Texas A&M Center for Urban and Structural Entomology Fails to Get State Funding

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas A&M University (TAMU) Center for Urban and Structural Entomology was dealt a severe blow when proposed state funding fell through.

As part of the S.B. 1 2010-11 General Appropriations Bill, the TAMU Center for Urban and Structural Entomology was in line to receive more than $2.4 million, but this appropriation did not end up in the final budget.

“It had passed the House and the Senate, but somewhere between there and final resolution the money had disappeared for that appropriation as well as others,” said Ken Myers, executive director of the Texas Pest Control Association.

Funding for the Center had previously come from research grants, thanks largely to the efforts of the Center's Endowed Chair Dr. Roger Gold, who worked to secure these grants; however, those sources are drying up, resulting in a need for the Center to seek state assistance (at one time the program was state-funded).

“Texas A&M graduates 30 percent of all entomology majors throughout the country and we are trying to keep the department alive,” Myers said. “We have worked with our legislators – in the Senate and House – to get (the department) back to state funding.”

Myers said TPCA is still investigating to find out more details about why this appropriation did not make the final budget.