This virtual meeting of the Continental Dialogue was convened by The Nature Conservancy and the Entomological Society of America’s “Grand Challenges Agenda for Entomology,” as a short series of webinars focused on the current strategic and planning needs in forest health. These webinars spanned from the prevention of the introduction of new pests, through detection and management, all the way to reforestation and biological control of organisms.

Are you interested or curious about entomology? Do you want to explore the intersection of entomology and health equity? Do you want to engage in social justice work and science? Would you like to learn about Public Health Entomology as a profession and learn applied entomological strategies to prevent and control vector-borne diseases? Attend this webinar to learn about the PHEFA Internships and Fellowships for MSI students and recent graduates.

Join NSF Program Officers to learn about new and ongoing NSF funding opportunities of relevance to entomologists at all career stages. This session covered how NSF funds research, the grant proposal process, and funding opportunities through Biology core programs and current special solicitations. Overviews of Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) opportunities, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB), the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), and the Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) program will be provided.

Invasive Species Webinar Series: Part I - The Entomological Society of America P-IE Section Invasive Species Wildly Important Goals team worked with USDA APHIS to develop a four-part webinar series that took place October to December 2021. The first part of this webinar series was presented on October 6th at 12pm ET by Dr. Rebecca Stankiewicz Gabel (Acting Director of Imports, Regulations, and Manuals, APHIS PPQ) and Ricardo Valdez (National Policy Manager, USDA APHIS PPQ Pest Evaluation and Response).

Invasive Species Webinar Series: Part II - The Entomological Society of America P-IE Section Invasive Species Wildly Important Goals team worked with USDA APHIS to develop a four-part webinar series that took place from October to December 2021. The second part of this webinar series presented on November 10th at 2pm ET by Dr. Brian Kopper (Assistant Director, USDA APHIS Plant Pest Risk Analyst Unit), Dr. Yilmaz Balci (Assistant Director, USDA APHIS PPQ Plants for Planting Policy Program), and Dr.

Invasive Species Webinar Series: Part III - The Entomological Society of America P-IE Section Invasive Species Wildly Important Goals team is working with USDA APHIS to develop a four-part webinar series that will take place from October to December 2021. The third part of this webinar series was presented on November 16th at 2pm ET by John Crowe (National Policy Manager, USDA APHIS PPQ), Michelle Gray (Assistant Director, USDA APHIS PPQ Plant Pest Risk Analyst Unit), and Dr. Jesse Hardin (Assistant Director, USDA APHIS PPQ Pest Information and Data Management).

Invasive Species Webinar Series: Part IV -  The Entomological Society of America P-IE Section Invasive Species Wildly Important Goals team is working with USDA APHIS to develop a four-part webinar series that will take place from October to December 2021. This presentation focused on USDA APHIS communication regarding invasive species, research collaborations with USDA APHIS, as well as jobs at USDA APHIS for those interested in working to detect, regulate, assess the risk of, or communicate about invasive species. 

We explored the range of forms that leadership may take for you and your colleagues within ESA and in the larger scientific community. During a brief panel, four ESA members shared stories about their own paths to leadership experiences and how they continue to develop as a leader.