NCB Excellence in Early Career Education and Engagement Award

This award honors a student transition or early professional working within the field of entomology who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to teaching, mentoring, extension, and/or outreach. The recipient will receive a $250 check and an award plaque.

Eligibility 
Nomination Requirements
Evaluation Criteria
Submission Requirements
Renomination
Previous Winners
Deadline
Submit a Nomination


Eligibility

The nominee must be a current member of the North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America and be a STEP (Student Transition or Early Professional) member who is no more than five years out from earning their terminal degree (B.S./B.A., M.S., or Ph.D.) working within the field of entomology. The nominee may belong to any area of entomology but must be practicing entomology. Applying to the national awards targeting STEP members does not preclude consideration for this branch-specific award.


Nomination Requirements

Nominations can be made by anyone. Please note there is a maximum of two self-nominations allowed per year. Nomination packages for this award must include:

  • CV-Related Items - Nominators must provide a CV which includes the below sections. View a full listing of what should be included in each of the sections. Limit CV to 2 pages, plus peer-reviewed publications.
    • Section 1 – Background Information
    • Section 3 – Teaching and Mentoring
    • Section 4 – Extension/Outreach Activities
    • Section 5 – Service
  • Other Items -
    • A brief summary, no longer than two pages single-spaced, of the professional’s work touching on the area covered by the award, discussing innovative approaches used, the results or outcomes, and the significance.
    • Selected teaching evaluations not to exceed one page or selected extension/outreach materials not to exceed one page. Describe in detail the impact and importance of a specific tool and/or resource to stakeholders/audience. 
    • One letter of recommendation from a faculty member

Evaluation Criteria
Nominees will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 100 points:

Education in Entomology (75 points total)

  • Quality and quantity of teaching and/or outreach and extension contributions (e.g., number and types of programs or class(es) taught, diversity of people reached, publication, media) (25)
  • Originality and creativity used to achieve the contributions (25)
  • Scope and breadth of relevance of the contributions to science and society (25)

Letter of Support (15 points)
Engagement with the Scientific Community (10 points total)

  • Participation and leadership in professional societies, the scientific community, and/or the general public (10)

Submission Requirements

All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted):

  • The entire nomination package must not exceed 20 pages total. This includes letters of nomination or recommendation and publication lists.
  • Letters of nomination and recommendation must be included in the electronic package. Printed letters sent in lieu of electronic versions will not be accepted.
  • 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.
  • The maximum upload size is 2 MB per file.  
  • Font size for text may not be smaller than 11 point.

Renomination

Any candidate nominated, but not selected, is highly encouraged to reapply the following year as long as the applicant remains eligible. The candidate may use the same nomination materials up to three years before new letters and materials are required for the submission.


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.

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