November 2019
Register TODAY for the 2020
AMCA Annual Meeting!!
The 86th Annual Meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association, will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon from March 16 - March 20, 2020. This meeting will consist of educational sessions and exhibits that illustrate and highlight the latest science, technology and products used to conduct research and control vectors. The meeting will also provide ample opportunities to network with vector control professionals, researchers and educators from around the world during multiple social events.

Register Early and Save!
Early bird deadline: February 20, 2020
Board of Directors Update
Dear Colleagues:
 
I am pleased to report to you that our recent Interim Board of Directors Meeting (IBM) in Portland was a terrific success and wanted to utilize this space to provide you with some highlights.
 
As many of you know, we conduct the fall board of directors meeting at the site of the Annual Meeting held the following spring. This allows us all to have a sneak peek at the hotels and meeting venues that we will all be enjoying during our annual meeting and education conference and provide recommendations for possible adjustments, etc.
 
After visiting the Oregon Convention Center in Portland in person, I can tell you confidently that you all are in for a special treat. The convention center improvements have just recently been completed and provide for a light, bright, inviting and interactive space. 
 
We also discovered that the city of Portland is very walkable and easy to navigate via public transit, including light rail, trolleys and bus. So much so that we accepted an offer made to us by the Portland Convention and Visitors’ Bureau to provide each of our attendees with a complimentary transit pass during the run of the convention. By using Portland’s convenient public transit system our attendees will have quick and convenient transportation to the convention center from all three of our hotels – with 15 minute frequency. Plus, conference attendees can use their transit pass to visit the entire city of Portland during your stay – all while supporting AMCA’s goal of reducing our carbon emissions from the use of busses and cabs!
 
2024 Annual Meeting……Dallas, TX!!

During our meeting, we also voted to select Dallas, Texas as the site for AMCA’s 2024 Annual Meeting. The board was very impressed with the cost of the rooms ($199), food and beverage options, quality of facilities and convenience of the hotel/conference center and the ease of transportation to Dallas (major hub, four hour flight from anywhere in the US) and to the conference facility from the airport, which is a short light rail ride away. 2024 seems like a long distance in the future but there is no time like the present to shop for that Stetson and big boots and get ready for AMCA 2024 in Dallas!
 
During our business meetings, we had valuable discussions, received valuable information from officers and regional directors and made several key decisions, in addition to the site selection for the 2024 Annual Meeting:
 
2020 Annual Meeting

Program Chair Mark Breidenbaugh reported that we have received over 380 submissions for abstracts, which is well over our goal of 300 and hopefully reflects keen interest among attendees. Registration is open and exhibitors and sponsors are rolling in. We had a great meeting with leadership from our host committee – the Oregon Mosquito and Vector Control Society, who are making great plans for a trustee tour and coordinating volunteers to help staff the meeting.
 
2019-20 YTD Financials

Treasurer Gary Hatch reported that we are a little behind in our revenue projections from membership renewals in the categories of regular membership and sustaining corporate membership. Our Regional Directors agree to make contact with non-renewing members in their regions and encourage them to renew in advance of the annual meeting. Our management team will work with me and a few other officers to make contact with our corporate partners to secure their renewals as well. Performance against 2019-20 financial goals will depend on these efforts combined with meeting revenue goals for the 2020 Annual Meeting and working to keep costs down.
 
Federal Policy Update

We received a through briefing on federal policy issues from Angela Beehler, chair of the Legislative and Regulatory Committee. Angela reviewed how AMCA’s expenses for federal lobbying complement our advocacy objectives and support the annual DC meeting; noted that the Trump administration’s updated rules of the Waters of the US have provided more certainty to those working in the field; and how new rules on chemical control can equip mosquito control professionals and districts with information and resources to address public concerns about spraying and pesticide use.
 
The board also had a robust discussion about the use of surplus funds associated with a recently concluded grant from the Centers for Disease Control. The board wants to ensure the funds are used consistent with the original purpose of the grant and consistent with the priorities of AMCA members and partners. We plan to have some solid recommendations in advance of our next board meeting held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting in Portland.
 
Technical Adviser Search

During my Executive Committee report I had the opportunity to inform the board of the status of our search for a new contractor to replace the esteemed Joe Conlon, who is planning to retire after the annual DC Meeting in May. I informed the board that we received several submissions from a talented group of professionals and plan to meet with a smaller subgroup of individuals via web conference in November and in person at the Florida Fly-in Meeting, January 13-16. We are on track to name a new Technical Advisor to be announced at the 2020 Annual Meeting in Portland.
 
Regional Directors

Among the reports we received in included news from Mark Clifton, North Central Regional Director that several Midwestern states are contemplating a multi-state conference in Chicago in 2023. Herff Jones, South Central Regional Director reported that Texas and Louisiana are planning a joint meeting in 2020. And North Pacific Regional Director Greg Barron reported that there was an opening for an agency director position in Idaho.
 
AMG Team

The recent IBM was our first opportunity as a board to meet and interact with staff from our new management company – Advocacy and Management Group in Sacramento, CA. The AMG team on site – comprised of Dave Butler, Executive Director, Megan MacNee, Deputy Executive Director, and Natalie Porter, Meeting and Events Manager – proved to be talented, enthusiastic, professional and insightful – just as we had hoped and expected!
 
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you as your President and especially appreciate the chance to serve alongside such a talented and dedicated group of individuals who comprise your board of directors.
 
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
 
Jason Kinley
AMCA President
director@gcmad.org

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:
Student Competition Symposium Coordinator
The Student Competition Symposium Coordinator (SCSC) organizes the Student Competition Symposium at the annual meeting of the AMCA. The SCSC serves on the Program Committee with the primary responsibilities of reviewing student abstracts and ensuring participation eligibility for participants.
Duties   
The duties of the SCSC include the following: 
  • Confirm eligibility of participants;
  • Review and organize abstracts of the oral presentations (as program committee member);
  • Draft initial correspondence to competition participants with rules, guidelines, and resources (previous webinar, wing beats pub, etc.);
  • Contact potential judges and ensure no conflicts of interest exist; orient judges to the review process and guidelines (ideally completed at least 2 months prior to the annual meeting).
  • Provide reminder emails to the participants of the Student Competition Symposium regarding competition guidelines and a/v requirements as the date of the annual meeting (ideally 1 month prior to the annual meeting).
  • Coordinate activities related to the Student Competition Symposium at the annual meeting. These duties include submitting an abstract for the Introduction to the symposium that reviews the intent of the competition and the guidelines for participants and the audience. Other activities include checking presentations uploads, room logistics, confirming award amounts from AMCA Treasurer/the management group at AMG, providing AMG staff the names and award amounts for the certificates, and present awards at the banquet.
Application materials and deadline
The deadline for receipt of nominations/applications is December 15, 2019 .  Nomination materials should include a brief statement of interest (100 words) and a CV.
The new SCSC will overlap with Dr. Brian Byrd in 2020 to ensure that the new person has a thorough understanding of the symposium and its logistics. 
  • The nominee must be able to attend the 2020 meeting and serve for a term of 3 years. 
  •  AMCA does not financially support travel for the Student Competition Symposium Coordinator. 
Please send nominations to Dave Butler, AMCA Executive Director at dbutler@mosquito.org .
Register for the AMCA Webinar!
Engaging the public to understand mosquitoes using the iNaturalist social network, app and machine learning tools

Wednesday, December 11, 2019
1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Presented by:  Durrell D. Kapan, Ph. D, Senior Research Fellow, California Academy of Sciences
Abstract:  Mosquito-borne diseases remain one of the greatest threats to global health worldwide. Despite countless efforts to control, suppress or eradicate mosquitoes by thousands of institutions worldwide, the scope of the mosquito problem continues to grow too large to be addressed solely by dedicated professionals. To fill this gap, a growing number of citizen science projects focused on mosquitoes have sprung up around the world. To test the general utility of a citizen science platform known as iNaturalist (iNat) for motivating mosquito citizen science and mosquito control directly by lay-persons, I started the "Mosquitoes in Hawai'i" project in 2015 prior to a widely publicized Dengue outbreak. This project has now grown to over 1000 observations collected by a group of dedicated volunteers who curate the data, promote mosquito awareness and personally respond to calls for vector control in their communities. I will explain how the growing database of curated mosquito images is used to train a machine-learning algorithm allowing photographic identification of mosquitoes. I will do a live demonstration of the machine learning algorithm and show how this tool can help amplify the expertise vector professionals and help them engage their local communities. I will briefly summarize how our lab is using iNat data to model mosquito distributions. As the Hawai'i project has grown, so has the use of iNat to document mosquitoes in different regions and worldwide. I will conclude by focusing on how the iNaturalist efforts fit into global efforts to build mosquito citizen science tools and engage communities to tackle the problem of controlling and ultimately eliminating the threat of vector-borne disease worldwide.
New username/password needed for webinar registration: it is not your AMCA username/password. For those who have created an account for a previous AMCA webinar and cannot remember their log-in credentials, click "forgot your password" on the log-in page to reset.

AMCA Members: use your AMCA email address when creating an account as your username to enjoy FREE access.
LEGISLATIVE & REGULATORY
COMMITTEE UPDATE
EPA Releases Proposed Labeling for Wide Area Mosquito
Control Uses of Pyrethroids

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of the document Pyrethroids and Pyrethrins Ecological Risk Mitigation Proposal for 23 Chemicals,  which reveals proposed label language intended to minimize ecological risks for 23 chemicals. The Proposal and all supporting documents pertaining to pyrethroids/pyrethrins as a group are posted in a Special Docket for the Pyrethroids, Pyrethrins, and Synergists, EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0331 Public comments will be accepted through January 13, 2020.
 
The Content Sounds Familiar

Mosquito Control Operations are described in the docket much like you’d hear it from an AMCA leader. The Proposal recognizes the critical need for public health mosquito control, the small amount of pesticide used in ultra-low volume applications, and the importance of retaining the two classes of pesticides we have in our arsenal. This supports our approach that using clear and concise talking points in delivering your message helps to assure that your message  will be received by your audience. 
 
Cost-Benefit Analysis

After reviewing relevant studies and non-target impact reports, EPA had this to say about mosquito control, “Applications of pyrethroids for wide-area adult mosquito control are expected to result in potential risks of concern to aquatic invertebrates and fish. However, these mosquito control applications are made to control mosquito-borne diseases and have high benefits for public health. The Agency is proposing to make labels more consistent and clear for the wide-area mosquitocide products used, but risks of concern to invertebrates are expected to remain after the implementation of the label changes. However, the Agency believes that the importance of pyrethroids as a pest control option in wide-area mosquito control programs outweighs the remaining potential risks.  Pyrethroids and Pyrethrins Ecological Risk Mitigation Proposal for 23 Chemicals Final, pg. 38 .
 
Supporting Document

 
Chemicals Impacted by this Regulation*

Deltamethrin, D-phenothrin, Etofenprox, Permethrin, Prallethrin, Pyrethrins
*see docket for barrier spraying chemicals

FEATURED ITEM OF THE MONTH!
Renew Your AMCA Membership!
You still have time to renew and you can save yourself 
even more time by renewing online!

Click here to log into your membership account.

Please Note:

- To renew online you must sign into your AMCA member account .

If you do not know your password, you will see the option to do a password reset on the sign in page

- If you or your district requires an invoice to renew, invoices are now accessed through the membership account. When you go through the renewal process online, you will see the payment option of "bill me". This will give you the option to print an invoice for your membership dues.

Please be sure to mail check payments in with a copy of the invoice or invoice number.

- Please update all of the contact information on your renewal form so we can make sure correspondence is being sent to the proper place.

If you need assistance accessing your account, please email ewise@amgroup.us or call (888) 626-0630.
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS GROUP
Anyone with 5 years or less experience in a mosquito-related field (student, mosquito control, government, industry, etc) is eligible to join!
Want to join the AMCA Young Professionals Group?
AMCA Headquarters is Now in California
American Mosquito Control Association
One Capitol Mall, Suite 800
Sacramento, CA 95814
888-626-0630
 
Dave Butler
Executive Director

Megan MacNee
Deputy Executive Director
 
Evan Wise
Membership Manager
 
Natalie Perry
Events Manager
 
Kate Peyser
Communications and Publications Manager
 
Sarah Austin
Web and Social Media Manager
 
Nito Goolan
Accounting Manager
 
Cindy Wheeler
Executive Assistant
REMAINING 2019 SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
AMCA offers many options for advertising and sponsorships. We encourage you to take advantage of these exciting opportunities to get your company or entity's name and message across to more than 1,600 AMCA members as well as the general public.


WEBINAR SPONSORSHIP

$1,600 per webinar: AMCA webinars are live, 1-hour, web-based seminars that cover the latest industry hot-topics. Sponsors of webinars receive recognition during the promotion of the webinar via email, website, and during the presentation.
Sponsor benefits include:

  • -Promotional emails for the webinar which include sponsor acknowledgement.
  • AMCA will display sponsor logo on the webinar platform for duration of the webinar. Sponsor to provide company logo.No product names or product logos may be used.
  • Webinar moderator will thank the sponsor at the beginning and end of the presentation.
  • AMCA and/or speaker may use a disclaimer statement indicating that neither party endorses a specific product.


WEBSITE SPONSORSHIP

Homepage Banner: $900 for 3 months (per quarter: Q3, Q4 available)
A sponsor provided banner ad will be showcased on the homepage of the new mosquito.org homepage. Sponsor message will remain on the homepage for 3 months and will link to the sponsors website. Size: 728x90

Website Sponsor: $2,100
Sponsor logo will appear at the bottom of the mosquito.org website for the full calendar year. Receive visibility all year round!


NEWSLETTER SPONSORSHIP

Sponsor logo will appear at the bottom of the mosquito.org website for the full calendar year. Receive visibility all year round!

Mosquito Monthly E-Newsletter : $1,100 | 1 per month (Aug still available)
Monthly, AMCA distributes Mosquito Monthly, an electronic newsletter showcasing the latest member news of the AMCA. Each issue features a Young Professional Spotlight.


JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION (JAMCA)

With the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association (JAMCA) now being published in online open access format, journal advertising is also currently available in an online only format! The journal is accessible to the public and free of charge. Have your message seen beyond the 1,500 AMCA membership. For more information on journal ad packages and pricing, please go here .


If you are interested in any of AMCA's sponsorship opportunities, email amca@mosquito.org or call (888) 626-0630. Sponsorship is offered on a 
"first come first served" basis.
Thank you to our sponsor: