The 58th annual Southern Forest Insect Work Conference will be held
25-28 July 2017 (Tuesday – Friday)
in Melbourne, Florida!

Final Program

The SFIWC 2017 registration form is available exclusively online through Eventbrite again this year.  Go to https://sfiwc2017.eventbrite.com to register.  The registration fee is $280 ($180 for students and retired members), which includes a ticket to the Thursday night banquet for the registrant.  Extra banquet tickets for guests are $35 (for children 12-and-under, it’s only $20).  Registration receipts and banquet tickets will be distributed at the registration table.

Pre-registration on the Eventbrite website will be accepted until July 7, 2017.  After this date, only on-site registration will be available.

IMPORTANT!!!:  If you choose, you can now pay your registration fee online at the Eventbrite website (https://sfiwc2017.eventbrite.com) with a credit card prior to the meeting!  Please be aware that the deadline for paying via credit card is July 7, 2017.  Credit card payments will NOT be accepted after this date!  Credit card payments will NOT be accepted “at the door!”

IMPORTANT!!!:  If you are not paying your registration fee with a credit card, please go to Eventbrite website (https://sfiwc2017.eventbrite.com) to fill out the registration form, indicating your payment preference.   There are options on the online registration form for paying via mailing a check to me or using a check or cash “at the door.” Instead of pressing the “Register” button (to pay via credit card), press the “Show other payment options” and then “Pay Offline” buttons to select one of these additional payment choices.

Please be aware that an additional $8.00 fee applies to all Canadian and other non-U.S. checks.

If you are mailing a check, please make it out to “SFIWC”, indicate whose registration fees are being paid, and send it to:

Will Shepherd, SFIWC Treasurer

USDA Forest Service SRS

2500 Shreveport Hwy.

Pineville, LA  71360

The SFIWC Tax I.D. number is: 94-3456409.

This year’s banquet will have a choice of four entrees: Prime Rib (herb seasoned and served with horseradish and au jus), Grilled Mahi Mahi (with orange beurre blanc sauce), Ricotta Basil Stuffed Chicken, and Vegetarian (Portabella mushroom with ravioli and herbed cream cheese sauce).  One banquet ticket (for yourself) is included in your registration fee.  Children 12-and-under have their own menu choice: Chicken Fingers with fries and a fruit cup.  Extra banquet tickets for adult ($35) and child ($20) guests can be purchased using the online registration form.

Our field trip on the afternoon of Thursday, July 27 will be to the beautiful Enchanted Forest Sanctuary (http://www.brevardfl.gov/EELProgram/Sanctuaries/EnchantedForestSanctuary) in Titusville, Florida.  Tickets are only $20 each and include transportation and a boxed lunch!  Only 40 tickets are available for this unique opportunity.

If you do not want to pay for your extra banquet or field trip ticket(s) using a credit card, please select the number of tickets you want and then choose your preferred method of offline payment.  If you are paying for your extra banquet or field trip ticket(s) separately from your registration fee, please fill out separate online forms for your registration fee and ticket(s).

We have chosen the Crowne Plaza Melbourne – Oceanfront for our meeting.  Although meeting registration is not yet open, I encourage you to make your hotel reservation as soon as possible.  We have a block of 75 rooms (Tuesday-Thursday nights) and 30 rooms (Monday night) set aside for the group until July 3, 2017, so make your reservations by this date.  Don’t miss out on the special pricing!

Meeting Hotel Details:

Date:
25-28 July 2017

Phone reservations:

321-777-4100. Mention one of the following group codes:
SIC – Standard attendees.
SIG – Federal government employees only. A valid federal government ID must be presented at check-in.

or

Online reservations:

Standard Attendees
Federal Government Only (ID required at check-in)

Self-parking is available at $5 per day (for overnight guests).

Visit http://www.cpmelbourne.com/ for hotel information.

Room rates are:

$119.00 per night plus tax ($113.00 per night for federal government employees with valid ID at check-in). Remember, this low rate is valid only until July 3, 2017, and only for the first 75 rooms (first 30 on Monday, July 24). Make your reservation right away!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you reserve your hotel room now, we will be able to determine if we need to open additional rooms at the group rate, and can ensure that everyone who needs a room gets one! Please be considerate to your fellow attendees and reserve your room as soon as possible.

Program

This year’s Final Program is now available! Thanks to all of the people who volunteered to moderate sessions. Please contact Elizabeth Benton (ebenton@uga.edu) or Lori Chamberlin (lori.chamberlin@dof.virginia.gov) if you have any questions.

Open Sessions

There will be 2 open sessions with no defined topic for those wishing to make a presentation at SFIWC. Please send your title, name, and affiliation to JT Vogt (jtvogt@fs.fed.us) and Don Grosman (dgrosman@arborjet.com). Time slots will be approximately 15 minutes, including questions. Titles due by Thursday, June 1.

Poster Session

The poster session and reception will be held on Wednesday, July 26. The deadline for poster title submissions is Friday, June 16. Please send your title, authors, and affiliations to Luke Dodd (luke.dodd@eku.edu) and Wood Johnson (woodjohnson@fs.fed.us?), and use the following format:

David Coyle¹, Brittany Barnes¹, Gary Green¹, Kier Klepzig², John Nowak³, and Kamal Gandhi¹. University of Georgia¹, USDA-FS-SRS², and USDA-FS-FHP³. Regional relevance of southern pine decline and its impact on landowner knowledge and attitudes.

Note that posters should be no larger than 36 INCHES WIDE x 48 INCHES TALL (PORTRAIT ORIENTATION ONLY). Velcro to mount the posters will be provided. We will be able to accommodate up to 32 submissions. Posters can be set up starting July 25 (Tuesday) and will be displayed throughout the entire meeting.

Graduate Student Session

The Graduate Student Session will be held during the afternoon of Wednesday, July 26. Please see the above link for presentation submission details. Titles, authors, affiliations, and abstracts (350-word limit) should be sent to Bailey McNichol (bhm50817@uga.edu), Haley Ritger (hmwritger@uga.edu), and Robert Jetton (rmjetton@ncsu.edu) by Friday, June 16.

Photo Salon

Please contact Brittany Barnes (brittanybarnes8@gmail.com) with any questions or pictures that you would like to submit to the 2017 SFIWC Photo Salon. Only digital submissions will be accepted, and they must be received by Friday, July 14.

A.D. Hopkins Award and Roger F. Anderson Award

Nominations for the 2017 A.D. Hopkins Award, which recognizes outstanding record of service to Southern forest entomology, must be sent to Lynne Rieske-Kinney (lrieske@uky.edu) by Friday, June 16.

The ?2017 Roger F. Anderson Award will be presented to an outstanding graduate student in Southern forest entomology; send nominations to Jerome Grant (jgrant@utk.edu) by Friday, June 16.

Please see the above links for the “2017 A.D. Hopkins Award” and “2017 Roger F. Anderson Award” for detailed information on nomination submissions.

Southern Pine Beetle Working Group

Call for southern pine beetle presentations! If you would like to make a presentation on SPB-related research, management or technology development to the SPB Working Group, please contact John Nowak (jnowak@fs.fed.us). The SPB Working Group meeting is scheduled for 1:00 – 2:45P on Tuesday, July 25.

2017 SFIWC Food Drive

This year’s SFIWC food drive will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. As usual the Food Drive will accept cash, checks, or food and supply donations at the SFIWC registration table. The following are the items requested by the Food Bank: meals in a can, nonfat dry milk, oatmeal, canned meats/poultry, evaporated milk, canned tuna, nutritional drinks, dry beans, canned vegetables, canned soup, pasta/macaroni, canned fruit, rice, beef, stew, and baby food.

Frontalis Cup

The 2017 Frontalis Cup golf tournament will be contested at the Viera East Golf Club (http://www.vieragolf.com/) on Thursday, July 27.  Tee times starting at 1:00 P.  The course is really nice and the green fee is modest.  We need a firm head count for players ASAP – please contact Bob Coulson (r-coulson@tamu.edu).  The club will provide box lunches if we want this service.  We need to know the preference of players.

Frustrana Cup

The 2017 Frustrana Cup will be Flick n Sticks.  We will play on the beach from 2-5 P on Thursday, July 27.  Rules will be discussed prior to play.  As usual, teammates will be randomly selected.  Bring sunscreen and whatever you need to keep hydrated.  Should be a great time on the sand (http://ilovedestinfl.com/destin-beaches/fun-beach-game-flick-n-sticks/).  Contact Steve Clarke (sclarke@fs.fed.us) if you plan to play.