The Entomological Collections Network hosts a meeting every year, which is a great opportunity for us gather and share updates from our collections, discuss new tools/workflows/resources and strengthen our community.
Our next meeting will be held in Columbus, Ohio on November Friday 6 – Saturday 7, 2026, ahead of the Entomological Society of America meeting. The venue will be the Columbus Hilton Downtown hotel (402 N High St, Columbus, OH 43215) next to convention center.
Our annual meeting takes a hybrid format (held in-person and streamed via Zoom), to help members of our community participate wherever they are. We also offer discounted rates for students, volunteers and have a limited number of travel bursaries.
Call for talks!
We’re currently inviting talk submissions for the following symposia:
- Collections for Conservation: Addressing the use of insect collections in conservation science (Sarah Schroeder)
- Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes (Ashleigh Whiffin & Isa Betancourt)
- Machine Learning, Collections, and You: Collections Centered AI Tools and Applications (Brennan T. Hays, Alyson East, & Sydney Record)
- Teaching Collections: Development, Management, and Innovation (Louis Nastasi)
- Uncovering the Hidden Gems in our Museums (Brittany Kohler & Luc Leblanc)
- [To be titled] Symposium on entomological beginnings [pre-recorded, 3–5 minutes long talks] (Luc Leblanc)
- Contributed talks (not in a specific thematic symposium)
- Lightning talks (pre-recorded, 3–5 minutes long), including Specimen Spotlight (single-specimen feature)
Talk titles are due by September 14, 2026, and abstracts (150 word maximum) by September 28, 2025. Please use this form to submit your title and abstract (or email your abstract to our program officers: Chris Wirth & Adam Haberski at program@ecnweb.org).
Travel grants
This year, we are excited to offer several travel grants ($500 each) for students and researchers traveling to the meeting in Columbus, OH. Priority is given to those presenting at ECN, so please submit your talks soon! To apply for a travel grant, please fill out the application by midnight (EST) on Friday, October 9th. Applicants will be notified by Friday, October 16th. If you have any questions, please email secretary@ecnweb.org.