Just announced -- Georgia approves CEUs for ESA's Under the Lens course.

The state of Georgia will grant CEUs for PMPs to attend the Entomological Society of America's training day, "Under the Lens: The Science of Urban Pest Management".

The day will consist of 8 sessions including breakfast and lunch. Attendees should expect fast-paced education. We're going to cram two days of learning into a single day, since we know how busy most PMPs are and understand how a day away from the office is a day's lost wages.

The following day ESA is offering an ACE Prep Course for those who are seeking certification as an Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE). This program, which has been featured in PCT and other industry publications, is rapidly becoming the mark of a true professional in this industry.

Click here for the PDF of the registration form for Under the Lens.

Certification is like an umbrella

I just came back from a great week in Boston at NPMA's PestWorld. Shows like this are great for me as a way to get to know some of the names I see on ACE and BCE applications that come across my desk every week.

Working at the booth on the exhibit floor, so many people would come up to me and say "I'm a BCE (or ACE) and it's the best thing I've ever done for my business development" (or something like that). But what I found was that so few people actually had put their ACE or BCE moniker on their badges for the PestWorld show.

Earning your Certification is a tremendous professional achievement and I would encourage you to shout this from the highest mountaintops. ESA can help you promote your certification by sending you copies of logos, helping you to draft a press release to announce your certification, and more, but you have to do some of this yourself. Follow these simple tips to get the most professional marketing mileage out of your BCE or ACE:

• Whenever you are interviewed by the media, whether the trade press or not, be sure to let the reporter know that you are a Board or Associate Certified Entomologist
• Any conference you register for, be sure to put your certification beside your name (e.g., "Mrs. Jane Doe, ACE") 
• Put the BCE or ACE logo on your work vehicle, your store window, your uniforms, your business card, your advertisements, your website .... and so on. Anywhere that you are promoting your business is an appropriate place to tell people that you are certified.
• Ask ESA for help if you need it. My email is cstelzig [at] entocert [dot] org.

Certification is a bit like an umbrella. An umbrella is something you can carry with you daily and (at least if you have one of the small collapsible ones) it can provide a sense of security and nobody even knows that you have it. But an umbrella, much like your certification, only works if you use it. 

Take some time and review your materials. See if you're using your certification to its fullest advantage. And if not, email me and I'll help you out.

Under the Lens - Earlybird deadline is today

ESA's annual meeting has been known for literally decades as a source of great entomological training. There are dozens of symposia (almost 100 this year) and many of these focus on structural pest management. The Medical Urban and Veterinary Entomology Section (MUVE) has these Symposia planned:


• A Celebration of the Life and Scientific Contributions of Carl Jones
• Advances in Spatial Analysis of Global Disease Vectoring Arthropods
• Bed Bug Research: Catching Up With The Global Bed Bug Resurgence
• Highlights of Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology
• If the Epi Triad is Host, Pathogen and Environment, Where Are the Vectors?
• Military Entomology: A Partner in Global Public Health
• The Return of Insurmountable Opportunities: More Novel Statistics for Entomologists

But even beyond the ESA meeting itself, the new educational program, Under the Lens, is a day of great information for anyone in the structural pest management industry. This is a new program offered by ESA. Attendees who add this meeting on to their ESA meeting experience get a tremendous discount.

The following day is the ACE Prep Course. A person does not need to be an ACE applicant to take this class, though most are. ACE certification is rapidly becoming the certification standard for the pest management professional.

Registration can be completed online if you have an ESA username and password. Or click here for the PDF form and fax it in to 410-741-3784. But hurry ... earlybird registration pricing ends today, October 15th. After that you can still register, but the rates go up.

CEU filing season is here

For 70-some of BCEs who are fully certified by the Entomological Society of America, the tri-annual Professional Maintenance and Certification Report (PM&C) is coming due in another few weeks. This report unnecessarily strikes fear into the hearts of some otherwise very rational and intelligent men and women. Why? Because they do not keep up with documenting their CEUs earned until the report comes due. Just like any job, if you chip away a little bit at a time the workload is ever so much more manageable.  Here are some practical suggestions for easing the CEU documentation process:

1) If you are comfortable with Excel, use that version of the report. Formulas allow your CEUs entered to auto-flow to the cover sheet so that you can always have a quick snapshot as to where you stand on your CEU totals.

2) Keep a file folder with a ledger sheet in an easily-accessible location so that you may document any 'easy to forget' CEUs, like reading an article or a book related to your career or giving a talk to the public.  Lots of BCEs only focus on the big ticket items like attending meetings or giving presentations, but there are dozens of ways to earn CEUs.

3) Set a reminder for the 30th of every month in your Outlook calendar to remind you to update your CEUs earned for the month.

Emails go out today to all BCEs as to when their next PM&C report is due. Don't let a bookkeeping problem put your certification in jeopardy. Document monthly to simplify the PM&C reporting process.

Congratulations to the University of Florida-Gainesville team for another very successful ACE Prep Course. Today we welcome the following new individuals as ACEs -- all but one of whom took the Florida course.

• James Scot Hodges (Ball Ground, GA)
• Rick Hodnett (Daytona Beach, FL)
• Victor Palermo (Canton, MA)
• Joseph Scheffler (Sarasota, FL)
• Joseph Weidman (Jacksonville, FL)
• Clarence Johnson III (Mobile, AL)
• Jon Stoddard (Port Orange, FL)
• Jason Kirkland (Slocomb, AL)
• Charles Dulicai (Sanford, FL)
• Anthony DiPanni (Port St Lucie, FL)
• Philip Maready (Smithfield, NC)
• Christopher Sloane (Saugerties, NY)
• Laurin Athey (Flushing, MI)

Most of the ACEs today went through a prep course at least once before passing their examination. If you are considering becoming Associate Certified Entomologist, bookmark this site where we promote any upcoming ACE Prep Courses that we know of.  If you want to host an ACE Prep Course, please contact me at admin@entocert.org and we can get you started.

Change in the ACE Code of Ethics

At their latest meeting the ESA Certification Board made a small change to the ACE Code of Ethics. And while the wording change is not huge, the overall impact is indicative of a new direction that the ACE is heading. Well, maybe even that is a little strong. I think that we've always been heading this way, but the wording change codifies it.

First off ... the full Code of Ethics is here for a reference point.

Section 2.1 had read this way:  "The Associate Certified Entomologist - Pest Control will have proper regard for the safety, health, and welfare of the public in performance of all his or her professional duties."  Two things to note:

1) An often-overlooked point is that the full name of the current ACE program is ACE-Pest Control. At some point in the future the program is likely to grow and include other areas of specialization. Anyone currently ACE certified by ESA is an ACE-Pest Control.
2) The referenced portion of the Code of Ethics did not explicitly mention anything about Integrated Pest Management, or IPM.

As discussed in previous posts, ESA believes that IPM is the present and future of pest management. It was decided that the Code of Ethics should reference this. Section 2.1 of the Code of Ethics now reads this way:  "The Associate Certified Entomologist – Pest Control will follow standard IPM guidelines in the performance of his or her professional duties – ensuring proper regard for the safety, health, and welfare of the public and environment; documenting findings as appropriate and required; and keeping all stakeholders informed of the process."

ESA Enters a New Era ...

OK, this is exciting. Well, at least for those of us who work with or for the urban pest management profession.

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has long-hosted meetings that have become the standard bearer for academic conferences in entomology. A few months ago we started to wonder if we could apply that same rigor and level of expertise to the structural pest management industry. The result ....

Under the Lens: The Science of Urban Pest Management.


With unparalleled scientific credentials, ESA is proud to host two incredible learning opportunities targeted at the urban pest management industry. Timed to coincide with the ESA’s Annual Meeting in Knoxville, TN, this meeting is designed with the busy PMP in mind and is structured to allow participants to target their learning to fit their schedule.  Choose from a single-day session to a three-day session that includes testing to become ACE certified.

It all starts with Under The Lens: The Science of Urban Pest Management. The day will be full of educational sessions on emergent topics such as Invasive Urban Pests, Impacts of Recent Label Changes, New Developments in Bed Bug Management, and Entomology 101. ESA will seek CEU credit in the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi (and possibly others). At no extra charge, attendees will have the opportunity to peruse the ESA’s Annual Meeting Exhibit Hall during breaks and at lunch to see some of the latest products and services in the field.

The following day will be a series of sessions designed to review the material that is on the ACE Exam. Attendees will hear industry professionals give instruction in entomology, biology, pest management, and more. An ACE Prep Course is designed to review materials that the applicant has already studied and truly hone their knowledge. ACE professionals combine the best talents of entomologists, pest control, and IPM practitioners.

For those who are ready for the challenge, ESA will host two mornings of testing in a proctored environment for the ACE exam. Successful candidates will be able to receive their new ACE materials as soon as they complete the exam.

We hope to see you there! Registration will be online soon.