Program Enhancement Funds

Starting in 2025, invited speakers will be responsible for submitting their own PEF requests, as desired. At the time of symposium acceptance, organizers of accepted sessions will be provided with a link to the online PEF Request Form. Organizers are responsible for sharing the application link with the invited speakers in their session to request funding as desired. 

Invited speakers will be required to provide a brief justification for their funding request, along with their eligibility category (see Eligibility Criteria below) and the topic or title of their presentation. Once speakers have completed their funding request, organizers will receive an email giving them the ability to provide a brief explanation as to the importance of the speaker’s participation in their session.

Please note that organizers may no longer submit PEF requests on behalf of their speakers. It is the sole responsibility of the invited speaker to submit their own funding request.

Timeline:
PEF requests will be evaluated on a rolling monthly basis May - September. Distribution decisions for requests received by the first of each month, will be determined by the end of the same month. 

All funding decisions are made by the Program Co-Chairs and their decisions are final. 

All requests must be conveyed to the Program Co-Chairs through the new online PEF Request Form. At the time of symposium acceptance, organizers of accepted sessions will be provided with a link to the online PEF Request Form. Organizers are responsible for sharing the application link with the invited speakers in their session to request funding as desired. 

The Program Co-Chairs will determine the allocation of PEF on a rolling, monthly basis and will notify presenters and organizers of their decision. All decisions by the Program Co-Chairs are final.

Should a PEF recipient cancel their participation, any funding provided to them will be placed back into the general PEF pool for reallocation by the Program Co-Chairs.

*At the discretion of the Program Co-Chairs and not eligible more than once every 3 years.
**Emeritus = not deriving income from entomological consulting or similar employment and no access to outside funding for travel to the Annual Meeting.

*At the discretion of the Program Co-Chairs and not eligible more than once every 3 years.

• PEF may be used to defray any cost of an ESA member residing in North America (US, Canada, and Mexico) under the following three circumstances: 
  • ESA emeritus members who are invited participants in symposia at the Annual Meeting and who are genuinely retired and do not have access to outside funding to cover travel to the meeting. This "emeritus status" refers to those who are not deriving income from consulting or other kinds of employment. 
  • Student Transition and Early Professional members, also referred to collectively as Early Career Professionals or ECPs, are eligible to receive funding. Students and regular members residing in North America are not eligible.
  • Presenters from historically marginalized communities underrepresented in science including, but not limited to women, persons with disabilities, veterans, low-income, first generation in the presenter’s immediate family to attend college or graduate school, LGBTQIA+, and underrepresented minority groups in Canada, Mexico, and the United States (including but not limited to, blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Indigenous peoples, American Indians or Alaska Natives, First Nations, Inuit and Metis). 
• Any ESA member residing outside of North America (US, Canada, and Mexico) is eligible for funding.
• PEF may be used to attract scientists from other disciplines and may be used for non-ESA members, either within North America (US, Canada, and Mexico) or international, who are not entomologists and who would not otherwise participate in the Annual Meeting.
• Non-ESA members devoting more than 50% of their research, teaching, extension, or administrative time to entomological topics would normally be expected to be ESA members and, therefore, are not eligible for PEF.
• Qualified recipients are eligible for PEF only once during any 3-year period.

After October 1, 2025, speaker substitutions will no longer be accepted. 

PEF payments will be processed after the close of the Annual Meeting once attendance verification has been completed. Recipients will receive further instructions regarding PEF payments prior to the start of the Annual Meeting.

This year, $8,000 of Program Enhancement Funds for Entomology 2025 have been sponsored by Elsevier Journals for early career researchers and speakers from developing countries.

• Biological Control
• Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology
• Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Current Research in Insect Science