The 58th annual Southern Forest Insect Work Conference will be held 25-28 July 2017 (Tuesday - Friday) in Melbourne, Florida USA! We have chosen the Crowne Plaza Melbourne - Oceanfront for our meeting. Although meeting registration is not yet open, I encourage you to make your hotel reservation as soon as possible. We have a block of 75 rooms (Tuesday-Thursday nights) and 30 rooms (Monday night) set aside for the group until July 3, 2017, so make your reservations by this date. Don't miss out on the special pricing! Here are the details: Date: 25-28 July 2017 Place: Crowne Plaza Melbourne - Oceanfront, 2605 N. Hwy. A1A, Melbourne, Florida USA Phone reservations: 321-777-4100. Mention one of the following group codes: SIC - Standard attendees. SIG - Federal government employees only. A valid federal government ID must be presented at check-in. or Online reservations: Standard Attendees: https://www.crowneplaza.com/redirect?path=hd&brandCode=cp&localeCod… Federal Government Only (ID required at check-in): https://www.crowneplaza.com/redirect?path=hd&brandCode=cp&localeCod… Self-parking is available at $5 per day (for overnight guests). Visit http://www.cpmelbourne.com/ for hotel information. Room rates are $119.00 per night plus tax ($113.00 per night for federal government employees with valid ID at check-in). Remember, this low rate is valid only until July 3, 2017, and only for the first 75 rooms (first 30 on Monday, July 24). Make your reservation right away! IMPORTANT NOTE: If you reserve your hotel room now, we will be able to determine if we need to open additional rooms at the group rate, and can ensure that everyone who needs a room gets one! Please be considerate to your fellow attendees and reserve your room as soon as possible. _____________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED FOR THE 2017 PROGRAM!!! Our 2017 Program Co-Chairs are Elizabeth Benton (ebenton@uga.edu<mailto:ebenton@uga.edu>) and Lori Chamberlin (lori.chamberlin@dof.virginia.gov<mailto:lori.chamberlin@dof.virginia.gov>). Please contact them if you have any program or session topic suggestions, or would like to volunteer as a session moderator. More program details coming soon! _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2017 A.D. HOPKINS & ROGER F. ANDERSON AWARDS Please begin to consider nominations for the A.D. Hopkins Award (for a professional who has made significant contributions to forest entomology in the southern U.S.) and the Roger F. Anderson Award (for an outstanding graduate student in forest entomology in the southern U.S.). Putting together a nomination packet takes some time, so start thinking now about colleagues and students who qualify for these awards. Nomination details and deadlines will be coming soon! _____________________________________________________________________________________ I hope to see you in Melbourne in 2017! William P. Shepherd, SFIWC Secretary-Treasurer USDA Forest Service SRS 2500 Shreveport Highway Pineville, LA 71360 USA Voice: 318-473-7256 FAX: 318-473-7222 williamshepherd@fs.fed.us<mailto:williamshepherd@fs.fed.us> SFIWC website: http://www.sfiwc.org<http://www.sfiwc.org/> This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.