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July 27, 2018

Posted by entomology.office | July 30, 2018

Department Announcements

Calling all social butterflies! We are excited to announce we are on multiple social media platforms. Stay connected to us on our channels below:

Send in any cool photos, news stories, or upcoming events to Christina Rede at Christina.rede@wsu.edu for our social media channels.  Please submit by Thursday noon to Christina or our SmartSheet notification page at:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form?EQBCT=b7c943ec39084d74a98410f50b4db935.

Congratulations

Congratulations to recent Entomology Department grant awardees:

  • Doug Walsh is the recipient of a $34,000 grant from the Washington Alfalfa Seed Commission to work on IPM and Pollinator Protection on Alfalfa Produced for Seed (7/3/2018); and $24,976 from USDA/ARS for work on Enhancing and Protecting Populations of Alfalfa Seed Pollinators (7/12/2018)

For more info go to:  https://informer.or.wsu.edu/RecentFacultyAwards.aspx

David  James was featured in a WSU Insider article on July 20, 2018 titled Sagebrush hospitality: a home for good bugs can save the vineyards.  To read the article go to:  https://news.wsu.edu/2018/07/20/sagebrush-a-home-for-good-bugs/?utm_source=WSUNews-enewsletter&utm_campaign=wsunewsenewsletter

University Announcements

WSU Driver Safety Training: The Driver Safety Training class is designed to increase driving safety and reduce losses. It provides a grounding on WSU rules and requirements for drivers, on filling out required forms, setting up seats and mirrors before you drive, and what if you don’t obey the Move Over Law. This course takes place Monday, July 30, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Register Here for WSU Driver Safety.

Interested in other training opportunities? Visit the WSU Training Website

University administration recently revised Executive Policy #38, which defines the university’s policy regarding intellectual property, technology transfer and commercialization. This executive policy addresses disclosure, inventorship, ownership, management and disposition of intellectual property (IP) created using university resources, which includes, without limitations, employee time and the university’s preexisting IP. The full policy can be found on the Office of Procedures, Records and Forms website.
Phishing Email Update from Information Technology Services:  WSU and other public universities are intensive targets of malicious emails designed to bypass security networks and collect personal information and/or cause maximum possible damage. By falsely presenting themselves as valid internal communications, these hackers are successful in confusing recipients and causing unnecessary harm.
Hackers are determined and dynamic, changing their approaches faster than the information technology industry can respond. These sophisticated messages often include fraudulent web links and/or attachments containing malware. Clicking on such links and attachments immediately exposes recipients to very serious cyber threats.

As part of the WSU community, you can aid in protecting yourself and others in your community by not only forwarding suspicious emails to abuse@wsu.edu, but also by strengthening your passwords.  Here are a few tips to help block these hackers from successfully accessing your account and disrupting your ability to work and study:

  1. Think length over complexity – passwords with at least 12 to 15 alpha characters can be more effective than short, complex alpha-numeric combinations
  2. Keep it weird – Common is less effective, and 111111111111 is not going to stop a hacker for long.  Avoid sports and pop culture phrases, look for something no one else would use (ideally, a random string).
  3. Don’t bunch up special characters – Many people capitalize at the beginning and add special characters to the end, losing the added benefits of these elements. Spread them out across the password and make a hacker’s job much more difficult.
  4. Don’t double dip – Using the same password on your WSU account and other personal/business accounts provides hackers access to all of those accounts, once they obtain your information from one site.  The best password will not save you from this.  Use a different password for each site that you access.

Information Technology Services (ITS) is aware of email user frustrations and the inconvenience this causes for all who rely on WSU communications. We are always working to ebb this constant assault on our university community.
As appropriate measures are implemented, ITS continues to monitor all phishing emails that are forwarded to abuse@wsu.edu. If you believe you may have already clicked on a malicious link or attachment in a phishing email, please report the situation to abuse@wsu.edu immediately and contact CougTech at (509) 335-4357. Please do not continue to use your computer until you have communicated with CougTech. We appreciate you taking the time to assist us in these critical security efforts. You can also like and follow our ITS Facebook page (@itswsu) for updates regarding network, security, and other timely IT issues important for our WSU community.
Sasi K. Pillay, Ph.D., Vice President & CIO Information Technology Services

WSU is seeking 350 volunteers for Move-In 2018 on Saturday, August 11 & Wednesday August 15.  Moving 4,000 students into their residence Hall takes a lot of Coug Spirit.  Move-In is an exciting time for our newest Cougs and their families. Your participation is crucial during this transition, whether it’s helping students find their way around campus, moving things to their residence hall, or providing support to families. You can make the day memorable and stress-free!  Volunteers will get a free Cougar shirt provided as a uniform.  Volunteer for two shifts and you will get a hearty lunch.  As always, interested WSU faculty and staff can coordinate with their appropriate department administrator regarding scheduling. WSU Human Resource Services (HRS) has approved up to three hours of release time for move-in participation, contingent upon supervisor approval. Contact HRS with questions regarding comp time, flexing schedules, and other options.

CAHNRS Faculty Awards Program and Call for Nominations:  The Provosts Office has announced that the Faculty Awards Program for academic year 2018-19 nominations are now open.  The nominations deadline is September 14, 2018.  Washington State University has more than 2,000 highly talented and dedicated faculty who, on a daily basis, enrich the lives of our students through high quality instruction while making tremendous contributions to our state, nation, and world in the areas of research, public service, scholarship, and arts. In establishing university awards, Washington State University seeks to recognize the truly outstanding accomplishments and exceptional individual achievements of its faculty. The awards are designed to honor those faculty members who epitomize the highest levels of excellence in the pursuit of the university’s mission and goals. I am seeking your support in nominating outstanding faculty members whose performance clearly distinguishes them from their colleagues for these university-level awards. The faculty award nominations for are:

  • Distinguished Faculty Address
  • Faculty Diversity Award
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award
  • Outstanding Department Chair/School Director
  • President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Instructors and Clinical Faculty
  • Sahlin Eminent Faculty Award
  • Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards – Instruction
  • – Leadership
  • – Outreach and Engagement
  • – Research, Scholarship and Arts
  • V. Lane Rawlins Distinguished Lifetime Service Award

See the attachment for more info and nomination instructions.

Important Dates and Deadlines

Norm Ehmann Urban Pest Management Award July 2018 RFP. Click here for further details and application instructions.

Request for proposals: 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. Purpose: This endowment was developed through donations from the Oregon and Washington Pest Management Associations, the Pacific Northwest Pest Management Conference and a variety of pest control industry suppliers. It is intended to support research and extension and/or educational activities relevant to Urban Pest Management issues. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2018. See the attachment for more details.

Employment

Continue for employment opportunities >> more here.  

  1. Vector Control Biologist, County of Alameda, Oakland, CA
  2. Extension Educator, University of Illinois, Jackson County, IL
  3. Postdoctoral Scholar, Entomology Dept., Penn State Univ., Univ. Park, PA
  4. Native Bee Researcher, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
  5. Stream Macroinvertebrate Jr. Specialist, UC-Davis, Davis, CA
  6. Entomologist (Direct Hire), Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Ft. Collins, CO
  7. Extension Educator-Fixed IPM, Berrian County Region, Michigan State University,
  8. Assistant Professor-Vegetable Horticulturist, Univ of Florida, Immokalee, FL
  9. Plant Disease and Insect Diagnostician, Bartlett Tree Experts, Charlotte, NC
  10. Program Specialist Senior, New Mexico State University, Valencia, NM
  11. Supervisory CBP Agriculture Specialist (1st Line), Customs and Border Protection, Long Beach, CA
  12. Western IPM Center Director, UC-Davis, Div of Ag & Natural Resources, Yolo County, CA
  13. Research Specialist I, Texas A&M Univ., AgriLive, College Station, TX
  14. Postdoctoral Research Assoc., Univ of Arizona, Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biol., Tucson, AZ

Meetings: Regional, National, International

The Annual Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting is in New Orleans, LA, August 5-10, 2018 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  The theme of the meeting is “Extreme events, ecosystem resilience and human well-being.”

The All Entomology Faculty Retreat is scheduled for August 16th and 17th in Pullman this year.

Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting is in Vancouver, BC, Nov 11-15, 2018.  This year’s theme is “Crossing Borders: Entomology in a Changing World.”  Submissions for papers and posters will open in mid-April for the Lunch and Learns and Functions.  For more info go to:  https://esa.confex.com/esa/2018/cfp.cgi