Division of Neurobiology (DNB): 1999 Fall NewsletterThis Newsletter by SectionMessage from the ChairStacia MoffettThe SICB Executive Committee, which includes the division chairs among its membership, has used both e-mail consultations and a strategic planning meeting with some members (not yours truly) in July, to discuss the goals of SICB and how these might be implemented. It is an exciting time to be involved with SICB, so I want to bring you up-to-date on some new developments that have already occurred and suggestions that are coming under consideration. Changes that have already been passed include a decrease in the abstract fee from $35 to $30, and in the full member registration fee from $220 to $195. These changes take SICB in a direction more in line with the costs of comparable societies. One exciting proposal is to potentially share the diversity of the SICB membership's research strengths by creating online databases that would, among other things, list the following: 1) the species under investigation and specific applications of animal models; 2) the techniques and equipment being employed; 3) expertise and interests in collaborative efforts; 4) a guide to specialized sources of research support and 5) descriptions of graduate student training programs, postdoctoral openings and employment opportunities. Additionally, the breadth of SICB makes a description of the member's expertise an appropriate source for recruitment of science personnel for governmental agencies, such as NSF and advisory boards. A number of changes are under consideration to bring more excitement and cutting-edge science into the Annual Meeting by funding the contributions of invited scientists whose work exemplifies the best of integrative and comparative approaches. I hope that all of you will be able to attend and participate in the recruitment of new members into this increasingly vital and affordable society. A final note to those of you who are planning your presentations: A suggestion that you might want to put into practice in the organization of a slide presentation is to let the first slide give a brief history of major discoveries that are relevant to the topic, and the second slide give a brief list of the general significance of the discoveries. This approach should be adaptable to poster presentations as well, and can be expected to improve the discussion of the specifics of your research findings! Message from the Program OfficerRich SatterlieAs we begin the countdown to the SICB Annual Meeting in Atlanta, January 4-8, 2000, division members should be looking forward to a full plate of symposia and talks. Our symposia include "Nitric Oxide in the Invertebrates: Comparative Physiology and Diverse Functions" and "Swimming in Opisthobranch Mollusks: Contributions to Control of Motor Behavior." In addition, the Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry is hosting a symposium entitled, "Intermittent Locomotion: Integrating the Physiology, Biomechanics and Behavior of Repeated Activity." If the initial inquiries are an indicator, we can expect an increase in oral and poster presentations in neurobiology as well. It is now time to start thinking about future symposia - we would like to keep developing our division. Feel free to contact me regarding any ideas or suggestions for future presentations. We look forward to a great meeting in Atlanta. Message from the SecretaryRobin L. CooperIn this newsletter, I thought it would be informative for our division members to know how large our DNB group is and how we have grown over just the last year. This data has been provided by Janice Nason at the SICB Business Office. At present we have: Of the members who joined in 1999: The increase of 32 members in one year for DNB is very good. So, whatever you are doing out there is working. Keep up the good recruiting efforts. Periodically, I will keep our constituents posted on membership status for our division. |
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