Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant – 2024 Award
With the continued high level of interest in the Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant in 2024, The Coleopterists Society is pleased to announce that two awards will be given again this year! The awardees are:
Dr. Héctor Jaime Gasca Álvarez and Dr. Paul Skelley for their project titled “A survey of the pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae) of Colombia”. This project involves the principal investigators travelling to major entomology collections in Colombia to curate specimens, work on taxonomy and diversity, and document this poorly known but highly endemic group.
Dr. Marianna Simões for her project titled “Towards a stable classification of Cassidini Chapuis (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) using low-coverage whole genome sequencing”. This project involves sequencing the DNA from museum specimens in order to study the phylogenetics and evolution of this leaf-beetle tribe, which will make advances towards a stable classification of the subfamily Cassidinae.
We would like to thank Joyce Bell for making this grant possible with her generous donation to The Coleopterists Society in memory of her husband, Ross Bell. This grant is awarded on April 23rd, which would have been Ross’s 95th birthday.
Honorary Member 2023
The Honorary Member of The Coleopterists Society for 2023 is
Victoria Bayless
The Coleopterists Society Honorary Member is awarded recognizing the devotion to the Society and dedication to the discipline.
Victoria is the Curator of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum. She served as Society Councilor (2007–2008) and President (sequence, 2011–2016). She was also the creator of The Coleopterists Society Booth at the Entomological Society of America in 2013.
Congratulations, Victoria!
Outstanding paper of the year 2022
The paper selected as the Outstanding paper of the year 2022 published in The Coleopterists Bulletin is:
The Enigmatic Dead-Leaf Miner Geochus Broun (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): Phylogenetic Placement, a New Species, and Lectotype Designations
By
Richard A. B. Leschen, Steven Davis, Samuel D. J. Brown, Talia Brav-Cubitt and Thomas R. Buckley
New Councilors 2023–2024
In 2023 we ran elections for one student councilor and two regular councilor positions.
Welcome new councilors!
This also means that three councilors just finished their terms. Thank you for serving!