The John Henry Comstock Award is given to one graduate student from each of the Entomological Society of America's six Branches to promote interest in the science of entomology at the graduate level and to stimulate interest in attending the ESA Annual Meeting. The award includes an all-expense-paid trip to the national meeting, a $500 cash prize, and a certificate that is presented during the ESA Annual Meeting. Awardees are not required to present a paper at the Annual Meeting.
Eligibility
Nomination Requirements
Evaluation Criteria
Submission Requirements
Previous Winners
Deadline
Submit a Nomination
Eligibility
The student nominee must be currently enrolled as a graduate student in entomology, or have graduated no more than one year prior to presentation of the award at the NCB annual meeting. Students must be pursuing a course leading to a graduate degree with a major in entomology. Application for Society membership (student or active) must have been made prior to January 1 of the year the Award was made. An active member returning for graduate study is not eligible.
Nomination Requirements
Nomination packages should include the following:
- Curriculum vitae, which should include: publications (limited to published or in-press submissions only and must provide complete citation); oral and poster presentations for professional meetings; grantsmanship and awards; and service, outreach and achievements related to entomology at the nominee’s university, community, or professional society (unlimited length, but be clear and organized);
- A cover letter detailing the nominee's goals and interests in entomology, and how the nominee’s current and past experiences relate to the success of these goals (strictly limited 2 pages double spaced);
- Letter of support for candidacy from one (1) professional reference, such as the nominee’s PhD or Master’s advisor. Letters can be provided to the nominator directly (if preferred), or in the case of self nominations, the nominee can request reference letters via the award submission site. Once the support letter is submitted online by the letter writer, the nominee will not be able to see the content of the letter.
- Photograph of the nominee (as a digital image file) suitable for a program booklet, that is at least 1" wide x 1-1/2" tall, black and white or color, with a minimum of 300 pixels per inch.
- A biography suitable for a program booklet of no more than 130 words.
Evaluation Criteria
Nominees will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 100 points:
- Research (40 points)
- Papers (number and quality of journals) (20)
- Oral presentations (number, national/international, invited) (10)
- Poster presentations (number, national/international, invited) (5)
- Grantsmanship (5)
- Service (25 points)
- University service (teaching beyond TA requirements, serving in committees) (10)
- Outreach activities (participation in extension and outreach) (10)
- Involvement in professional societies (ESA, others) (5)
- Other Evidence (25 points)
- Letters of recommendation (10)
- Statement of nominee's interest and goals in entomology (10)
- Collaboration (advising other students, interdisciplinary teams) (5)
- Overall Evaluation (10 points)
- Overall achievements (how balanced are all activities) (10)
Submission Requirements
All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted). Nomination packages will be submitted through the award submission site.
- 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 may not be smaller than 11 point.
- The maximum upload size is 2 MB per file.
- Nominators are encouraged, though not required, to submit the package as one continuous document rather than as individual files.
Previous Winners
View the list of those who have previously received this award.
Deadline
Nomination packages must be submitted online via the award submission site by December 15th annually at 11:59 EST. This deadline refers to receipt by the awards administrator of a complete package in a readable format.