The 67th Entomological Society of New Zealand Conference

You are warmly invited to attend the 67th annual conference of the New Zealand Entomological Society, to be held at Whanganui War Memorial Centre, Whanganui.

The conference programme is now finalised, and we look forward to welcoming all attendees to Whanganui! Registration remains open for those who have not yet done so.

When: The conference will run from Tuesday 10 April 2018 until Friday 13 April 2018.

The conference will consist of three days of presentations (Tuesday–Thursday), with Friday reserved for a field trip to Bushy Park Sanctuary. A feature of the reserve is a large northern rata Metrosideros robusta named Ratanui (“Big Rata”). It is estimated to be between 500 and 1000 years old and is 43 metres in height and has a girth that exceeds 11 metres.

This field trip has the options of a day trip, or the opportunity to stay the night at the reserve. The day trip costs $45 per person and includes lunch at the Bushy Park Homestead and bus transport to and from Bushy Park. The bus will leave Whanganui at 9am and will be back in Whanganui at 2pm. The day trip is limited to 19 persons.

The night stay will commence Thursday evening after the conference and costs $45 per person. This includes an evening barbeque and accommodation at the Bushy Park bunk house. The overnight stay is limited to 11 persons.

Responsible collecting at Bushy Park is permitted and collections must be reported.

This conference will be a plastic free event.

Where: The conference will be held the in Pioneer room, Whanganui War Memorial Centre. There is ample parking in front of the Centre.

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Organising committee: Rudi Schnitzler (Independent) and Mike Dickison (Whanganui Regional Museum).

Conference Resources:

Conference program (PDF format, 409 KB)

Key Dates:

1 December 2017: Registration and abstract submission opens
1 March 2018: Deadline for KJ Fox Awards and 21st Anniversary Awards
18 March 2018: Early bird registration closes
25 March 2018: Abstract submission closes
10 April 2018: Conference begins

Announcements

13 December 2017: Registration and abstract submission is now open!
3 April 2018: Conference programme now available.

Invited Speakers

Vaughn Bell

Vaughn, Senior Scientist at Plant & Food Research, will be talking about Applied Entomology.

Mary Morgan-Richards

Mary, Professor in Ecology at Massey University, will be speaking about Weta research.

Julia Kasper

Julia, Curator of Terrestrial Invertebrates Te Papa will be talking about New Zealand Diptera.

Olly Hills

Olly, independent entomologist, will be talking about Cicadas and the making of his book Cicadas of New Zealand.

Transport and Accommodation

Getting to Whanganui

Several buses come and go to Whanganui daily. Direct flights to Whanganui are available from Auckland with Chatham Air. The Whanganui airport is 10 min drive from the city centre. Flights from destinations other than Auckland are going to Palmerston North, which is about 1hr drive from Whanganui city centre. Pick-up can be arranged for groups arriving at the same time in Palmerston North. Please let Rudi know if this service is required.

Accommodation

More information about accommodation and Whanganui can be found here.

KJ Fox Awards

The KJ Fox Award is open to current members to provide financial assistance to attend the annual conference. Applications must be received by the secretary by 1 March 2018. Successful applicants will be notified at the conference. Please find more information on the awards, including the application form, here.

21st Anniversary Awards

The 21st Anniversary Awards are open to groups, clubs or individuals to provide financial assistance with their research. Applications will be assessed on the quality of the proposed research and the ability of the applicant to complete the project. Applications must be received by the secretary by 1 March 2018. Successful applicants will be notified at the conference. Please find more information, including the application form, here.

Contact

For any enquiries or further information please email: conference AT ento DOT org DOT nz