IMPORTANT UPDATES
The Early Registration Deadline for the NEPPSC has passed. New registrations desiring full conference registration will be charged a late fee of $30.00. See Register tab for more details.
You should have received a payment confirmation receipt if you registered successfully. Please do not confuse this with a preliminary registration confirmation by e-mail, the bottom of which would indicate “If you did not pay for your registration fees and/or workshop(s) when you registered, please click here to view the Paypal options and make your payment.” In other words, if you have not entered your credit card information (or have NOT mailed in a check) you are still NOT registered! If so, please go back to NEPPSC and register once again! If you are in doubt please feel to contact Erin Hitchner erin.hitchner@syngenta.com
Uploading Oral Presentations: PowerPoint presentations must be uploaded at the latest by 6:00 PM on the evening before the appointed presentation time by entering the same Title/Abstract submission website (http://www.wssaabstracts.com) using your sign-in credentials, and following instructions posted there. Please direct questions related to presentation uploads or formatting to the respective section moderator indicated in the program or your society program representative (pg. 3 of the Program). Presenters not affiliated with a society please contact program chair (saskew@vt.edu) and copy Co-Chair (nielsen@AESOP.rutgers.edu). Please feel free to contact a NEPPSC representative at the Registration Desk if you have any additional questions.
Hotel Accommodations: Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill has added several rooms to the NEPPSC room block till they are sold out, and have offered discounted rate ($124+tax) until December 21st. Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, about a 10-min walk from Sheraton, has set aside a block of 100 Rooms as a courtesy arrangement for NEPPSC to match the Sheraton rate ($124+tax) until December 14th. If you are not able to find lodging at Sheraton, please contact Hilton (Tel. 1-215-521-6500), and mention “Northeastern Weed Science Society” to access to this block. Valet parking at the Sheraton Society Hill is available at a discounted rate ($25+tax) for NEPPSC attendees. There is no self-parking available at the Sheraton. Conference attendees will have complimentary Internet access from guest rooms and the hotel lobby. Please refer to Sheraton’s Green-Choice Program to enjoy a free cup of coffee! The Sheraton has offered a Lunch and Breakfast buffet for conference attendees at the Taste Restaurant on meeting days (@$15+taxes each). The Lobby Café will also offer snacks all day.
Recertification credits will be offered at the Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference in 2016. Pesticide applicator credits for the following states have been approved: MD, DE, PA, NC, WV, and CT, with NJ still pending. CCA credits have also been approved. There is credit-reciprocity between some of the northeastern states meaning some states will accept credits from another state. If you are from a state which will accept one of the mentioned states credits being offered, sign in and let us know what state you are from and which state will accept your credits. Please contact your state administrator to inquire about reciprocity.
A Joint PD Workshop that includes Applied Research and Development Program (ARDP), Extension Implementation Program (EIP) in IPM, and Northeastern IPM Center Partnership Grant (NEPG) project directors will be held in conjunction with the Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference on Thursday, January 7th, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. Please scroll down for additional details under CONFERENCE EVENTS on this page.
CONFERENCE GENERAL INFORMATION
The Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference will be held at the Sheraton Society Hills Hotel, One Dock Street, Philadelphia, from January 3rd to 7th, 2016. The conference will be hosted by the Northeastern Weed Science Society and will mark the first joint-meeting with peer societies; the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America, Northeastern Division of the American Phytopathological Society, American Society of Horticultural Science-Northeast Region, and the Northeast Branch of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America. The participating societies will not hold separate meetings in 2016.
Various committee meetings are expected to occur on January 3rd along with a Statistics Workshop. January 4th morning will feature a symposium on biological control of weeds, two concurrent sessions in Entomology, two additional Statistics Workshop followed by a Roundtable Extension/Industry workshop in the afternoon. This afternoon workshop will bring together specialists and scientists representing academia and industry to discuss emerging and current pest and other cultural issues related to various commodities in the region. Informal roundtable discussions during subsequent days are expected to bring researchers and educators who share common goals from a multidisciplinary perspective as a follow up to this workshop.
An opening ceremony is planned for Monday late afternoon to be followed by a mixer. A cross-disciplinary “Quiz-Bowl” will take place that evening. The quiz-bowl will be an informative yet fun-filled activity that brings together students from different disciplines who may compete as teams represented by various Universities.
Graduate students will be offered venues to present their research in competitive oral and poster presentations, and also to enhance career placement skills through an exclusive workshop. Breakout sessions will consume bulk of the remaining days with the goal of bringing together researchers to form synergistic partnerships and foster interdisciplinary activities. Most sessions will be arranged based on broad, multi-disciplinary areas and are expected to integrate research from all relevant disciplines. The Linnaean games will be scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Concurrent sessions are expected to include Agronomic Crops; Soils; Physiology, Molecular Biology, & Toxicology; Environmental Quality; Biology, Ecology, Taxonomy, & Evolution; Vegetable Crops; Fruit Crops; Turf & Ornamentals; Vegetation Management & Restoration; Invasive Species; Forestry Pests; Medical and Urban Pests; Insect Detection, Evaluation, and Prediction; Organic Production Systems; Beneficial Plants and Insects; and Biological Control.
Various receptions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings will also provide opportunities for spirited discussions among peers.
CONFERENCE EVENTS
Career Training Workshop: The focus of this workshop, on Monday (January 4th), is how to prepare an application packet that will give you a competitive edge by tailoring your cover letter and CV to the position. There will be an approximately 45 minute ‘lecture’ on preparing application packets for academic, industry, and federal government positions. A hard copy of the slides and an electronic version will be provided to each participant. In the second half of the workshop, participants will be asked to switch into three groups, based on whether they are most interested in pursuing a career in industry, academia, or the federal government. A job description and ‘application packets’ (fictional cover letters and CVs) will then be distributed to each group. The two application packets are generally similar, with both individuals having identical qualifications, but having subtle differences intended to make one applicant stand out more than the other. The students then will present their selection to the whole class with justifications, while the instructor contributes their experience in the decision making process. Length: Approximately 1.5 hour. Lunch will be provided.
Introduction to ARM (Agricultural Research Manager) Workshop: This workshop will be held on January 3rd (Sunday) afternoon. The workshop will feature Dr. Steve Gylling from Gylling Data Management, Inc. This workshop will include the following topics: General overview of ARM menu choices; Creating and using protocols; Creating a trial from a protocol; Editing trials.
Advanced ARM (Agricultural Research Manager) Workshop: This workshop will be held on January 4th (Monday) morning. The workshop will feature Dr. Steve Gylling from Gylling Data Management, Inc. This workshop will include the following topics: Using statistical power to plan protocols; Using randomization quality to improve trial precision (premise: plots which are closer together are more likely to be in a similar/uniform trial area than plots which are further apart); Assessment review tools; Statistical analysis and reporting.
Statistics Workshop on Common Mistakes to Avoid While Publishing: This workshop will be held on January 4th (Monday) morning. The workshop will feature Dr. Edzard van Santen from Auburn University. He has presented this workshop at the American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America conferences and was considered useful by the attendees. Topics include: “How to screw-up your research manuscript” (actual tales from the dark side like do not randomize your treatments, do not have proper replication, and bulk samples by treatment to save money on analysis), “Elements of a good experiment and manuscript” (randomization, replication, experiment design, and treatment design), and “Data analysis as a process”.
Quiz Bowl: The Quiz Bowl is a fun informal event expected to mix students from different disciplines while competing as teams representing different universities. It will be organized as a ‘Trivia Night’ style with each team sharing a round table. The teams will be quizzed with several rounds of questions by the Quiz Master, Dr. Tom Mueller from University of Tennesee. Each round will be assigned different point-levels culminating in a final wager-round similar to ‘Jeopardy’. Students may sign up for the event on-site and smaller groups may wish to join other teams to form “multi-university” teams. All students (undergraduate and graduate) are encouraged to participate. Please come relaxed to attend this exciting event! Please note: Drinks are allowed but kindly refrain from food while the Bowl is in session. Use this Quiz Bowl link to download a flyer describing the event.
Linnaean Games: The Entomological Society of America (ESA) Linnaean Games are a lively question-and-answer, college bowl-style competition on entomological facts played between university-sponsored student teams. It is an important and entertaining component of the ESA Annual Meeting. Each team is comprised of four players. The teams score points by answering questions correctly. The winning team wins an inscribed trophy cup for each team member and a plaque for the team’s department. The runners-up win a certificate for each team member and a plaque for the team’s department. In addition to the national game, the ESA Branches conduct their own Linnaean game competitions at their yearly Branch meetings. The winning team and the runner-up both go on to the national competition.
Biocontrol Symposium – “Biological Control of Weeds: Opportunities and Limitations”: Biological control of weeds using herbivorous insects and pathogens can be a powerful tool in many different contexts, especially for control of invasive species, but this method has recently encountered roadblocks to further development in the US. We will address these problems and how best to overcome them, and present recent success stories and advances in our conceptual understanding of the field.
Roundtable Extension/Industry Workshop: This workshop is expected to bring specialists and scientists representing academia and industry together to discuss emerging and current pest and other cultural issues related to various commodities in the region. It will be organized as three different sessions, to cover Agronomic Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Turf and Ornamentals. Informal roundtable discussions during subsequent days are expected to bring researchers and educators who share common goals from a multidisciplinary perspective as a follow up to this workshop. Participants that wish to utilize PowerPoint slides to illustrate a current or emerging topic or issue are welcome to do so. As a result of program time constrains, moderators are asking that participants limit these PowerPoint files to 2 or 3 slides. PowerPoint files should be emailed to the section moderators by 4pm on January 1, 2016.
Turf and Ornamentals: Randy Prostak, rprostak@umass.edu
Agronomic Crops & Soils: Nathan Kleczewski, nkleczew@udel.edu
Fruit, Vegetable, and Tree Crops: Bill Sciarappa, sciarappa@njaes.rutgers.edu
Project Director (PD) Coordination/Collaboration Workshop for Crop Protection and Pest Management’s Extension Implementation (EIP) and Applied Research and Development Program (ARDP), and NEIPMC’s Partnership Grant Awardees (Short title: Joint PD Workshop): A Joint PD Workshop that includes Applied Research and Development Program (ARDP), Extension Implementation Program (EIP) in IPM, and Northeastern IPM Center Partnership Grant (NEPG) project directors will be held in conjunction with the Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference (NEPPSC) on Thursday, January 7. This workshop will take place from 9:00 to 12:00 on that day. The Joint PD Workshop fulfills the requirement by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for all Project Directors to attend a workshop to present their results during their award period. It will be an opportunity to share results and learn what others are doing in the area of IPM in the Northeast. Please note that NIFA has designated this meeting as the sole opportunity in the NE Region in 2015 for recipients of Crop Protection and Pest Management ARDP awards and EIP awards to attend a Project Director’s Coordination/Collaboration workshop. Individuals may register through the NEPPSC website ether as a 1-day registrant ($100; which includes attendance on Wednesday PM and Thursday AM, reception on Wednesday evening, and coffee breaks on both days) or as a conference registrant ($200; which includes all NEPPSC events). Additional information related to this event is being mailed electronically to project directors through the NEIPM Center. Please contact Ms. Jana Haxter, NEIPMC Grants and Partnerships Coordinator (jh30@cornell.edu) with specific questions related to the Joint PD Workshop.