Entomological society of america meeting

I presented some of my research at the EntSA meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past week. It was my first time at an entomological meeting, because I usually study the birds that eat invertebrates (insectivores) and spend more of my time following the work of community ecologists or ornithologists. Crossing over somewhat and interacting with folks from different societies or with different research interests than my own is one of my favorite things to do, though, so I was very excited to take part in the Section Symposium: Integrating Ecological and Social Science to Support Synergies and Applied Solutions in Agroecosystems, organized by Kelly Garbach and Katharina Ullman.

One of my aims in deciding to go to grad school was to stretch outside of my bird-centered way of thinking about ecology and conservation. Conducting research in agricultural systems has been a great way to interact with many different types of researchers, growers, and policy makers. Being invited to participate in this seminar is a signal to me that I am on my way to meeting this aim.

One of the best parts of attending a conference is the time spent socializing over meals and drinks with amazing and interesting people. All of these folks are doing really interesting work in agriculture and biodiversity conservation both from the ecological research and the social science research perspectives.

Thx Katharina Ullman, co-organizer extraordinaire! Our panel: social-ecological science in agriculture #entsoc15 pic.twitter.com/9RtxUsjL0r

— Kelly Garbach (@KellyGarbach) November 18, 2015

The title slide of my talk.

And a nice tweet from @KellyGarbach of me after my talk answering a question from David Kleijn, whose work has greatly influenced mine. Another important reason for attending conferences!

Sacha Heath & David Kleijn: old trees, natural habitat support bird mediated pest control in orchards #entsoc15 pic.twitter.com/NhO73efob6

— Kelly Garbach (@KellyGarbach) November 18, 2015