Science Policy Document Archive

For current Science Policy documents, please click here.

All documents from prior to two calendar years ago are listed below. 

Coalition for National Science Funding Congratulates New House Subcommittee Chairman (December 2, 2014)
On December 2, the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), of which ESA is a member, sent a letter to Representative John Culberson (R-TX) to congratulate him on his new appointment as Chairman of the House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee in the next Congress convening in January.

ESA Comments to the Pollinator Health Task Force (November 24, 2014)
ESA would welcome the chance to partner with the Pollinator Health Task Force and would like to offer assistance with the release and implementation of the Strategy next year ...

ESA Signs Letter Urging Passage of FY 2015 Appropriations Bill Providing Increased NSF Funding (November 14, 2014)
ESA was among the 66 scientific societies and universities to sign a letter to Members of Congress urging the passage of an omnibus fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bill providing increased federal investment in the National Science Foundation (NSF). The letter was spearheaded by the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), of which ESA is a member.

ESA Signs "Innovation Deficit" Letter Urging Congress to Pass FY 2015 Appropriations
November 12, 2014

The 133 undersigned national business, higher education, scientific, patient, and other organizations write to strongly urge you to pass an omnibus FY2015 appropriations bill this year that includes increased investments in scientific research and higher education needed to help close our nation’s innovation deficit ...

ESA Responds to White House Request for Information on Innovation Strategy (September 22, 2014)
Please accept the following comments submitted on behalf of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in response to the Request for Information on the upcoming update to the Strategy for American Innovation ...

ESA Signs AFRI Coalition Letter on FY 2015 AFRI Appropriations (September 22, 20)
The undersigned, a broad and diverse collection of organizations, scientific societies and interest grou ps, strongly support increased funding for AFRI to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges including human , animal, and plant health, emerging plant pest risks, drought, food safety and security ...

ESA Letter to Deputy Secretary Harden on the Pollinator Health Task Force (September 15, 2014)
ESA, along with other organizations and experts in the field, would welcome a chance to provide comments, feedback, and suggestions on the Plan as it develops.

ESA Signs Letter of Thanks for the Creation of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) (September 5, 2014)
The undersigned would like to express their sincere appreciation and thanks to you for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) expeditious leadership actions to create the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) and appoint the 15-member, founding Board of Directors, as authorized by Congress in the 2014 Agricultural Act.

ESA Applauds President’s Pollinator Health Strategy (June 25, 2014)
ESA recently applauded President Obama’s Presidential Memorandum: Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, which was released last month.

Entomologists Support Specimen Collections (June 24, 2014)
Leaders of ESA's Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity Section have voiced support for museum collections that house biological specimens, and they encourage future collecting for conservation and management efforts.

Report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA (June 9, 2014)
Dr. Mark Whalon, ESA's Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, has submitted this report about meetings with EPA officials. The report includes information on the EPA's Conditional Registration Tracking System, the adoption of School IPM Programming, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century, the Pollinator Protection Subcommittee to the PPDC, the Endangered Species Act, and more.

Coalition for National Science Funding Statement on FY 2015 House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill (May 23, 2014)
We urge Members of the U.S. House to support the funding levels for NSF that passed the full Appropriations Committee with bipartisan support. We also urge Members to oppose any amendments that undermine the NSF programs funded through the bill, including amendments that undercut important areas of basic science research.

ESA Testimony to the Senate Interior and Environment Subcommittee on Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations (May 19, 2014)
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) respectfully submits this statement for the official record in support of funding for entomology-related activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ESA Testimony to the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee on Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations (May 19, 2014)
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) respectfully submits this statement for the official record in support of funding for insect-borne disease research at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ESA Thanks NIH for Highlighting Research on Mosquitoes (May 14, 2014)
ESA appreciates the National Institutes of Health’s recognition of the importance of research on mosquitoes -- including studies conducted by entomologists -- to advancing our ability to understand, prevent, and treat malaria.

ESA Letter to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Regarding the FIRST Act (May 12, 2014)
While ESA and much of the scientific community have concerns with many of the provisions in the FIRST Act, the bill’s inclusion of a 24-month embargo period for scholarly publications will “go a long way to ensure journal viability and, thus, scientific societies’ financial health.”

ESA Testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (April 25, 2014)
The Entomological Society of America submitted this statement for the official record in support of funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF). ESA requested a robust fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriation of $7.5 billion for NSF, including strong support for the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO).

ESA Voices Support for Federal Science Agencies (April 24, 2014)
ESA was one of 50 member organizations to endorse testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee which was spearheaded by the Association of American Universities and the Task Force on American Innovation. The testimony warns of a growing “innovation deficit” in the United States.

ESA Holds Hill Briefing on Invasive Insect Species (April 23, 2014)
On April 23, 2014, ESA hosted a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill titled “Invasive Insect Species: Pestering Our Economy and Environment.” Attended by approximately 60 staff from congressional offices and federal agencies, the briefing provided an opportunity to educate Capitol Hill staff on invasive insect issues and to raise the profile of ESA in Washington, D.C.

ESA Past President Testifies Before Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee (April 10, 2014)
Representing the Entomological Society of America (ESA), Past President Robert Wiedenmann, Ph.D., testified today before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies to request robust fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Forest Service. 

ESA Testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (April 4, 2014)
ESA submitted this statement for the official record in support of funding for agricultural research at the USDA, increased investment in the ARS, and additional research on pollinators through USDA contributions to a multi-agency Pollinator Health Initiative.

ESA Submits Testimony to Key House Appropriations Subcommittees (March 31, 2014)
In March 2014, ESA submitted written testimony to relevant House Appropriations subcommittees with jurisdiction over agencies and programs important to the entomological sciences. The written testimony helps inform the subcommittees’ deliberations as they begin to consider appropriations for programs within their portfolios.

ESA Expresses Concerns about FIRST Act (March 12, 2014)
ESA was one of 75 organizations to sign a community letter sent to the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology expressing concerns about H.R. 4186, the Frontiers in Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) Act of 2014.

ESA Letter to Congress on Federal Travel Policies (January 17, 2014)
Given the importance of entomology research, extension, and education to our nation’s federal science and technology priorities and capabilities, we encourage you to support policies that ensure appropriate oversight without disadvantaging entomologists and other scientists, including those who serve our country as federal employees.

ESA Letters to Congress Regarding Open Access Publications (December 20, 2013)
ESA is supportive of the 24-month embargo period for covered material outlined in Section 302 of the FIRST Act. A 24-month embargo period will go a long way to ensure journal viability and, thus, scientific societies’ financial health. ESA would like to thank you, again, for including this vital provision in the discussion draft and we hope it will be included in any final bill.

Support for Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research in 2013 Farm Bill (November 4, 2013)
The undersigned support the provision to establish a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) in the Senate-passed Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (Sec. 7601). The provision provides an initial investment of $200 million in mandatory funding to match private funding.

Farm Bill Coalition Letter Sent to House & Senate Ag Committee Members (October 28, 2013)
Farm bills represent a delicate balance between America’s farm, nutrition, conservation, and other priorities, and accordingly require strong bipartisan support from both houses of Congress.

AFRI Coalition Letter to Rep. Frank Lucas on the 2013 Farm Bill (October 24, 2013)
The Coalition supports efforts to solve current and future challenges facing agriculture by engaging a diversity of stakeholders within the agricultural research community, to develop new opportunities for American agriculture, and to bring innovations from laboratory or field to farmers and the marketplace...

Government Shutdown is Bugging Entomologists (October 8, 2013)
The recent government shutdown due to a stalemate in Congress over funding for 2014 is impacting research on insects which will affect the lives of many Americans, according to the Entomological Society of America.

Tips for Effective Meetings with Policymakers (September 30, 2013)
This guide was created to help scientists get involved in science policy. The document provides an overview of the logistics of how to arrange a meeting with a federal or state elected official, tips for a successful meeting, and advice on how to prepare an effective message.

ESA Leaders Visit Capitol Hill (September 23, 2013)
On September 16, 2013, ESA President Robert N. Wiedenmann, Vice President Frank G. Zalom, and Executive Director C. David Gammel met in Washington, DC with a variety of legislative staff to discuss issues related to entomology.

Scientists to Meet with State and Federal Lawmakers (July 31, 2013)
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and the Entomological Society of America (ESA) have announced the start of the 5th Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event. This national initiative encourages scientists across the nation to showcase for federal and state lawmakers the people, facilities, and equipment required to conduct scientific research.

The 2008 Farm Bill: Making an Impact Through NIFA (July, 2013)
The U.S.Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) was established by the Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) to find innovative solutions to issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and communities. By making the right investments in science at the right time, NIFA enables the scientific community to make great discoveries, helps turn discovery into innovation, and encourages meaningful solutions that improve the food and agriculture sector, the environment, and the quality of people’s lives in the United States.

ESA Supports National Plant Science Initiative (June 26, 2013)
ESA recently agreed to support an initiative by the American Society of Plant Biologists and others on determining specific research priorities for the next decade of plant science research. The "National Plant Science Initiative" identifies areas of research that would be important to address grand challenges in agriculture, health, energy, and the environment, and prioritizes these areas into “must do’s” over the next ten years. The initiative is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The full report will be posted here in the future.

Letter to Senator Harry Reid Regarding Federal Employee Participation in Conferences (May 29, 2013)
OMB Memorandum M-12-12 is restricting the open exchange of ideas among scientists, engineers, and technologists, and thereby adversely affecting important national interests by throttling back on the U.S. “innovation engine.” We ask that you address this issue to prevent it from hampering the legitimate and necessary interactions among scientists and researchers.

Coalition of Scientific Organizations Defends NSF Peer Review (May 20, 2013)
More than 100 organizations, including the Entomological Society of America, have signed a letter to Congress in defense of peer review.  The statement was prompted by recent congressional actions that called into question the merit review process used by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award research grants.

Report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA (April 26, 2013)
Dr. Mark Whalon, ESA's Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, has submitted his second report about meetings with EPA officials. The report includes meetings with the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC), and other EPA staff about neonicotinoids and their effects on bees and birds, and on issues surrounding flonicamid 9c (IUPAC: N-cyanomethyl-4-(trifluoromethyl) a nicotinamide with efficacy on aphids, whiteflies, plant bugs, plant hoppers and scale insects.

Guiding Principles for the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization (April 19, 2013)
Driven in large part by Congressional approval of the America COMPETES Acts of 2007 and 2010, there has been some progress toward achieving the goals set forth in the National Academies’ 2007 report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. However, there is still much to do, and, despite the tremendous fiscal challenges currently facing the nation, now is not the time for us to back away from our commitment to increasing the productivity of our national science and technology enterprise.

Letter to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning Federal Employee Participation in Conferences (April 17, 2013)
As OMB Memorandum M-12-12 is currently being interpreted and implemented, it is having the unintentional consequence of restricting the open exchange of ideas among scientists, engineers, and technologists, and thereby adversely affecting important national interests by throttling back on the U.S. innovation engine.

Report from ESA's Liaison to the EPA (March 21, 2013)
Dr. Mark Whalon, ESA's Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, has submitted a report about his meetings with EPA officials in the first quarter of 2013. Dr. Whalon invites comments from ESA members on proposed terminology on insectide resistance, and on whether the current emergency exemption processes under FIFRA and FQPA will be sufficient to address the rising tide of invasive arthropod species.

ESA Launches New Science Policy Program and Partnership with AIBS (February 21, 2013)
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) announced today a new partnership that will provide ESA members with an even stronger voice in the nation’s science policy debates.

Entomologists Offer Help to Field Museum of Natural History (January 7, 2013)
While acknowledging that the museum faces financial hardships and that action must be taken to ensure its survival, Dr. Wiedenmann offered to provide help from members of ESA, which once faced a similar situation.

ESA Creates New Science Policy Committee (January 2, 2013)
The Entomological Society of America recently created a new Presidential Committee charged with leading the effort to establish a science policy agenda for ESA that will guide and focus the Society's outreach efforts with governments, NGOs, and other organizations.

Letter from the AFRI Coalition to the President and Leadership of the U.S. Congress on Fiscal Challenges to Agricultural Research Programs (December 13, 2012)
On behalf of the agricultural sciences research community, the AFRI Coalition asks you to find a bipartisan compromise that prevents the “fiscal cliff” from occurring. We encourage you to work to find long-term solutions to our nation’s fiscal difficulties without jeopardizing the backbone of this nation’s economy – research and development (R&D).

Report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise (December, 2012)
By the Executive Office of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology:  This report addresses the scientific challenges facing the Nation’s agricultural research enterprise and makes recommendations on how to refocus and rebalance the Federal Government’s support of agricultural research to enable U.S. farmers to meet the critical challenges facing U.S. agriculture in the 21st century. PCAST calls for increased public investment in agricultural research to meet these growing challenges, and recommends that the Department of Agriculture make some important changes in the way it administers research funds, in particular an expansion of competitive opportunities for both intramural and extramural research.

Three Leading Scientific Societies Take an Objective Look at the Issues Associated with “Least Toxic Pesticides” Applied as a “Last Resort” (November 12, 2012)
Recommendations and decisions to use “least toxic pesticides” and “pesticides as a last resort” have flourished in the last decade, but according to three scientific organizations – the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), the American Phytopathological Society (APS) and the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section of the Entomological Society of America (P-IE ESA) – these are not the correct approaches to the pesticide component of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program.

The Green Frontier: A Unified Vision for Plant Research (PDF) (October 24, 2012)
This document reflects some of the discussions and opinions exchanged during the September, 2011 Plant Science Research Summit.

ESA Selects Liaison to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (October 1, 2012)
Dr. Mark E. Whalon, professor of entomology and the director of the Center for Integrated Plant Systems at Michigan State University, has been selected by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) as its second Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Liaison to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs. Dr. Whalon succeeds Dr. Gene Reagan of Louisiana State University, who clearly demonstrated the value of the role to the US-EPA and the ESA.

CSAW Calls for Support for Agricultural Challenges (February 1, 2012)
The Coalition for a Sustainable Agricultural Workforce (CSAW), of which ESA is a member, sent a clear message to DC this week: help prevent the spread of misconceptions about agriculture and support increasing agricultural research and education funding to meet the challenge of feeding the world.

1,200 Speak Up for Agricultural Research Funding (October 19, 2011)
More than 1,200 individuals, companies, organizations, educational and research institutions, and other stakeholders have joined together to stress the vital importance of robust research funding for food and agriculture.

Scientists Concerned about Pesticide Education Funding (September 13, 2011)
Scientists with the Entomological Society of America (ESA), the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), and the American Phytopathological Society (APS) recently expressed concern about the precarious state of the U.S. Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP).

New Website Provides Information on Pesticide Stewardship (August 15, 2010)
The Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM) has announced the launch of a new Pesticide Environmental Stewardship (PES) website.

New ESA Liaison to EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (July 15, 2010)
Dr. Thomas E. “Gene” Reagan, Austin C. Thompson Distinguished Professor of Entomology at Louisiana State University and the LSU Agricultural Center, has been selected as the first ESA Subject Matter Expert and Liaison to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs.

ESA Open Letter to NIFA and AFRI (June 30, 2010)
On June 7, 2010, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) wrote a letter to the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) concerning the 2010 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and the potential unintended consequences of the scope and implementation of the AFRI Request for Applications.

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