YouTube Your Entomology Contest

Every year, the Entomological Society of America invites entomologists, insect enthusiasts, and both professional and amateur videographers to showcase the world of insect science and enter the annual YouTube Your Entomology Contest.

All videos entered are showcased on the ESA YouTube Channel, and videos are judged for their creativity, entomological accuracy, sound quality, video quality, and editing. Winning video teams earn cash prizes and are honored at the ESA Annual Meeting.

2020 Contest: Entry Deadline Extended to July 15

The entry period for the YouTube Your Entomology Contest is now open. The entry deadline has been extended to 11:59 p.m. U.S. EDT, July 15, 2020.

All video entries will be judged by a panel of ESA members, who will choose a winner, a runner-up, and up to three honorable mentions. Finalists will be named in August, with winners announced during ESA's annual meeting, Entomology 2020. Each finalist entry will receive a "Stinger" award and a cash prize: $500 for first place, $250 for runner-up, and $50 for honorable mention.

Videos will be judged on the following criteria: creativity, entomological accuracy, sound quality, video quality, and editing.

YouTube Your Entomology Contest rules:

Maximum length of video is three minutes (3:00). Longer videos will be disqualified.
At least one producer of the video must be an ESA member.
Entries must be submitted to pubs@entsoc.org with the following information included:
- video title
- brief video description
- all producers' names
- link to view video on YouTube or to download raw video file
Videos must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. U.S. eastern time, July 15, 2020.

Videos may be uploaded directly to YouTube via the entrant's own account. Or, entrants may send a video file via file-sharing service such as Dropbox or YouSendIt.

All file formats that are compatible with YouTube will be accepted.

All videos will be displayed on the ESA YouTube Channel.

For questions regarding the YouTube Your Entomology Contest, please contact Joe Rominiecki, ESA manager of communications, at jrominiecki@entsoc.org.

Committee Members

Judges on the ESA YouTube Your Entomology Committee are ESA members Marlin Rice (chair), Jeff Bradshaw, Laura Higgins, Erin Hodgson, Clinton Pilcher, and Carol Pilcher.

2019 Contest Results

The 2019 YouTube Your Entomology Contest winner, selected from among 15 entries, was "Fungal Control of the Asian Longhorned Beetle," by Max Helmberger of Michigan State University and Eric Clifton of Cornell University.

Runner-Up:

"Ants and Blues: The Feeling is Mutual," by Geena Hill, Chris Johns, Simon McClung, and Jaret Daniels, University of Florida

Honorable Mentions:

"Alien Thistles: The 8th Passenger," by Daniela P. Ortiz, Marina A. Alma, and Andrés M. Devegili, with Gabriela I. Pirk and María N. Lescano, Laboratorio de Investigación en Hormigas
"Why Support Insect Museums?" by Dan Rubinoff, Godwin Polendey, and Mark Berthold, University of Hawaii

Past YouTube Your Entomology Contest Entrants

View past entrants to the ESA YouTube Your Entomology Contest:

Advice From Experts

In 2017, the Entomology Today blog spoke with three past contest winners to get their advice on creating compelling video to communicate entomology. Check out their tips and perspectives at the links below.