Call for Submissions (General & Student)

The Ontario Pest Management Conference (OPMC) will be held at the Victoria Park East Golf Club in Guelph on November 7, 2024. The OPMC features research on all aspects of pest management associated with plant, animal and human health. See www.ontariopmc.ca for more details on the conference. For the 2024 conference, OPMC will be soliciting abstracts for:

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1. CropLife Graduate Student Oral Competition (sponsored by CropLife Ontario Council) – 6 spots total: first place $750 award and plaque, second place $250 award

2. CropLife Graduate Student Poster Competition (sponsored by CropLife Ontario Council) – 6 spots total: first place $750 award and plaque, second place $250 award

3. C. Ron Harris Undergraduate Poster Competition (sponsored by OPMC) – 4 spots total: one $500 award and plaque for the winning undergraduate (or diploma) student

4. General Oral – Non-competitive. Limited spots available. Priority will be given to CropLife sponsors and presentations which fit the theme.

5. General Posters – Non-competitive.

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Submissions in diverse areas of pest management are encouraged. See below for abstract submission and oral/poster formatting requirements for all categories. The OPMC submission period for all categories (student competition and general) opens at 8 am on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 and closes at 12 pm (noon) on Friday, September 20, 2024. Entries before or after this period will NOT be accepted.

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OPMC SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

NEW THIS YEAR! All entries must be submitted through the online portal here: https://www.ontariopmc.ca/submissionform. We will not accept entries in any other format. For question/problems on the new system, please email us at ontariopmc@gmail.com. Entries for ALL categories must be received by Friday, September 20 at noon to be considered for the conference.

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Please follow all instructions included on the submission form, including those below the question. General category submitters do not need to fill out anything in the student competition section.

 

GENERAL CATEGORY 

We have some openings available on the 2024 agenda for submitted posters in the general category. Researchers or other industry members interested in submitting IPM-related research that are not eligible or not accepted for the student competition may submit to these categories.

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New this year! A limited number of general oral presentations will be considered. Priority will be given to CropLife sponsors.

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Abstract submissions for both general categories (including CropLife) must be received by Friday, September 20, 2024 at noon to be considered. Formatting for orals and posters are the same as for the student competition. Please refer to the OPMC Submission Guidelines section below.

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STUDENT COMPETITION 

General Eligibility:

• The student must:

  • Be the principal investigator and presenter of the presentation or poster.

  • Be currently enrolled in a degree program (undergraduate, diploma or graduate) or have graduated from a degree program since the last conference (November 2023). Note: New graduate students can enter the undergraduate competition if they are presenting undergraduate research that was completed since November 2023.

  • Must be attending a Canadian university.

• Students who have won in a category in a previous year are not eligible to reenter in that category but can enter another category or the general categories. 

• Graduate students wishing to enter the Graduate Oral Competition must be presenting at least 2 years of their own data (2 field seasons or laboratory equivalent as a graduate student).  Students with less than 2 years of graduate data will only be considered for the Graduate Poster Competition.

• Students wishing to enter to the Graduate or Undergraduate Poster Competitions must be presenting at least one year of their own data (not literature reviews or previous student’s work). If you are unsure whether your data is applicable, please contact us at ontariopmc@gmail.com.

 

Selection Criteria:

The selection of entrants into the competition will be based on ensuring a balance of disciplines and research programs, how advanced the student is in their graduate program, how closely the entrant followed the instructions in the call for abstracts, and, to a lesser degree, order of abstract submission.

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Close adherence to all competition instructions and deadlines outlined below is a requirement of the competition. Five percent of a student’s overall score will be assigned by the committee based on their ability to follow ALL competition instructions, including formatting and deadlines.

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Frequent Student Submission Mistakes:

Authors and Affiliations:

1) A student should never be the only author on a scientific presentation. Check with your supervisor on who should be listed.

2) For the author field, only list initials of first name(s) and last name (no middle name initials) of all authors.

3) Indicate affiliations by putting a number in brackets after the author name in the author field, and then the same number before the appropriate affiliation in the affiliation field. For example, Author field: S. Westerveld (1), M. Filotas (1), F. Shi (2); Affiliation field: (1) Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, Simcoe, ON, Canada; (2) Ontario Ginseng Growers Association, Simcoe, ON, Canada.

 

Abstract:

1) Keep abstracts to 250 words or less.

2) Spelling and grammar often lead to lost marks. Consider having your abstract reviewed by a third party before submitting. Do not rely on autocorrecting. Note: the form will not accept italics or special characters. You will not lose marks for these issues.

 

Data Being Presented:

1) Data presented in graduate student competitions must be generated by the student or under the student’s supervision. There are always co-authors that share the ownership, but this is what qualifies as your “own data”. Data generated by past students or staff in your lab does not qualify as your own data but can be added as a supplement as long as your own data still qualifies you for the category. Literature reviews alone are not accepted in any category.

 

Deadlines:

1) Every year students lose considerable marks in the competition for failing to meet one or more deadlines. Please carefully meet all deadlines, not just the submission deadline as all of these count towards your score. You will be given clear instructions on the deadlines upon acceptance into the competition.

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Student Competition Scoring:

Students will be scored by a panel of judges using standardized judging forms. The full scoring criteria will be sent to all competitors. Marks will be assigned using the following categories and distribution of marks:

 

Orals:

Introduction (10%) – Sufficient background and justification for conducting the research including hypotheses or objectives

Body (10%) – The methods and results are clearly presented along with limitations.

Summary (10%) – The key findings are summarized, results linked with the original objectives and next steps are presented.

Research (20%) – The quality of the research including sufficient statistical design and methodology to justify the conclusions.

Understanding (10%) – The student adequately answers questions from the audience and demonstrates an understanding of the subject matter.

Organization (10%) – The presentation flows logically so it can be easily followed

Timing (10%) – The student closely adheres to the 12 minutes timeline allowing three minutes for questions.

Presentation (10%) – The ability of the student to present – confidence, eye contact, voice modulation etc.

Visual Impact (10%) – Colour coordination of slides, clear figures and photos, limited text etc.

 

Posters (same criteria as orals unless specified):

Introduction (10%)

Body (10%)

Summary (10%)

Research (20%)

Understanding (10%): the student is able to answer the judge’s questions.

Organization (10%): the poster is laid out in a logical manner and easy to follow

Visual Impact (20%): consistency of colour and font, avoiding excessive text, good use of images and figures, key points are obvious on a quick scan of the poster etc.

Presentation (10%): the student can give a logical but brief (3 min.) summary of the poster for the judging panel

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Students must have content in each category to receive marks. For example, if a student does not have an introduction or summary section, they cannot receive marks in that category and have almost no chance of winning the competition. Likewise, if the student spends more than the allotted time for presentation (3 min. for posters, 12 min. for orals) and there is insufficient time for questions, they may receive no marks in the Understanding category.

 

POST SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Entrants will be informed of their acceptance into the competition or conference within two weeks of the submission deadline. Successful participants will be expected to register for the conference upon notification of their acceptance. Students and general submitters will receive follow up emails from OPMC with additional instructions and deadlines. Failure to follow all instructions will also reduce the student’s score in the competition and may affect their continued acceptance in the competition.

 

ORAL PRESENTATION FORMAT AND INSTRUCTIONS:

• Presentations must be 12 minutes in length + 3 minutes for questions and discussion

• Use Power Point format. To avoid incompatibility problems, limited use of animation is recommended. 

• Student presenters will be required to send a PDF copy of their presentation to the judging coordinator a few days prior to the conference (Deadline to be sent upon acceptance) to help facilitate judging.

• General oral presenters will be encouraged to send a copy of their presentation for posting on the OPMC website after the conference.  

• Both student and general oral presenters will need to bring a copy of their presentation on a USB memory stick to the conference.

 

POSTER PRESENTATION FORMAT AND INSTRUCTIONS:

• Posters must be 4’ (height) x 3’ (width), portrait format. The header should include the title, authors and institution where the work was conducted. Photos of the presenting author can be included on the right side of the header.

• Student competitors must be present at the poster during the designated judging time and during the morning and afternoon breaks. General poster presenters are encouraged but are not required to be present at their posters during the breaks.

• For the student competition only, a PDF copy of your poster must be sent to the judging coordinator by email (instructions to follow) approximately 1 week prior to the conference (deadline to be sent upon acceptance) so judges can review poster content in advance.  Failure to submit a copy of your poster by this time will result in disqualification from the competition. 

• General poster presenters are encouraged to submit a PDF copy of their posters for posting on the OPMC website after the conference.

• Posters can be set up on the board displaying your assigned Poster Number beginning at 8:00 am on November 7 and must remain in place until afternoon coffee is over. Any posters not claimed at the end of the conference will be removed and discarded by organizers unless other arrangements have been made.