The ESA held it's 56th Annual Meeting, under the direction of President Michael Gray, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno Nevada from November 16-19, 2008.

The theme, “Metamorphosis: A New Beginning,” expressed the new form that ESA took on after the new Bylaws were enacted in 2007, establishing ESA’s four new Sections, reformation of committees, and the creation of member Networks. The logo, created by Gretchen Wieshuber, a professional graphics artist with Studio 2D located in Champaign, Illinois. The six brown ovals on the wings of the stylized butterfly represented the former six Sections of our Society. The four orange and yellow ovals on the other wings symbolized the new four Sections of the ESA. The overlapping ovals signified Section independence yet also that they are an integral part of a larger whole. The brown coloration was chosen to characterize the ESA’s rich heritage and the orange and yellow embody our bright future.

The meeting had six Program symposia, 22 Section symposia, and 39 member symposia, one late-breaking symposium, and two international WebEx symposia—70 in all.

There were 422 student competition presentations (10-minute papers and posters). Schools with the most winners were: N.C. State, 6; University of Florida, 6; and University of Kentucky, 5. Each prize winner will receive free ESA memberships for 2009, a certificate, and a $70 cash prize in the mail.

The Welcome Reception was held in the Exhibit Hall, where 56 exhibitors booths shared space with the Career Center and a NetZone Cyber Café. The reception was followed by live music by the Jammin’ Entomologists.

Linnaean Games drew media attention with an article featured on the home page of Smithsonian Magazine’s website called “Bugs, Brains and Trivia." In a close finals bout, the University of California, Riverside team prevailed over runner-up N.C. State.

Special thanks goes out to Ric Bessin, Grayson Brown, and Doug Johnson (Program Co-Chairs), Carol Pilcher and Clint Pilcher (Student Competition Co-Chairs), Bob Peterson (Poster Chair), Mike Jackson and Alvin Simmons (Local Arrangements/Technology Co-Chairs), Anne Nielsen (Student Representative), Walter Leal (IPMIS President), Meg Allen (IPMIS Vice President), Rob Wiedenmann (P-IE President), Bill Hutchison (P-IE Vice President), Mark Branham (SysEB President), Paul Goldstein (SysEB Vice President), Phil Kaufmann (MUVE President), and the many student volunteers who helped make the meeting a success.

Photos, reports, and presentations are available here.