Skip to main content Skip to navigation

January 25, 2016

Posted by entomology.office | February 1, 2016

Announcements

The next Entomology Spring 2016 Colloquium presentation will be on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, in FSHN 354 at 12:10-1:00.  Our speaker will be Dr. Christophor Looney.  Dr. Looney received his MS degree from WSU Entomology Dept in 2001 and earned a PhD from PSES at the University of Idaho.   He is currently with the Washington State Department of Ecology.  His presentation is titled “Gall wasps, DNA, and entomological intuition: Is there a specious species on the Palouse?”  The AMS dial # 5704472.

GPSA sponsored workshopHacking the Job Market: An Interactive Workshop

Saturday, February 6, 2016 in Todd 276.  Learn how to use graduate school to build a competitive CV for the job market and how to navigate the academic job search.  For more info and to register go to:  http://studentinvolvement.orgsync.com/org/gpsa

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 is the last day that a student may drop a course without penalty.  Drops will result in the course being removed from the student’s transcript. To drop a course, students will go to myWSU, select Student Center, click on Enroll, then choose the Drop tab.

From the Registrar’s Office: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 is the last day that a student may drop a course without penalty.  Drops will result in the course being removed from the student’s transcript.

To drop a course, students will go to myWSU, select Student Center, click on Enroll, then choose the Drop tab.

Then they will take the following steps:

  • Select the class by clicking on the box to the left of the course and click “Drop Selected Classes.”
  • Click “Finish Dropping” to process request.
  • View the results of request. A green check mark under the status indicates success.

The drop will show throughout myWSU immediately, in real time.

Notes:

  • Some holds will prevent a student from dropping a class, but not all do. Select the details link to see what impact the hold has, and what action is needed. Students must contact the appropriate office to release the hold.
  • International Programs – Global Services located in Bryan Hall 108 must approve class drops for International Students.
  • After Tuesday, February 9, 2016 course withdrawals cost $5.00 each and are recorded on the student’s transcript as W’s.
  • After Tuesday, February 9, 2016 course withdrawals do not reduce tuition charges or the total official hours of enrollment.

The Office of International Programs and the Office of Research would like to announce the Fourth Annual International Research Travel Award application process is now open for 2016. The collaborative program will fund 3-5 International Research Travel Awards (IRTA) to WSU full-time faculty ranging from $2,000-$5,000 each.  The IRTAs are being offered to assist research faculty in strengthening international collaborative linkages and to enhance significant scholarly and research impact aligned with WSU’s strategic priorities.  These awards are to assist faculty in achieving tangible outcomes e.g. joint publications or research proposals.  The awards are intended for research related activities that will advance the faculty member’s scholarly program.  The 2016 International Research Travel Award Request for Proposals is now online at https://ip.wsu.edu/scholars-abroad/documents/2016/01/irta-travel-award.pdf.  All proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 15.

The February Faculty meeting will be on February 19th at 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM in FSHN 164.  See below for the future faculty meeting schedule.

Entomology Department Research Awards

March 1 will be the deadline for our 2016 “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 Hallgarth 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.

Travel and Research scholarship applications will have the below three components:

  • 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 Hallgarth “Paper of the Year” award, the
  • The student’s updated CV.
  • 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.

We look forward to seeing your award submissions and have a great semester!

Vince H, Rich, and Paul – The Student Awards Committee

The Office of Research and Information Technology Services are pleased to announce the rollout of Kamiak, WSU’s new high-performance computing (HPC) cluster.  Kamiak is being managed and operated as a community-based and scalable “condominium” cluster where idle resources are dynamically harvested and made available to all users.

Background: In September 2015, WSU finalized the 120-Day Study, which identified areas of research excellence and emerging areas requiring additional strategic investment to achieve prominence. Research computing was identified as a high priority for institutional infrastructure investment. As a result, WSU has committed an initial investment of $2.7M over the next five years to provide this capability.

Following a town hall meeting in April 2015, feedback from computational researchers across a wide spectrum of application domains, and an external review by subject-matter experts, the Kamiak cluster is poised to address the need for additional research computing resources. Managed and operated under the principles of “condominium” computing, investors – single researchers, research groups, and academic units – can purchase individual computing units or “nodes” to be installed and administered within Kamiak.

The community based condominium model allows Kamiak users to access more aggregated computing resources than would be available by purchasing a stand-alone system. In addition to having access to the resources they have purchased, investors and sponsored users can also utilize idle compute cycles across the cluster. This creates positive economies of scale through a shared cyber-infrastructure. Users are also freed from management responsibilities and have access to consulting expertise. WSU joins a number of universities and national laboratories that have successfully implemented the community-based condominium model for institutional research computing.

Kamiak HPC Website – providing assistance and information on available resources :

WSU faculty and staff are now able to access the new Kamiak website at hpc.wsu.edu, which provides information and resources for those interested in learning more, and tips on how to effectively use the Kamiak condominium cluster. In addition, Dr. Nick Maggio has been hired as an in-house expert in high-performance computing and is available to assist users in the utilization of the Kamiak research computing environment. You may contact Dr. Maggio at hpc.consulting@wsu.edu / 509-335-0473.  We take this opportunity to thank the Office of the Provost, the Office of Finance and Administration, the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, the WSU Information Technology Systems (WSU/ITS) personnel and other University offices who have contributed to the Kamiak cluster acquisition and the resources needed to assist the university community. We encourage you to explore the possibility of investing in Kamiak. Dr. Christopher J. Keane, VP President for Research and Dr. Sasi K. Pillay, VP for Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer.

In memoriam:  Carl H. Shanks

Carl Shanks passed away on April 23, 2014.  Carl joined the Entomology Department faculty in 1959 and served as the superintendent of the Vancouver Research Center from 1980 until his retirement in 1995.  His wife, Isabelle Shanks, passed away two days prior to Carl’s passing.  To see their obituary go to http://www.anewtradition.com/obituaries/obituary/9293_Carl__Isabelle_Shanks

*****

IMPORTANT DATES TO KNOW:

WSU’s deadline for faculty to enter data into WORQS is January 8, 2016

The Graduate School has announced the 6th Annual Global Case Competition.  This competition brings student’s together to develop innovative interdisciplinary solutions to complex global issues facing each of us in today’s world.  Registration opens February 1, 2016.  Teams of 4 to 6 students work together under a strict timeline to develop an innovative solution to the selected case. Judging the solution occurs in 2 stages. Teams present their solutions in a 2-page written solution. Expert judges evaluate each solution and the top-5 teams are selected as finalists. Each of the finalist teams presents a solution in a public forum. Judges hear each solution and pose questions to the respective teams before selecting a winner. To learn about GCC visit this webpage:  https://ip.wsu.edu/on-campus/support-international-learning/

The Career Expo is right around the corner on February 2, 2016 at Beasley Coliseum, 10 AM – 3 PM.

The 2016 International Research Travel Award Request for Proposals is now online at https://ip.wsu.edu/scholars-abroad/documents/2016/01/irta-travel-award.pdf.  All proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 15, 2016.

The Association for Faculty Women (AFW) invites faculty nominations for three awards: AFW’s Harriett B. Rigas award (presented to an outstanding doctoral candidate), the AFW Founders Award (presented to an outstanding master’s student). We will accept nominations starting now through February 12th.  The final application packets are due February 19th.

The Washington State University, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences Presents: Three Minute Thesis Competition Proposal Deadline is Friday, February 19th.  For more information about how you can get involved in this opportunity visit this website at:  http://cahnrs.wsu.edu/academics/uncategorized/2014/cahnrs-three-minute-thesis/
*March 1, 2016 will be the deadline for our 2016 Research scholarship applications: “Student of the Year” and “Paper of the Year” award submissions.

Faculty-led Workshop: Writing for Gen. 1.5
Graduate students are invited to join in on a series of workshops designed for teaching and instruction. Offered by the WSU Teaching Academy and Global Campus, these workshop topics present a wide range of relevant topics:

  • January 28: Heritage Speakers: Writing and Perceptions of Under-preparedness;
  • February 11: Mind Mapping
  • March 8: Flipping the Classroom: Lessons Learned
  • March 29: First-generation Students on the College Campus
  • April 21: Establishing a Culture of Academic Integrity

The workshops are free and refreshments provided. Sign up for the sessions held in CUE 518, or the live streamed session. Register for any of the tutorials >> more here.

ESA Pacific Branch meetings are April 3-6, 2016 in Honolulu, HI at the Pacific Beach Hotel.

2016 International Congress of Entomology, Sept. 25-30, 2016, Orlando, FL. Website: http://ice2016orlando.org/[/textblock][/column][/row][/section]