, City & County of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
  13. Associate Research Specialist, Univ. of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI
  14. Agricultural Insect Ecologist/Asst Professor, Clemson Uni., Clemson, So. Carolina

*****

All new graduate students should sign up for the 2016 Graduate Student Orientation on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM in the CUB Senior Ballroom.  The day starts off with a continental breakfast while you browse the graduate school fair, hosted by more than 20 WSU and Pullman area vendors. Lunch will also be provided by the Graduate School following the morning workshops, along with giveaway’s, raffles, and an opportunity to meet other new graduate students in your college. Graduate and Professional Student Association representatives will be on hand to facilitate table conversation and answer your questions. For more info go see that attached flyer and to register go to: https://gradschool.wsu.edu/orientation/.

 

First day of classes for Fall 2016 is Monday, August 22, 2016.

 

Save the date to attend the Welcome Back BBQ on Friday, August 26th at Kruegel Park from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM.  We will be joined this year with faculty, students and staff from the School of Food Science who will do the cooking.  Since we all work in the same building it will be nice to interact with our FSHN Building family.  There is a very nice kids playground, tennis courts, soccer fields and baseball field.  If you have a game you would like to play please do bring them.  Please sign up to bring a salad, dessert, fruit or veggie platter.

 

Norm Ehmann Urban Pest Management Award (July 2016 RFP):  Researchers or educators involved with urban pest management problems which occur in the Pacific Northwest are invited to apply.  Research may be conducted outside the Northwest if it involves pests that also occur in the Northwest, like bed bugs. Proposals due by August 31, 2016. See attachment for more details.