Preliminary Program Set for 2007 AIBS Annual Meeting; Register Now
The 2007 AIBS annual meeting, on the theme “Evolutionary Biology and Human Health,” will be held 14–15 May 2007 in Washington, DC, at the Capital Hilton Hotel. The program chair is 2007 AIBS president Douglas Futuyma, of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. To register online, go to www.aibs.org/annual-meeting/annual_meeting_2007.html.
Plenary speakers and discussion groups will approach the meeting's topic through a variety of cross-cutting themes involving science, education, and public policy. Principles and methods of evolutionary biology are becoming increasingly important in many aspects of health science, among them understanding the human genome, the normal functions and malfunctions of human genes, and the origin and evolution of infectious diseases. These are some of the topics addressed in sessions on infectious diseases, genes and genomics, and human adaptation and malfunction. The rest of the meeting's program will be rounded out by events such as a contributed poster session, a diversity lunch, and AIBS awards.
The meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Natural Science Collections Alliance (separate registration is required; e-mail admin@nscalliance.org) and will be followed by a meeting of the AIBS Council of member societies and organizations, 15–16 May (contact: rogrady@aibs.org).
Preliminary Program Monday, 14 May
Morning
Opening remarks, AIBS President Douglas Futuyma, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Keynote address by Eric Green, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Session A: Infectious Diseases
Afternoon
Session B: Genes and Genomics
Carlos Bustamante, Department of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, Cornell University
Douglas C. Wallace, Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine and Genetics, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California–Irvine
Discussion session
Special Discussion Groups: Education and Other Topics
Presentations at AIBS 2006 Annual Meeting Now Online
Videos, slides, and transcripts of presentations made at the 2006 AIBS annual meeting, “Biodiversity: The Interplay of Science,Valuation, and Policy,”are online at http://client.blueskybroadcast.com/AIBS/ (direct link); they can also be found at the AIBS Virtual Library ( www.aibs.org/virtual-library/).
The topics of the presentations are
“Learning to Speak Science: How the Scientific Community Can Learn to Win Back Its Political Influence in America,” by Chris Mooney
“Framing Science: Understanding the Battle over Knowledge,” by Matthew C. Nisbet, Ohio State University
“From Science to Policy: Biodiversity Protection, Metrics, and Results,” by Daniel Esty, Yale University
“The Endangered Species Act under Attack: The Dynamic Interplay between Science and Policy,” by Jamie Rappaport Clark, Defenders of Wildlife
“Applications of Biodiversity Research to Human Well-Being,” by Shahid Naeem, Columbia University
“Values and Valuation in a Rapidly Changing World,” by Richard B. Norgaard, University of California–Berkeley
“Valuing Ecosystem Services,” by Stephen Polasky, University of Minnesota
“Defining Effective Science for Biodiversity Policy,” by Stephen Bocking, Trent University, Canada
AIBS Diversity Scholars Announced
AIBS is proud to recognize four outstanding students as Diversity Scholars for 2006. The AIBS Diversity Scholars program recognizes outstanding biology students from underrepresented minorities, as well as students with disabilities. Each will receive a $1000 travel award to present research at a scientific meeting of his or her choice; complimentary travel and registration to the 2007 AIBS annual meeting, “Evolutionary Biology and Human Health”; and a one-year complimentary membership in AIBS. This year's scholars are
Andrea Rivera, University of Hawaii at Manoa; she will present her research on coral reef ecology at the Humboldt Current System International Conference.
Christopher Himes, University of Washington, Seattle; he will present his research on mammalian population diversity at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution.
Daniel Howard, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma; he will present his research on landscape effects on prairie mole crickets at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
Tsitsi McPherson, University of Connecticut; she will present her research on tropical forest conservation at the Society for Conservation Biology annual meeting.
For more information on the AIBS Diversity Scholars Program, and for application information for 2007, please visit www.aibs.org/diversity/diversity_scholars_program.html.
USGS Coalition Hosts Third Annual Congressional Reception
On 18 September 2006, the USGS Coalition held its third annual Capitol Hill reception, featuring exhibits that illustrate the biological, geographic, geological, and hydrologic research that scientists at the US Geological Survey conduct.
AIBS is a founding member of the USGS Coalition. AIBS member societies that participate in the coalition are the American Fisheries Society, American Society of Agronomy, Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, Botanical Society of America, Council of Science Editors, Crop Science Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Natural Science Collections Alliance, Nature-Serve, North American Benthological Society, Phycological Society of America, Society for Range Management, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry–North America, Soil Science Society of America, Weed Science Society of America, and The Wildlife Society.
AIBS member societies and organizations interested in becoming involved with the USGS Coalition should contact AIBS director of public policy Robert Gropp (e-mail: rgropp@aibs.org).
BioOne Announces Staff Changes
Mark Kurtz began work as BioOne's director of business development on 30 October. Kurtz will be involved in the business, operational, and strategic management of BioOne as the organization's services and benefits for publishers and subscribers expand. He replaces Todd Carpenter, who left BioOne to become managing director of the National Information Standards Organization.
Before joining BioOne, Kurtz served as senior publishing editor in the Society Relations Department of Sage Publications, where he managed a portfolio of society and association journals. From 1999 through 2004, he was director of publications and new media for the Archaeological Institute of America.
Kurtz is a graduate of Harvard University, with a master's in the study of religion. Among his personal interests is the Dayton Peace Accords Project, of which he is chief operating officer.
Lauren Kane joined BioOne on 2 October as manager of publisher and library relations. In this newly created position, Kane serves as liaison between BioOne's publisher and library communities and its key partners in sales, customer support, and technology services. She is also responsible for the administrative operations of the office. Kane was most recently associate editor and journal publishing manager at Blackwell Publishing's Academic Journals Division.
Stacie Lemick, who has been an administrative assistant at BioOne since 2000, will be departing at the end of this year, but she will remain connected to BioOne through her work with SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), one of BioOne's founding organizations.
Executive Director's Recent Blog Entries Online at http://blogs.aibs.org/richardogrady
Recent Education Reports Online at www.aibs.org
2006 AIBS/BSCS/NESCent evolution symposium update
2007 AIBS annual meeting announced: “Evolutionary Biology and Human Health”
AIBS Diversity Scholars announced
Improving evolution education
NESCent evolution database for minority institutions
Call for BEN Scholar applications
Herpetology hotline
National study to focus on use of digital libraries
Student fellowship and scholarships opportunities
Upcoming conferences
Recent Articles Online at www.actionbioscience.org
Spanish translations of previously posted articles
“El Cambio Climático y la Especiación en los Mamíferos” [Climate Change and Speciation of Mammals], interview with Anthony D. Barnosky, curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California–Berkeley
“¿Por qué Enseñar la Bioética?” [Why Teach Bioethics?], by Carolyn Csongradi, Palo Alto Senior High School, California
Recent AIBS Public Policy Reports Online at www.aibs.org
Public Policy Report for 10 October 2006
Science, Congress, and the midterm elections
Plan to vote this November
Senate approves penalties for animal rights terrorists
National Park Service releases draft EIS on benefits-sharing
USGS Coalition hosts third annual congressional reception
Myers confirmed to head USGS
New in BioScience: “Global Warming: Congress Still Stalled, States and Cities Act”
From the Federal Register
