Wednesday, May 23, 2018

ISH meeting at ESA 2018: talk by Brian Fisher and students symposium

The Society will be holding a meeting during the ESA annual meeting in Vancouver (11-14 November 2018 -https://www.entsoc.org/events/annual-meeting/about-2018).

We will have a students' symposium, and I am delighted to announce that Brian Fisher, from the California Academy of Sciences, will be giving a talk:

Why are entomologists sitting on the conservation sidelines? Insects and People (IPSIO.org): efforts to end the silence on habitat loss in Madagascar.

Insects are everywhere, yet invisible in most conservation efforts. Since terrestrial ecosystems make no sense except in light of insects, this is short-sighted and unfortunate. The time is now for entomologists to end their silence on the loss of insect habitats. After all, how much tropical forest will be left in 50 years?


Madagascar, a locus of biodiversity research, is a prime example. Since 2001, we have inventoried over 350 localities across the island, visiting all major habitats, soil types and bioclimates, processing millions of specimens, training students, and collaborating with 180 taxonomists. Despite the scale of this effort, knowing the name of any insect, its habits, its distribution, whether it is endangered, or whether it is invasive remains difficult. Given the breakneck speed of habitat destruction, shouldn’t we try to apply our knowledge to protect habitats, monitor ecosystems, and link the health of humans to that of the natural world.

Large-scale biodiversity inventories have failed to save a single forest. The current entomological effort could be characterized as haphazard and opportunistic and does not focus on concrete conservation advances. Instead, taxonomic advances are driven by individual interests and not on collective need.

The Insects and People of the Southwest Indian Ocean (IPSIO) network aims to help entomologists focus their efforts on local outcomes. IPSIO provides the organizational infrastructure to translate taxonomic research into conservation improvements, providing vetted data for conservation assessments, forest restoration, and invasive species monitoring. Other efforts include using insects as food and insects in tourism.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Student Travel Awards for 9th ISH Congress: call now open

 ISH and ISH Endowment
Matsuyama Congress Student Travel Awards



Purpose and value of the awards   
The International Society of Hymenopterists (ISH) has created these awards to support and encourage postgraduate students working on the systematics, ecology, physiology or some other aspect of the insect order Hymenoptera, which is being undertaken as part of a postgraduate program (MSc, PhD or equivalent qualification). They will be advertised on a regular basis through the Society. For this round, the Society has allocated funds for four USD1,500 travel awards, and the Endowment has allocated funds for one USD 1,500 travel award, specifically to attend the ISH Congress in Matsuyama City, Japan, (23-27 July 2018). To be eligible for one of these travel awards a student must give a poster or oral presentation at the Congress. Supervisors must be able to state that applicants are registered graduate students at their institution, who have not submitted their theses by the due date, 28 February 2018. 

The five awards have been divided into two categories with different eligibility criteria as outlined below:

Three awards restricted to current ISH members:
Only full-time postgraduate students are eligible to apply and they must be members of the Society.

Two awards restricted to applicants from certain countries:
Only full-time postgraduate students are eligible to apply and they do not have to be members of the Society, but must be enrolled for their postgraduate studies at an institution within a country OTHER THAN THE 30 MOST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES as listed by the UN Development Program: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.

Application process
The application needs to be written in English, in a font no smaller than times new roman 12 point, single-spaced, with one inch (2.5 cm) margins.  The application needs to contain the following Information:

·         Full name
·         Institutional address
·         Telephone number and email address
·         Name and email address of principal supervisor/major professor
·         Degree program (PhD, etc); title of research project
·         Time since starting this degree (years and months)
·         Title and Abstract for the Congress poster/oral presentation
·         Budget for attending the Congress (including the USD1,500 award and other possible sources of funding)
·         Explanation of how the award will enhance the student’s research (500 words max.)
·         Statement of student professional and outreach activities (250 words max.)
·         Endorsement letter from principal supervisor/major professor

Obligation after the Congress: The awardees will be expected to write a short report about their experiences during the Matsuyama Congress for inclusion in Hamuli, the newsletter of the International Society of Hymenopterists.

Deadline and selection process: Applications must be emailed to the Secretary of the Society, Natalie Dale-Skey
(n.dale-skey[at]nhm.ac.uk)
 by 28th February 2018 as an attached Word document or pdf file. A committee of three senior members of the Society will assess the applications and select the winners. The decision of the committee will be final. The winners will be announced by the President of the Society.


Wednesday, January 24, 2018

9th Congress of the International Society of Hymenopterists: registration now open

Registration is now open for the 9th ISH Congress that will take place in Matsuyama 23-27 July 2018

You can register and pay via this link:
(NB: the cost of the post Congress field trips are currently being finalised)

Some information on the Congress is already available on the Local Committee website (https://sites.google.com/site/ishcongress9/), and more will be circulated soon.

A mirror site for persons who are not able to access Google is also ready.

Please circulate this widely to help grow attendance at the meeting and ISH membership!