ESA is proud to announce a new travel grant award for Entomology 2013 funded by USDA-NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program on Plant-Associated Insects and Nematodes. This award was created to provide financial support to graduate students for new networking, presentation and research opportunities at Entomology 2013.  Ten students will be selected for $500 travel grants in 2013.  The winners will be formally recognized at the awards ceremony during the annual meeting.

Eligibility

The nominee must be a graduate student enrolled in an accredited institution and be presenting either a 10-minute paper or poster on research at ESA’s annual meeting, Entomology 2013, related to building a foundation of knowledge critical for understanding pest and beneficial insects and/or nematodes in agricultural plant systems. Presentations deemed not relevant to these program goals (listed below) will not be considered for competition.  This award is not offered to post-doctoral individuals.

This priority area supports projects to increase fundamental and applied knowledge of biological and environmental processes that affect the abundance and spread of plant-associated pest and beneficial insects or nematodes in agricultural systems (including managed forests and rangeland).  Research on factors associated with the decline of insect pollinators and development of solutions to mitigate these problems is particularly emphasized. While realizing the value of discovery-oriented research, this priority area will emphasize hypothesis-driven research. Projects in this priority area may develop integrated pest management or other ecologically-based management programs (either in the short or long term). Projects on pests of livestock or nuisance pests in urban systems are not supported.

Deadline

Nomination packages must be received by ESA headquarters by July 1. This deadline refers to receipt by the awards administrator of a complete package in a readable format. Therefore, early submission is highly recommended.

Nomination Requirements

Section I: Background Information

1. First Name:
2. Last Name:
3. Affiliation (place of work, study or other appropriate affiliation):
4. Address:
5. City:
6. State:
7. Zip Code:
8. Phone:
9. E-mail Address:

Section II: Educational and Employment Background

1. List degree(s), institution(s) awarding the degree, and year(s)
   received (or expected):
2. Relevant Employment
   Employer:
   Location:
   Title/Position:
   Length of employment:
3. Relevant memberships to professional scientific societies and other affiliations (e.g., Entomological Society, Society of Nematologists, Society for Invertebrate Pathology; North American Pollinator Protection Campaign).  Awards and Honors (Please list any relevant awards or honors, bestowing institution or organization and year bestowed).  Publications (please list any relevant publications).

Section III: Abstract of Presentation at Entomology 2013

1. Title of Presentation at Entomology 2013:
2. Presentation Type: (ten-minute paper,  poster)
3. Abstract (include below)

• Required sections
• Rationale
• Hypothesis or Goal
• Objectives
• Approach
• Impact or Outcomes
  Format of abstract (no more than one page, font size must be at least 12 point
  Margins must be at least one inch in all directions, and line spacing must not exceed six lines of text per vertical inch)

Section IV: Additional Supporting Documentation:

1. A letter that includes the scope and importance of the research you are presenting and how attendance at the meeting will benefit your professional work.
2. Up to 3 letter(s) of recommendation; at least one should be from a faculty mentor:

Evaluation Criteria - Nominees/candidates will be evaluated using the following criteria (40 points maximum)

1. Section II:
   a.       one point per membership affiliation, award and honor; up to five points total
   b.      one point per publication; up to five points total (journal and other publicly-accessible publications are acceptable)
2. Section III:
   a.       Up to six points for clarity of title and abstract  
   b.      Up to 15 points for scientific merit, creativity and innovation
3. Section IV:
   a.       Up to six points based on the scope and merit of the submission letter
   b.      Up to one point per letter of support; up to three points total

Electronic Submission Requirements

All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted):

Page Limits and File Specifications

• The entire nomination package must not exceed 7 pages total. This includes letters of nomination or recommendation..

• Letters of nomination and recommendation must be included in the electronic package. Printed letters sent in lieu of electronic versions will not be accepted.

• Only the following file formats will be accepted: PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), RTF (Rich Text Format), TIF graphic files, or JPG graphic files. Files created on either PC or MAC platforms will be accepted. Please make sure scanned images can be clearly read on a computer screen.

• Font size for text must be at least 12 point.

• A nomination package may contain no more than 6 separate files, and the size of each file must not exceed 3 MB

Submission Methods

Nomination packages may be submitted by:

• PREFERRED METHOD: Submit online via the Nomination Submission Website. This method eliminates problems associated with e-mailing large files. Nominators are strongly encouraged to use this method.

Notification

The awards administrator will notify all candidates and their nominators with the results of their nomination approximately two months after the nomination submission deadline. 

For questions about this award, please click here.