Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology - "JSAEZ, toward the sustainable human society"

2011-2012 President: Doctor Akira KAWAI

National Institute of Vegetable and Tea Science (NIVTS), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)

I am honored to assume the position of President, taking over from the previous President Kenji Fujisaki. I intend to devote myself to this duty at the helm of the Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology for two years.

The Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology was founded in 1957 and has enjoyed a long history of 54 years. During this time, thanks to the continuous efforts of many pioneering supporters, it has made steady progress. The Society has stayed active by implementing reforms in response to the changing times while maintaining a democratic management. I intend to hold fast to the living traditions of this institution during my administration.

The Society's activities in the last period have centered on 3 executive divisions: (1) establishing reforms and further development of the Society, (2) developing entomological sciences and (3) raising member awareness.

With regards to reform of the Society, the Society Journal, Applied Entomology and Zoology, was published by the Springer from 2011 (Vol. 46). The aims are effective dispatching of information throughout the world and raising the level of the journal even further to create a journal with an Impact Factor higher than 1. Moreover, we should examine how to improve the journal and make it more impressive. Furthermore, we need to change the style of the annual meeting so it is more interesting and impressive. Through these reforms, we can create a clear focus for the Society.

With regards to developing the entomological sciences, the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences was established in 2010 with 14 insect related societies. The union is important for increasing exposure of entomological science, and the Society works as one of the central member.

With regards to raising member awareness, the previous executive division made great efforts in various areas such as considerable improvement of the Society website and sending out announcements. In the future, we should work towards improving communications between the executive divisions and members.

With the difficult conditions of a collapsed global economy, our Society also faces many problems. The understanding and cooperation of all our members is essential to resolve these issues.