The following items contain science policy news and/or reports that are associated with the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

Tips for Effective Meetings with Policymakers
September 30, 2013
This guide was created to help scientists get involved in science policy. The document provides an overview of the logistics of how to arrange a meeting with a federal or state elected official, tips for a successful meeting, and advice on how to prepare an effective message.

ESA Leaders Visit Capitol Hill
September 23, 2013
On September 16, 2013, ESA President Robert N. Wiedenmann, Vice President Frank G. Zalom, and Executive Director C. David Gammel met in Washington, DC with a variety of legislative staff to discuss issues related to entomology.

ESA Science Policy News: Sept 3, 2013
September 3, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains information about entomologists meeting with Congressional policymakers, key science posts being filled by President Obama, new pesticide labeling from the EPA, a call for comments on the Asian longhorned beetle eradication program, legislation of interest to entomologists, and more.

ESA Science Policy News: August 2, 2013
August 2, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains information about a policy training video for ESA members on how best to communicate science to non-technical audiences, tips for conducting a successful meeting with an elected official, and information about trends in funding for research. Plus, there's information about Congressional support for NSF and EPA funding, the Farm Bill, NSF grants for biodiversity collections, and more.

Scientists to Meet with State and Federal Lawmakers
July 31, 2013
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and the Entomological Society of America (ESA) have announced the start of the 5th Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event. This national initiative encourages scientists across the nation to showcase for federal and state lawmakers the people, facilities, and equipment required to conduct scientific research.

The 2008 Farm Bill: Making an Impact Through NIFA
July, 2013
The U.S.Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) was established by the Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) to find innovative solutions to issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and communities. By making the right investments in science at the right time, NIFA enables the scientific community to make great discoveries, helps turn discovery into innovation, and encourages meaningful solutions that improve the food and agriculture sector, the environment, and the quality of people’s lives in the United States.

ESA Science Policy News: July 1, 2013
July 1, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains information about ESA's participation in the National Plant Science Initiative, ESA's participation with the Discover America Partnership, news about the Farm Bill, the Fifth Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event, competing agricultural funding proposals by the U.S. Congress, new EPA policies to implement new toxicity testing and risk assessment for pesticides, and other issues of interest to entomologists. 

ESA Supports National Plant Science Initiative
June 26, 2013
ESA recently agreed to support an initiative by the American Society of Plant Biologists and others on determining specific research priorities for the next decade of plant science research. The "National Plant Science Initiative" identifies areas of research that would be important to address grand challenges in agriculture, health, energy, and the environment, and prioritizes these areas into “must do’s” over the next ten years. The initiative is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The full report will be posted here in the future.

ESA Science Policy News: June 3, 2013
June 3, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains a call for ESA members to participate in the 5th Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event, an opportunity for biologists across the country to meet with their federal or state elected officials to showcase the people, facilities, and equipment that are required to support and conduct scientific research. It also contains letters from ESA to the US Congress which defend peer review and urge an end to restrictions on federal employee participation in scientific conferences, plus other issues and legislation of interest to entomologists.

Letter to Senator Harry Reid Regarding Federal Employee Participation in Conferences
May 29, 2013
OMB Memorandum M-12-12 is restricting the open exchange of ideas among scientists, engineers, and technologists, and thereby adversely affecting important national interests by throttling back on the U.S. “innovation engine.” We ask that you address this issue to prevent it from hampering the legitimate and necessary interactions among scientists and researchers.

Coalition of Scientific Organizations Defends NSF Peer Review
May 20, 2013
More than 100 organizations, including the Entomological Society of America, have signed a letter to Congress in defense of peer review.  The statement was prompted by recent congressional actions that called into question the merit review process used by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award research grants.

ESA Science Policy News: May 2, 2013
May 2, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains an update on activities by the ESA Presidential Committee on Science Policy, a report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA, a new USDA and EPA report on honey bee health, President Obama's budget request for science funding in FY 2014, and other legislative issues of interest to entomologist.

Report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA
April 26, 2013
Dr. Mark Whalon, ESA's Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, has submitted his second report about meetings with EPA officials. The report includes meetings with the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC), and other EPA staff about neonicotinoids and their effects on bees and birds, and on issues surrounding flonicamid 9c (IUPAC: N-cyanomethyl-4-(trifluoromethyl) a nicotinamide with efficacy on aphids, whiteflies, plant bugs, plant hoppers and scale insects.

Guiding Principles for the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization
April 19, 2013
Driven in large part by Congressional approval of the America COMPETES Acts of 2007 and 2010, there has been some progress toward achieving the goals set forth in the National Academies’ 2007 report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. However, there is still much to do, and, despite the tremendous fiscal challenges currently facing the nation, now is not the time for us to back away from our commitment to increasing the productivity of our national science and technology enterprise.

Letter to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning Federal Employee Participation in Conferences
April 17, 2013
As OMB Memorandum M-12-12 is currently being interpreted and implemented, it is having the unintentional consequence of restricting the open exchange of ideas among scientists, engineers, and technologists, and thereby adversely affecting important national interests by throttling back on the U.S. innovation engine.

ESA Science Policy News: April 1, 2013
April 1, 2013
This edition of ESA Science Policy News contains information about budget cuts for science due to sequestration, a new EPA pesticide risk assessment process, a science advisory panel on pesticide efficacy, scientific societies who are advocating for agricultural research funding, and recent legislation of interest to entomologists.

Report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA
March 21, 2013
Dr. Mark Whalon, ESA's Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, has submitted a report about his meetings with EPA officials in the first quarter of 2013. Dr. Whalon invites comments from ESA members on proposed terminology on insectide resistance, and on whether the current emergency exemption processes under FIFRA and FQPA will be sufficient to address the rising tide of invasive arthropod species.

ESA Science Policy News: March 7, 2013
March 7, 2013
This is the first edition of ESA Science Policy News, which aims to inform entomologists about legislation and regulations that are affecting the field of entomology.

ESA Launches New Science Policy Program and Partnership with AIBS
February 21, 2013
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) announced today a new partnership that will provide ESA members with an even stronger voice in the nation’s science policy debates.

Entomologists Offer Help to Field Museum of Natural History
January 7, 2013
While acknowledging that the museum faces financial hardships and that action must be taken to ensure its survival, Dr. Wiedenmann offered to provide help from members of ESA, which once faced a similar situation.

ESA Creates New Science Policy Committee
January 2, 2013
The Entomological Society of America recently created a new Presidential Committee charged with leading the effort to establish a science policy agenda for ESA that will guide and focus the Society's outreach efforts with governments, NGOs, and other organizations.

Letter from the AFRI Coalition to the President and Leadership of the U.S. Congress on Fiscal Challenges to Agricultural Research Programs
The AFRI Coalition, December 13, 2012
On behalf of the agricultural sciences research community, the AFRI Coalition asks you to find a bipartisan compromise that prevents the “fiscal cliff” from occurring. We encourage you to work to find long-term solutions to our nation’s fiscal difficulties without jeopardizing the backbone of this nation’s economy – research and development (R&D).

Report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise
By the Executive Office of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, December, 2012
This report addresses the scientific challenges facing the Nation’s agricultural research enterprise and makes recommendations on how to refocus and rebalance the Federal Government’s support of agricultural research to enable U.S. farmers to meet the critical challenges facing U.S. agriculture in the 21st century. PCAST calls for increased public investment in agricultural research to meet these growing challenges, and recommends that the Department of Agriculture make some important changes in the way it administers research funds, in particular an expansion of competitive opportunities for both intramural and extramural research.

Three Leading Scientific Societies Take an Objective Look at the Issues Associated with “Least Toxic Pesticides” Applied as a “Last Resort”
November 12, 2012
Recommendations and decisions to use “least toxic pesticides” and “pesticides as a last resort” have flourished in the last decade, but according to three scientific organizations – the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), the American Phytopathological Society (APS) and the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section of the Entomological Society of America (P-IE ESA) – these are not the correct approaches to the pesticide component of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program.

The Green Frontier: A Unified Vision for Plant Research (PDF)
October 24, 2012
This document reflects some of the discussions and opinions exchanged during the September, 2011 Plant Science Research Summit.

ESA Selects Liaison to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs
October 1, 2012
Dr. Mark E. Whalon, professor of entomology and the director of the Center for Integrated Plant Systems at Michigan State University, has been selected by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) as its second Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Liaison to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs. Dr. Whalon succeeds Dr. Gene Reagan of Louisiana State University, who clearly demonstrated the value of the role to the US-EPA and the ESA.

CSAW Calls for Support for Agricultural Challenges
February 1, 2012
The Coalition for a Sustainable Agricultural Workforce (CSAW), of which ESA is a member, sent a clear message to DC this week: help prevent the spread of misconceptions about agriculture and support increasing agricultural research and education funding to meet the challenge of feeding the world.

1,200 Speak Up for Agricultural Research Funding
October 19, 2011
More than 1,200 individuals, companies, organizations, educational and research institutions, and other stakeholders have joined together to stress the vital importance of robust research funding for food and agriculture.

Scientists Concerned about Pesticide Education Funding
September 13, 2011
Scientists with the Entomological Society of America (ESA), the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), and the American Phytopathological Society (APS) recently expressed concern about the precarious state of the U.S. Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP).

New Website Provides Information on Pesticide Stewardship
August 15, 2010
The Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM) has announced the launch of a new Pesticide Environmental Stewardship (PES) website.

New ESA Liaison to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs
July 15, 2010
Dr. Thomas E. “Gene” Reagan, Austin C. Thompson Distinguished Professor of Entomology at Louisiana State University and the LSU Agricultural Center, has been selected as the first ESA Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs.

ESA Open Letter to NIFA and AFRI
June 30, 2010
On June 7, 2010, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) wrote a letter to the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) concerning the 2010 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and the potential unintended consequences of the scope and implementation of the AFRI Request for Applications.