It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to 102nd Annual Meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America, June 10-13, 2018 at the Atlantis Casino and Resort in Reno, Nevada. The hotel is in excellent shape with many fine restaurants onsite and should provide an outstanding venue – thanks to Joy Newton and committee for local arrangements. I sincerely hope that you are planning to attend and participate. Our plenary speaker on Sunday evening will be Kevin Burls with the University of Nevada Cooperative extension and Co-founder of Nevada Bugs and Butterflies. The title of his presentation is: Using pollinators as “gateway insects” to the world of arthropods.
Program chairs Erik Wenninger and Todd Murray have accepted many interesting symposia that will provide breadth to our program. The subject matter ranges from the Career Fair and What’s New in Industry to Advances in Molecular Biology, Uses of Entomological Models and several symposia examining IPM, practical solutions, research partnerships and of course BMSB. Many distinguished speakers are lined up from many parts of the country. This year's meeting will highlight practical solutions through partnerships, so of particular interest (to me, at least!) will be the “Research and Collaboration: Veritable Tools for Enhancing Science and Industry Partnership” symposium with keynote speaker and past ESA President Dr. May Berenbaum.
I invite you to check out the program and see what opportunities are planned that interest you. Whether to keep up with recent advances, gain insights that may help you extract more knowledge from your data, to support our students and early career professionals or to simply network with old and new friends and colleagues, there should be something for just about everyone in the Pacific Branch.
There will be good opportunities to reunite with friends and colleagues at a social following the Sunday evening plenary, the Monday night mixer and the awards luncheon on Tuesday. Don’t miss this chance to re-connect, network and develop new contacts or collaborations.
I’m looking forward to seeing you in Reno. June is a great month to visit. Bring the family!
Sincerely,
Bradley S. Higbee
Pacific Branch President 2017-2018