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November 23, 2015

Posted by entomology.office | December 8, 2015

Our final Fall Colloquium will be next Wednesday, Dec 9that 12:10 PM in FSHN 354.  Our presenter is John E. Banks.  The title of his presentation is:  Population Models for the Protection of Ecosystem Services.  Currently Dr. Banks is the Director of Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center at California St. Univ-Monterey Bay. Previously Dr. Banks served as Director of the Office of International Programs and as a professor of Environmental Sciences at Univ. of Washington-Tacoma.  For more info on Dr. Banks go to:  https://sites.google.com/a/csumb.edu/john-e-banks-ph-d/home.   The AMS dial # is: 5709215.

 

Carmen Castillo-Carrillo has scheduled her PhD seminar at 9:00 AM on December 11th in FSHN 104A (Food Sci Conference Room) and defense will follow thereafter in FSHN 164 (Entomology Conference Room).

Congratulations to Conor O’Leary who successfully passed his MS-Non Thesis exam on Nov. 20th.  He is advised by Vince Jones.

Congratulations to Janet Lane who successfully passed her MS final exam on Nov. 23rd.  She is advised by John Stark.

Kudos to Alix Whitener who took 2nd place for Graduate Student 10 Minute Presentation (Chemical Ecology), and to Adekunle Adesanya who took 2nd place the Graduate Poster Competition (Nursery & Specialty Crops), at the recent ESA meeting held in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to recent Entomology Department grant awardees:

  • Betsy Beers is the recipient of a $6,000 grant from Bayer (11/24/2015)
  • Jay Brunner are the recipient of a $8,000  grant from DuPont (11/5/2015)
  • Elizabeth Culbert & Vince Jones are the recipients of a $96,000 grant from Univ CA/USDA-NIFA (11/19/2015)

 

Food Pantry for Students: Some of you may already know about the Office for Access Equity and Achievement’s Food Pantry that is available to all students but I wanted to pass out more info about it.  The Food Pantry is Located in Lighty Student Services 260 and it is open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.  From experience working with students, they typically tend to run out of money at around these times and might need some help making ends meet.  Please let your students know that this resource is available to them.  They just need to show up and ask for it.  They will be taken to the room and they can grab what they need. The pantry is currently well stocked with a variety of ready-to-eat meals, soups, hygiene products, vegetables and many more. Ray Acuna-Luna, Access Equity and Achievement, ray.acuna@wsu.edu, 509.335.7649.

Xmas PartyPlan to attend the CAHNRS Holiday Party on Thursday, December 10th at 4-6:00 PM at the Ensminger Pavilion.  In conjunction with this event we will be collecting canned food and other perishables for a local food bank.  We have a box in the Entomology Office for your donations to the food drive. 

 

 

Office of the President and Office of the Provost Food Drive

Please partner with us in a food drive to benefit the Pullman and Moscow communities this holiday season.

What: Canned Goods & Non-Perishable Items   When: Until Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Where: Offices of the President or Provost (French Administration Bldg. 422 or 436)

President and Mrs. Bernardo, Provost Erica Austin, and Provost Ron Mittelhammer will match each donation pound for pound!   If you have any questions, please kindly contact Ginger Druffel (509-335-4200) or Kristina Peterson-Wilson (509-335-5581).

This is a reminder that nominations for Graduate School Awards/Scholarships are due to the Academic Programs Office by Thursday, December 10. The deadline is intended to give Dr. Kidwell enough time to review the nominations and determine which nominees to move forward to the Graduate School. Full descriptions and eligibility requirements for each award are provided here:  http://gradschool.wsu.edu/Scholarships-2016/. Please send nominations to acellis@wsu.edu.

Allan Felsot was featured in a Capital Press article on Nov. 13th.  The title of the article is: Glyphosate no cancer threat, scientist argues.  A copy of the article is attached.

ABD applications are due to the Graduate School prior to the semester your student is seeking an ABD waiver. With the December Holiday Reduced Operations, the Graduate School will be closed from Monday, December 28th through Friday, January 1st.  Due to this closure, your applications will need to be in our office by no later than Wednesday, December 23rd. Student requesting an ABD waiver must have passed their preliminary examination and completed all their graded coursework listed on their Program of Study with the exception of the seminar courses. To be considered a seminar, the WSU catalog must include the word “seminar” in the course title. For those students in need of adjustments to their Program of Study before the ABD request may be considered, please submit the Change of Program form (completed and signed) no later than Wednesday, December 23rd. Please note, ABD applications will not be considered for spring semester if the Graduate School does not have the ABD application and if needed, Change of Program in our office by Wednesday, December 23rd.  Contact Rita Whitcomb (335-5165 rwhitcomb@wsu.edu) at the Grad School if you have questions.

Final Grades are due by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

Former student Christian Krupke (PhD 2004) was featured in a PBS NewsHour segment titled Are pesticides to blame for the massive gee die-off? Christian was co-advised by Vince Jones & Jay Brunner.  To see the segment go to:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/are-pesticides-to-blame-for-the-massive-bee-die-off/

Plan to join us for our Annual Holiday Party in December with a white elephant gift exchange, at noon on December 18th.  RSVP at Dory’s desk in FSHN 166.  Dory and Jane will make soups but we need help with rolls, desserts and a couple of salads.

December Holiday Reduced Operations: December Holiday Reduced Operations will be Thursday, December 24, 2015 through Friday, January 1, 2016. The period includes three university holidays (December 24, December 25, and January 1). Most university operations and services will be unavailable during this time. Faculty will retain access to their individual offices and labs during the December Holiday Reduced Operations; however, the thermostats may be turned down in buildings that are otherwise closed. Facilities Services operations staff will not be available to unlock buildings. Department employees will need to make arrangements with their departmental key coordinators to have keys available or use card swipe access where appropriate.

The Graduate School has created a searchable FAQ page for students, which is up and running here: https://gradschool.wsu.edu/faqs/.  This link is accessible in our website navigation under Prospective Students. Also added is a link from our home page and the current student’s page—and it will be included in the automatic email reply when students email us for questions.

Another helpful feature for our spring students is the graduate school orientation videos, which are now online here: https://gradschool.wsu.edu/graduate-school-orientation/

U.S. Borlaug Summer Institute on Global Food Security

The U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program will hold its fifth annual Summer Institute on Global Food Security Sunday, June 5- Saturday, June 18, 2016 on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. This two-week learning program is for graduate students who are interested in developing a holistic understanding of the conceptual challenges around global food security with a focus on cross-disciplinary problem solving of real-world development challenges. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of graduate study and be enrolled in a U.S. institution at the time of application. U.S. citizenship is not required. Application Deadline: Monday, February 1, 2016. Applications are available at the program website. For more info go to: http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/food/.

A scholarship opportunity:  Turner Pest Control is proud to offer a scholarship award to a deserving student in the U.S. who has been accepted to a university, college or trade school and submits the winning entry in an essay competition. A scholarship in the amount of $1,500 will be awarded on June 15, 2016.  The deadline for entry is May 1, 2016. All entrants must submit a 500-word essay on Technology in Local Businesses, describing how advancing technology will change how local businesses, such as pest control companies, run their businesses and provide service to customers.

Requirements for applicants

  • Submit a completed scholarship application online by midnight, May 1, 2016.
  • Attach the above-described 500-word essay to your online application.
  • Applicants must be accepted to a community college, four-year college or university, trade school, or two year technical college in the U.S.

For more info and to apply go to:  http://www.turnerpest.com/scholarship/pest-control-scholarship/

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO KNOW:

CAHNRS Christmas Holiday Party, December 10th in the Ensminger Pavilion from 4-6 PM.

WSU will be closed December 24 & 25, 2015 for the Christmas Holiday and December 28-31 except for essential operations.

Remember, March 1, 2016 will be the deadline for our 2016 Research scholarship applications: “Student of the Year” and “Paper of the Year” award submissions.

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/