Proposed bylaws amendment passes after three-year pilot phase
Annapolis, MD; August 31, 2026—The Formal & Informal Teaching (FIT) Section has been approved by ESA members as a new full Section of the Society. During the ESA Summer Elections, 84% of voting members approved a bylaws amendment to add FIT as an ESA Section, following a three-year pilot phase.
Serving entomologists who specialize in teaching, outreach, and science communication, the FIT Section becomes the fifth discipline-based interest Section of the Society, in addition to the existing four. ESA members may join one or more Sections at no additional cost to their membership:
- Formal & Informal Teaching (FIT)
- Medical, Urban, & Veterinary Entomology (MUVE)
- Physiology, Biochemistry, & Toxicology (PBT)
- Plant-Insect Ecosystems (P-IE)
- Systematics, Evolution, & Biodiversity (SysEB)
"At ESA, we strive to serve the evolving needs of our members and the entomology profession, and the Formal & Informal Teach Section is a great addition to the value of ESA membership," says ESA President Melissa W. Siebert, Ph.D., BCE. "The three-year pilot project was a member-driven effort that proved the feasibility of this new Section. I commend the many members and volunteers who have devoted their time and energy to making it happen."
The FIT Section began operations as a pilot project in 2022, with several milestones set forth by the ESA Governing Board for the new Section to meet, in a multi-phase process, before it could be considered for full Section status. In March 2026, the Governing Board approved a motion from FIT organizers to advance the pilot Section to Phase 3, which placed it on the ballot for approval by the full Society membership.
To learn more about the FIT Section pilot project, see the summary provided to members with the proposed bylaws amendment.
"Teaching and communication are critical to encouraging interest and spreading the importance and knowledge of entomology. Many of us in the community have long seen this as an underserved aspect of our profession. But not anymore," says W. Wyatt Hoback, Ph.D., professor of entomology & plant pathology at Oklahoma State University and chair of the FIT pilot Section leadership council.
"The FIT Section will bring together entomologists at ESA to connect, collaborate, and share knowledge around teaching our science while providing tools and training for graduate and undergraduate students who are our future," Hoback says. "I want to share a big 'thank you' to my FIT pilot colleagues who have worked to build this new Section from the ground up, to the ESA Governing Board for giving us the opportunity to develop a fifth Section, and to ESA members for their support in adopting this new opportunity for all members of our Society."
In conjunction with the bylaws vote, FIT Section members also voted to elect volunteer leaders for the new Section. The members elected to the FIT Section Governing Council are:
- W. Wyatt Hoback, Ph.D., President
- Carly Tribull, Ph.D., Vice President
- Mark Asplen, Ph.D., Vice President-Elect
- Brenna Decker, Ph.D., Secretary
- Alexander Butcher, Ph.D., Treasurer
- Anne Johnson, Ph.D., Early Career Professional Representative
- Christopher Brown, Student Representative
- Rebecca (Arby) Barone, Representative to the ESA Publications Council
FIT members will elect the Section's first Governing Board representative during ESA's summer elections next year, with a term to begin in November 2027. For more information on the entomologists elected to FIT leadership positions, see the full 2026-2027 ESA election results.
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CONTACT: Joe Rominiecki, jrominiecki@entsoc.org, 301-731-4535 x3009
ABOUT: ESA is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has nearly 7,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, the Society stands ready as a non-partisan scientific and educational resource for all insect-related topics. For more information, visit entsoc.org.