FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS, 2008 ANNUAL MEETING OF ASM

This announcement represents the first call for oral and poster presentations for the 88^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists; the meeting will be hosted by South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota on 21-25 June 2008. The final meeting announcement will be sent to members of the Society early in 2008. Those members of the Society and others located outside North America that are interested in attending the meeting should consider this announcement as official notification of the meeting. Please contact the Local Committee to receive information on registering and submitting abstracts: Jonathan A. Jenks, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Box 2140B, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007; +1 605-688-6121; FAX -4515; Jonathan.Jenks@sdstate.edu.

The Annual Meeting will open with a social beginning at 6:00 pm on Saturday, 21 June; the Plenary Session is scheduled to start at 8:00 am on Sunday, 22 June. The meeting will end with the Capstone Presentation, which is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, 25 June. A detailed announcement containing information on the meeting will be published in February in Volume 89, Number 1 of the Journal of Mammalogy. Conference and registration information will be posted on the South Dakota State University web page at  wfs.sdstate.edu/wfsdept/asm2008/home.htm, or follow the link to “Meetings” on the ASM web page ( www.mammalsociety.org or  www.mammalogy.org).

NOMINATIONS FOR THE C. HART MERRIAM AWARD

In 1974, the American Society of Mammalogists established the C. Hart Merriam Award to honor outstanding contributions to mammalogy through research, teaching, and service (Journal of Mammalogy 55:694, 1974). In 1996, the Board of Directors amended these criteria so that the award is now given in recognition of outstanding research in mammalogy. Nominees are typically established scientists who are actively engaged in research and who have made significant contributions to the science of mammalogy over a period of at least 10 years. The recipient is invited to address the Society in a plenary session at its annual meeting, as well as to prepare a manuscript for publication in the Journal of Mammalogy that is based on this presentation.

Nominations for the Merriam Award will be considered without regard to national citizenship and activity in the Society. Previous awardees have been J. N. Layne, J. K. Jones, Jr., J. S. Findley, T. A. Vaughan, R. J. Baker, J. F. Eisenberg, J. L. Patton, M. H. Smith, W. Z. Lidicker, Jr., H. H. Genoways, J. R. Choate, J. H. Brown, T. Clutton-Brock, G. G. Musser, C. J. Krebs, G. R. Michener, M. B. Fenton, K. Ralls, K. B. Armitage, T. H. Kunz, C. J. Phillips, M. A. Mares, T. H. Fleming, G. O. Batzli, R. T. Bowyer, O. J. Reichman, K. E. Holekamp, D. W. Macdonald, and R. S. Hoffmann.

To facilitate the nomination and review process, the Merriam Award Committee has adopted the following schedule. Persons interested in nominating someone for the Merriam Award should send a single letter of nomination and a copy of the nominee's CV via email to E. A. Lacey (ealacey@berkeley.edu) by 1 February, 2008. Based on these materials, the Committee will select candidates for more extensive consideration. Nominators for the finalists will be asked to arrange to have up to 5 additional letters of support sent via email (to ealacey@berkeley.edu) by 15 March, 2008. The recipient of the award will be announced at the banquet at the annual meeting.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE H. H. T. JACKSON AWARD

The H. H. T. Jackson Award was established in 1977 for the purpose of providing recognition to individuals who have rendered long and outstanding service to the American Society of Mammalogists. Previous awardees are William B. Davis, William H. Burt, Bryan P. Glass, J. Knox Jones, Jr., Oliver Pearson, Sydney Anderson, Murray Johnson, Donald F. Hoffmeister, Karl F. Koopman, Marie A. Lawrence, John O. Whitaker, Jr., B. J. Verts, J. Mary Taylor, Robert J. Baker, James A. Lackey, Don E. Wilson, Clyde Jones, Gordon L. Kirkland, Jr., Elmer C. Birney, Richard W. Thorington, Jr., Suzanne B. McLaren, H. Duane and Dahnelle B. Smith, Hugh H. Genoways, Alfred L. Gardner, David M. Leslie, Jr., and Barbara H. Blake.

Nominations and letters of support should contain specific information on the nominee's service to the ASM. A complete nomination package includes: 1) a nomination letter; 2) a recent version of the nominee's curriculum vitae; and 3) no more than 5 letters of support. All of these materials should be incorporated by the nominator into a single PDF document and transmitted via e-mail to ensure receipt by Michael R. Willig (E-mail: michael.willig@uconn.edu) no later than 15 March 2008. The awardee is announced at the banquet of the annual meeting of the society.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE JOSEPH GRINNELL AWARD

The Joseph Grinnell Award was established by the Board of Directors of the American Society of Mammalogists in 1996 to honor individuals who have made outstanding and sustained contributions to education in mammalogy over a period of at least 10 years. The award recognizes excellence in education in the broadest sense. It encompasses not only the traditional roles of teaching in graduate and undergraduate institutions, but also educational activities such as production of materials for federal, state, or local agencies, public education through creation of museum displays, and enhancement or encouragement of education through stewardship activities. Previous winners are B. Elizabeth Horner, James L. Patton, Philip Myers, Robert J. Baker, Timothy E. Lawlor, John B. Bowles, David J. Schmidly, Norman A. Slade, Mark S. Hafner, Jerry R. Choate, and Peter D. Weigl.

Candidates may be nominated by colleagues, supervisors, students, or others familiar with their devotion to, and execution of, their educational activities. A letter of nomination, maximum length 2 pages, should detail the candidate's excellence in education in mammalogy and should elaborate the reasons why this individual should be considered for the award. Nominations will be evaluated by the Grinnell Committee and full documentation will be solicited for all candidates judged to be competitive.

A single letter of nomination should be sent to Stephen Pugh ( stephen.pugh@unh.edu) before 1 January 2008. Complete nomination packets (up to 4 letters of recommendation, candidate's CV, and other written materials illustrating the candidate's longtime commitment to excellence in education in mammalogy) are due by 15 March 2008. The recipient will be announced at the banquet at the annual meeting of the ASM in June 2008.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE ALDO LEOPOLD AND WILLIAM T. HORNADAY CONSERVATION AWARDS

In 2002, the American Society of Mammalogists established 2 conservation awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. The Aldo Leopold Award is awarded to a well-established individual who has made a lasting scientific contribution to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. Previous awardees are Edward O. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier, George B. Schaller, and Rodrigo A. Medellín. The William T. Hornaday Award is awarded to a current undergraduate or graduate student who has made a significant scientific contribution as a student to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. Previous awardees are Brent Sewall and Isabel Beasley. Nominees should have contributed substantially to: 1) the conservation of 1 or more mammalian species, subspecies, or populations; 2) the conservation of mammalian assemblages and communities; or 3) advancing the field of conservation biology through focal research on mammals. Persons contributing to the conservation of land or marine mammals are eligible for consideration. We interpret “contribution”' broadly to include: 1) scientific research or political activism that has resulted in the preservation of an imperiled species; 2) development of protective management recommendations; 3) acquisition of new knowledge regarding the conservation status or causes for declines of mammalian species or populations; 4) the protection of significant mammalian habitat; or 5) promotion of the conservation of mammals through public education.

All persons are invited to submit nominations for these awards. For each award, the nomination packet should include: 1) a brief narrative (2 pages maximum) that introduces and describes the conservation accomplishments of the nominee; 2) a list of relevant journal articles, government and NGO reports, newspaper clippings, and other materials that chronicle and corroborate the conservation-related accomplishments of the nominee; 3) a current CV or résumé; 4) contact information for the nominator and nominee; and 5) supporting material for each award as follows:

For the Aldo Leopold Award, include letters of recommendation from 3 individuals familiar with the nominee's contributions to mammalian conservation; 1 of the letters must be from the nominator.

William T. Hornaday Award—include letters of recommendation from 2 individuals familiar with the nominee's conservation activities. One of these letters must be from the student's research advisor.

Electronic submissions of nominations and supporting documents are strongly encouraged. Completed nomination packets should be sent to ThoringtonR@SI.EDU or Richard Thorington, Division of Mammals MRC 108, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012. The deadline for receipt of completed nominations is 14 March 2008. The recipients will be announced at the banquet at the annual meeting of the ASM in June 2008.

OLIVER P. PEARSON AWARD

This award honors Oliver P. Pearson's remarkable 6 decades of work in Latin America and his continual, steadfast support for Latin American mammalogists of all ages and degrees of professional development. The award offers financial support to young professional mammalogists who hold academic or curatorial positions in Latin America, to help them establish or consolidate their research programs. A single award in the sum of $5,000 will be given each year. Up to an additional $2,000 are offered for the recipient to attend the annual meeting of ASM in the year following the award. The funds may be used to carry out fieldwork, purchase supplies or specialized equipment, attend scientific meetings, visit collections or other academic institutions, and other research-related activities.

Applicants may be of any nationality. At the time of application, he or she must have the following qualifications: 1) a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree conferred within the previous 5 years; 2) an academic (post-doctoral, teaching, curatorial, or other comparable research-oriented) position in a Latin American institution; and 3) membership in the American Society of Mammalogists.

Acceptable formats for application materials include pdf (preferred) and Word (doc and rtf files). Letters scanned in jpeg format are also acceptable. Applications should include the following elements: 1) a 1-page statement that describes a) the nature and responsibilities of his or her academic position, b) professional interests and goals for the next few years, and c) detailed justification documenting how and why the award would benefit the applicant's research program; 2) a curriculum vitae; 3) a copy of 1 published or accepted research paper; and 4) 2 letters of recommendation from established professionals familiar with the applicant, based either in Latin America or abroad.

To be considered, all application materials must be sent electronically to Dr. Enrique P. Lessa, Chair,  eplessa@unm.edu (Phone: +598 2 525 8618 ext [7] 143) by APRIL 15.

The recipients will be announced at the Annual Banquet of the American Society of Mammalogists, but awardees need not be present to receive the award.

PAST RECIPIENTS OF THE OLIVER P. PEARSON AWARD:

ONLINE ACCESS FOR JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY AND MAMMALIAN SPECIES

Journal of Mammalogy and Mammalian Species are now available online to all ASM members with back issues available via JSTOR. Members will also receive print copies of the Journal for an annual membership fee of $45 for regular members ($35 for students), or they may elect to receive online only versions of both publications for an annual fee of $30 ($20 for members in developing countries). Institutions may subscribe at a rate of $205 for print and online access to the Journal, $55 for online-only access to Mammalian Species, or $250 for both publications.

PDF files for the first 739 Mammalian Species accounts (1969 to 2003) are also available online via the URL below:  http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/default.html

MAMMALIAN SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Twenty-four to 30 accounts are planned for publication in 2007. Each account is 2–14 pages in length and reviews the biology of a particular species in a standard format.

Mammalian Species accounts are produced by assignment only. Upon written request to the Editor for Mammalian Species, exclusive privileges to produce an account will be granted for 3 years; a 1-year extension may be requested if a manuscript is near completion at the end of the initial assignment. At the Editor's discretion, assignments not submitted at the end of this period may be cancelled. A maximum of 5 species may be reserved at 1 time. No free copies are given to authors; page charges may be paid on a voluntary basis.

Mammalian Species will be available online only to all ASM members, beginning in 2006; print copies will no longer be published. Orders for yearly sets of accounts within the past 5 years should be sent to Kathy Votaw, ASM Association Manager, 810 East 10th Street, P.O. Box 1897, Lawrence, KS 66044; 785-843-1235; FAX -1274; asm@allenpress.com. Individual accounts are no longer available for purchase. Requests for assignment of species and other editorial queries should be addressed to Meredith Hamilton, Editor of Mammalian Species, Department of Zoology, 430 Life Sciences West, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, 405-744-9685; FAX -7824; mjh@okstate.edu.

MAMMAL IMAGES LIBRARY

The Mammal Images Library is a non-profit education service of the American Society of Mammalogists with the goal of providing images of mammals for educational purposes worldwide. The present collection consists of >1,500 images depicting nearly 800 species, 440 genera, 100 families, and 24 orders. More than 110,000 images are now in use at >3,000 institutions in about 50 countries. Most of the images are available for non-profit use, in a form suitable for optical projection, on the Mammal Images Library webpage at the ASM website ( http://www.mammalogy.org/imagelibrary). In addition to optical projection for non-profit instruction, many of the images can be employed (with permission) for other purposes, including commercial uses. To obtain a catalog that describes the images and gives other information, send US$4 (US$5 outside USA) to Elmer J. Finck, Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University, 600 Park Street, Hays, KS 67601-4099; 785-628-4214; efinck@fhsu.edu. A simple listing of the images can be obtained free from the same address. For permission to use images for purposes other than non-profit optical projection, contact the committee chair: Matthew E. Hopton; hoptonm@email.uc.edu; 513-759-6551.

The Library continually seeks new images for the collection and urges anyone having images to contribute them. For information about contributing images, contact the committee chair. The committee thanks the 160 persons who have contributed images thus far.

In 1992, the Library instituted a program whereby grants in the form of images can be obtained by educational institutions in developing countries. About 60 grants to applicants from 20 countries have been awarded thus far. Institutions can select up to 50 images of their choice, and can reapply annually. Information about the program can be obtained from John O. Whitaker, Jr., Department of Life Sciences, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809; jwhitaker3@isugw.indstate.edu. The Mammal Images Library urges ASM members to assist this effort by supplying information about appropriate institutions.

SPONSOR FUND

The ASM Membership Committee has devised a method of providing membership in ASM to mammalogists from outside the United States and Canada who wish to become members, but simply cannot afford to. Some members already sponsor ASM membership for foreign mammalogists on a continual basis. However, others who are unable to provide a full membership on a continual basis, may wish to contribute a partial membership or a full membership during some years. Such is now possible through contributions to the Sponsor Fund. The Fund will be handled as follows:

Members should submit names and mailing and e-mail addresses of foreign mammalogists in need of sponsorship to the chair of the Membership Committee: Michael R. Gannon, Department of Biology, Penn State University, 3000 Ivyside Park, Altoona, PA 16601-3760; 814-949-5210; mrg5@psu.edu.

MAILING AND ADDRESS CHANGES

Members and subscribers are advised that the Journal of Mammalogy is mailed in February, April, June, August, October, and December. Address changes MUST be in the hands of Kathy Votaw, ASM Association Manager, 810 East 10th Street, P.O. Box 1897, Lawrence, KS 66044; 785-843-1235; FAX -1274; asm@allenpress.com by the 1st day of the month of mailing. United States addresses must have zip codes. Address changes are expedited if former address, with zip code, is included.

ONLINE SUBMISSIONS

The Journal of Mammalogy accepts submissions of manuscripts via the Internet. The online system, AllenTrack, allows authors to submit manuscripts online and will speed transmission of manuscripts between reviewers and editors. Submit manuscripts at  http://jmamm.allentrack.net.

Buddy System for Authors

ASM has a “buddy system” to assist authors who are not native English speakers. “Buddies” are mammalogists who have offered to preview manuscripts that need editorial revision for English. Authors interested in having a manuscript previewed should contact the Journal Editor or an Associate Editor for Journal of Mammalogy. Individuals interested in having their names added to the list of "buddies" should contact William Lidicker (wlidicker@berkeley.edu).

NESCent SABBATICAL SCHOLARS, WORKING GROUPS AND CATALYSIS GROUPS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) is now accepting proposals for sabbatical scholars, working groups, and catalysis meetings. Proposals are accepted twice a year, with June 15 and December 1 deadlines. Proposals for post-doctoral fellowships are accepted at the December 1 deadline. Proposals for short-term visitors are considered 4 times a year, with deadlines on January 1, April 1, July 1, and September 1. For more information, please see our website at https:// www.nescent.org/science/proposals.php.

CLASSIFIED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Copies of classified announcements should be submitted to La Donna Clark, Allen Press, Inc., 810 East 10th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044; phone 800-627-0932, ext 262; FAX 785-843-1853; e-mail lclark@acgpublishing.com. These announcements must be received at least 2 months prior to the publication date and should specify the number of issues the announcement is to appear in. The charge will be $90.00 for 5 lines and $5.00 each additional line. This charge will be billed after each insertion.

Translations of Czech, German, Russian, and Slovak original texts. Have them done by a fellow mammalogist! Dr. Emil Kucera, 74 Deer Lodge Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3J 2B8, (204) 885-4071; www.kucera.mb.ca.