Congratulations and welcome to the incoming officer of the Southwestern Branch!
Congratulations to the members of the Southwestern Branch recently elected to volunteer positions beginning in April 2023. The electronic ballot period for branch members began January 9, and was completed February 8, 2023.
Southwestern Branch Secretary-Elect
Alvaro Romero
New Mexico State University
Bio: Alvaro Romero is an Associate Professor of Urban Entomology at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Romero has a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the National University of Colombia, a MSc. in Veterinary Entomology from Kansas State University, and a Ph. D. in Urban Entomology from the University of Kentucky. His urban entomology lab addresses medically and economically important southwestern pests of USA, including scorpions, Turkestan cockroaches and kissing bugs. He has published 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 10 trade journal magazine articles and featured in 20 online articles. Alvaro is currently involved in two NIFA-funded educational projects that help Hispanic students to access natural resource and agricultural careers, and development of a national program for providing extension resources in Spanish.
Past ESA activity or other volunteer service: Dr. Romero is an active member of the Entomological Society of America (since 2002) and has been involved in various activities including member of the ESA Committee on Diversity & Inclusion (2017-2019), regular moderator and judge of the ESA student competition, organizer of national and regional symposia of the same organization. He is a regular participant of the annual NM state fair and outreach activities organized by the department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Weed Science. Dr. Romero has been also involved with the organization of the National Conference on Urban Entomology, and regular participant as speaker and symposia organizer. He is active member of Pi Chi Omega which is a fraternal organization dedicated to furthering the science of pest control. He is grant/manuscript reviewer for NIFA-USDA and at least 10 scientific journals.
Candidate statement: It is my honor to be nominated for the SWBESA Secretary-elect position. As an immigrant scientist, I have been interested in serving as role model for other immigrants to accomplish their professional goals in the US. This is reflected by the graduation of four Hispanic students who have completed their graduate studies in my laboratory and pursued careers in the pest control industry or academia. Therefore, my interest in applying to this position is to help boost diversity and inclusion in the organization, not only for Hispanic but also other minorities, by encouraging their participation in regional and national events such as symposia, workshops, and outreach activities. Finally, I am also interested in promoting urban entomology among ESA student members and serve as a bridge between them, the pest control and pharmaceutical industry.