Dr Christian was invited to attend the USDA-ARS's Helicoverpa/Heliothis (H/H) Meeting in College Station Texas on 7 and 8 October 1997. This meeting is the major meeting of AAS scientists involved in H/H research in the US and is only held every 3 years (the last meeting held in Texas in 1994 - which Dr Christian also attended). In addition to USDA staff, the invitation to attend the meeting was also extended to all other researchers in the US working on H/H. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity for interactions with USDA's scientists involved in H/H research and the only chance to meet, in one place, many of the scientists working in this area in the USA. This meeting also formed part of the USDA's planning process for H/H research for the next five years and therefore provided a valuable insight into the () directions that will be taken in this area of research in the USA during this timeframe. () In addition to attending the meeting in Texas, Dr Christian also visited collaborators at the USDA's laboratories in Columbia Mo. to discuss future collaborations on NPVs for control of Helicoverpa. This collaboration has been on-going for the last several years and has provided the foundation for much of the host range testing that has been carried out in the program Genetic Engineering of Helicoverpa NPVs.