Call for Experts: Status of Insects in North America

About the Activity & the Call for Experts

Learn more about the activity here

Insects are integral to the function of Earth's terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. They pollinate more than 90% of flowering plants, are a major food source for wildlife, and play an in important role in the regulation of animal and plant populations and in the decomposition of dead plants and animals, and other organic matter. With support from the Grantham Foundation, Moore Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the National Academies Presidents' Committee, and other public and private organizations, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a study that will assess trends in insect abundance, identify research priorities, and suggest actions to slow insect losses in areas identified as most vulnerable and most critical to ecosystem function. This study will focus on insects in North America, which includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America.  The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is seeking suggestions for experts to participate in the Status of Insects in North America study. Using these suggestions, National Academies staff will be looking to build a committee of approximately 16 volunteer experts in addition to collecting information for potential speakers, participants, and peer reviewers for any publications resulting from the activity. 

Based on the Statement of Task, staff are looking for expertise particularly in the following areas: 

• Entomology
• Scientific fields and technologies that support the study of insect abundance (pollinator species)
• Community or population ecology, including statistics and modeling
• Deep learning, AI, eDNA, and metabarcoding
• Insect monitoring programs of NSF-LTER or NEON sites
• Agroecology
• Landscape ecology or global change science
• Economic valuation of ecosystem services
• Cultural relevance of insects to Indigenous peoples

The National Academies are committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion to strengthen the quality of our work. Diverse perspectives contribute to finding innovative approaches and solutions to challenging issues. We encourage the nomination of volunteers who reflect the populations we serve and also welcome in particular nominations of candidates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, and early- and mid-career professionals.

The National Academies are committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion in order to strengthen the quality of our work. Diverse perspectives contribute to finding innovative approaches and solutions to challenging issues. We encourage the suggestion of experts who reflect the populations we serve and also welcome in particular suggestions of experts from underrepresented racial, ethnic, gender and sexual identity groups, people with disabilities, and early- and mid-career professionals.

We invite you to submit your suggestions by December 31, 2024 AT 11:59 PM. https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8120659/Call-for-Experts-Status-of-Insects-in-North-America

AAEA-AARES Allied Association Organized Symposium at the 2023 Annual Meeting of AAEA

As an allied association, AAEA has invited AARES to organize a symposium at the 2023 Annual Meeting of AAEA to be held in Washington, D.C., July 23- 25, 2023 at the Marriott Marquis. Located just a mile from the National Mall, in the heart of the city.

AARES is seeking Expressions of Interests (EoI) from members to participate in this opportunity.

Electronic EoIs (in pdf format), addressing the following criteria, will be received as an email to Mersine Dandas at office@aares.org.au until Sunday, May 5, 2023.

• Eoi’s should indicate their interest – benefits associated with this opportunity.
• The proposed theme and details of presenters.
• Financial capacity to travel to the meeting – AARES is not planning to provide financial assistance.
• A statement about the potential for the proposed participants to engage with and include members from other branches, particularly the North American branch and AAEA members.

At least one proposer for the organized symposium must be a member of AAEA, and all presenters, speakers, and/or discussants at the Annual Meeting must be members of AAEA and registered for the Annual Meeting by Thursday, May 17, 2023.

Selection Process

A committee chaired by the Immediate Past President will assess the EoIs and a recommendation made to the AARES Executive.

The successful team will be notified by March 10, 2023.


Submission Deadlines and Details

AARES endorsed submission need to reach AAEA by March 20, 2023.

Water Economics and Policy Journal: Call for Papers for a Special Issue

Special Issue on Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Water Sector in MENA and Northern Mediterranean Countries

Guest Editor:
Slim Zekri (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
Email: Slim@squ.edu.om

Climate change in MENA countries as well as Northern Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Southern France) has already made an evident impact affecting rain-fed agriculture as well as surface water reservoirs, aquifers’ natural recharge and cities. Crop varieties and tree species currently under cultivation in the Southern Mediterranean would progressively be appropriate in the North Mediterranean farming systems for adaptation. Rain is becoming more sporadic and more intensive with fewer number of rainy days, higher temperatures and longer summer months, leading to crop area shrinkage and increased need for water desalination. Hence, the increased water scarcity is affecting all the economic sectors (agriculture, water utilities, industry, tourism and the environment) and driving a higher demand for water, including for adaptation purposes. Domestic urban and rural water are under increased stress/variability and water service failures/interruptions are becoming more frequent causing social discontent. Although quantitative technical-physical climate impacts are quite abundant, the lack of economic value tags attached to such studies makes them less valuable for policy consideration and undertaking the necessary shifts and adaptations. Previous economic impact studies based their adaptation measures on deficit irrigation for instance, however data is showing that aquifers are under high stress and cannot be used for such a purpose. Similarly, surface water reservoirs’ storage capacity is negatively affected by siltation caused by the more torrential sporadic intensive rains reducing the supply of water and increasing the supply uncertainty. This special issue of Water Economics and Policy aims to bridge this gap.

Potential topics/issues include, but are not limited to:

• Assessing the economic losses caused by extreme events (droughts; floods; extreme temperatures) on water for cities and agriculture;
• Economic impact of climate change on rain-fed and irrigated agriculture and adaptation measures;
• Economic impact of climate change on dams’ storage capacity based on observations (during the period 1990–2022). Dams’ siltation and water value taking into account rain intensity and periodicity;
• Adaptation measures and investments in the water sector as a response to climate change;
• Impacts of climate change on water policies and institutions;
• MENA and Northern Mediterranean countries’ policy adaptation measures and investments undertaken in the past 20 years in the water/agricultural sectors;
• Case studies of successful adaptation strategies in the water sector;
•  International programs and international aid and their effect on water sector adaptation to climate change on the MENA region;
• Assessment of the European programs oriented toward water sector climate adaptation for Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries; and
•  Investments in R&D for water climate adaptation.

Timeline and submissions
Manuscript submission deadline (via Editorial Manager): July 31, 2023.

All submitted papers are expected to fully comply with Water Economics and Policy journal standards and are subject to regular review procedures. Papers should not have been published previously in any other journal (print or electronic format). All submissions should follow the journal’s Submission Guidelines found here: https://www.worldscientific.com/page/wep/submission-guidelines.

About the Guest Editor
Dr Slim Zekri is Professor in the Dept. Nat. Res. Econ. at Sultan Qaboos University. He earned his PhD in Ag. Econ. and Quantitative Methods from the University of Cordoba, Spain. His main research interests are in Water Economics & Policy; Agricultural Economics and Environmental Economics. In 2017 he won the Research and Innovation Award in Water Science from the Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture & Science. He is Associate Editor of the journal of Water Economics and Policy. He worked as a consultant for a range of national and international agencies. He is member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the FAO’s Globally Interesting Agricultural Heritage Systems since 2018. In 2020 he edited a book titled Water Policy in MENA Countries published by Springer.

https://www.worldscientific.com/page/wep/callforpapers08

Announcing New Scholarships for Experimental Economics Workshop

We are excited to announce that the AAEA Trust is providing scholarships for 20 participants of the Workshop on Survey Design & Experimental Methods in Applied and Agricultural Economics. For a full list of scholarships click here: https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/fab-lab/international-school/scholarships/ It is acceptable to apply for all scholarships.

The early bird registration ends February 15, 2023. For more information about registration click here: https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/fab-lab/international-school/fees/

The workshop will cover theoretical and practical knowledge regarding surveys and experimental methods. In addition, delegates will be familiarized with state-of-the-art software, and will design their own practice experiment through hands-on training.

Instructors include Vincenzina Caputo (Michigan State University), Carola Grebitus (Arizona State University), David Just (Cornell University), Jayson L. Lusk (Purdue University), Rudy Nayga (Texas A&M), and Matthew Rousu (Susquehanna University).

The workshop will take place from May 22 to May 26, 2023, at Arizona State University. It is open to academics (students, professors, individuals employed by colleges and universities, and other institutions of higher education) and non-academics (consultants and other practitioners from the private sector or national and international organizations). Seats are limited, and registration is based on a first come, first served basis. More information can be found here https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/fab-lab/international-school/

Please do not hesitate to contact Carola Grebitus (carola.grebitus@asu.edu) or Vincenzina Caputo (vcaputo@msu.edu) if you have any questions or need additional information!

Call for Papers: Tata-Cornell Institute for Agricultural and Nutrition (TCI)

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) is holding a two-day conference on the nexus between food, environment, and health. The conference will be held at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, from May 10-12, 2023. It is aimed at bringing together scholars working at the broader intersection of food, the environment, and health with cutting-edge methods and novel datasets to further our understanding of future food system challenges around the world.

The changing demand for food—influenced by and influencing the environment and ecosystem—with its nutritional and health implications, is increasingly becoming the most important challenge facing the global food systems. There is a greater need for more robust evidence on these complex interlinkages.

TCI invites extended abstracts (2,000 words or less) describing proposed research papers on the interrelated issues of food security, nutrition, the environment, and health. Submitted abstracts should clearly delineate the research question, data, and methods. We are particularly interested in quantitative research that uses novel datasets, and rigorous quantitative methods, from across developed and developing countries.

Please submit extended abstracts to tci-conference@cornell.edu with the subject “Conference Abstract.” Abstracts should be submitted no later than December 7, 2022. Applicants whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by December 21, 2022, and invited to present their full papers at the conference.

ICAS Ninth International Conference on Agricultural Statistics

ICAS focuses on fostering and leveraging best practices and research in response to the changing needs and opportunities for agricultural statistics. ICAS brings together experts from around the world to share research and operational accomplishments, and to explore the latest methodological innovations by countries and development partners.

ICAS IX will be held over three days in May 2023 in Washington, DC, and will be organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Bank, in coordination with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and under the aegis of the Committee on Agricultural Statistics of the ISI. This will be the 25th anniversary of the first ICAS, which also took place in Washington, DC, in 1998.

 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

The Scientific Program will include keynote addresses, plenary sessions, multiple concurrent sessions focusing on a variety of themes, and poster session(s). 

 Potential Themes for Sessions and Papers:

• Food Security Diets and Nutrition
• Rural Development, poverty and social issues
• Climate Change and Environmental Issues
• Sustainable agriculture production and consumption
• Markets, Prices and Value chains
• Shocks, risks and resilience
• Natural Resource Use
• Data collection / Data Quality
• Alternative data sources / data integration / data interoperability
• Innovative approaches to data analysis
• Data access / Data Dissemination / Data Use for policy making
• Capacity Building in Agricultural Statistics

SIDE EVENTS

ICAS will be preceded by a two-day training session for young (or new) statisticians, particularly from developing countries, which is organized by the USDA. A scholarship contest to attend this Young Statistician Seminar (and ICAS) will be announced.  

Partner organizations are encouraged to enrich the scientific content of the conference with their own side events and they are encouraged to reach out to the conference organizers.

KEY DATES

• July 31, 2022 — Call for papers
• Oct 14, 2022 — Submission of abstracts
• Jan 20, 2023 — Draft papers due
• May 15 – 19 2023 — ICAS and ICAS Side Events