you are here: home > newsletters > 04-2000 > SICB General Election
Candidates for the SICB General Election
- Candidates for President Elect
- Candidates for Program Officer Elect
- Candidates for Member-at-Large
- Candidates for Educational Council Chair
Candidates for President Elect
Current position: Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX; Dean, Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
Education: B.Sc.(Honors) 1973, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Ph.D. 1976, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
Professional experience: Professor of Biology, University of North Texas, 1998-present; Dean, Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas, 1998-present; Chair, Biological Sciences Dept., Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1997-1998; Interim Dean, College of Science and Mathematics, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1995–1997; Director, NIH- and DOE-funded "Bridges to the Future" Minority Student Program, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1995-1996; Chair, Biological Sciences Dept., Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1992-1995; Professor of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1992-1998; Acting Chair, Zoology Dept., Univ. of Massachusetts, 1991; Visiting Professor, Univ. of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1990; Professor of Zoology, Univ. of Massachusetts, 1987-1991; Visiting Scholar, Univ. of Melbourne, Australia, 1985; Associate Professor of Zoology, Univ. of Massachusetts, 1982-1987; Assistant Professor of Zoology, Univ. of Mass. 1978-1982.
SICB activities: Chair, SICB Publication Committee, 1999-present; SICB Publication Committee, 1995-1998; George A. Bartholomew Award Committee (Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry), 1993; Nomination Committee for Executive Committee, Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, 1990; ASZ's International Union of Biological Sciences Program Committee Representative, 1988; Program Officer, Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, 1984-1986; Executive Committee, Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, 1984-1986; Committee for Selection of Best Student Paper, Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, 1984.
Other memberships: American Physiological Society; American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Research interests: Developmental and evolutionary physiology at the organ system and organismal level; comparative animal physiology, particularly lower vertebrates and crustacean invertebrates; environmental and ecological physiology, especially of intertidal, freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Goals statement: The society's recent change in name to underscore both integrative and comparative biology was not just a "truth in advertising" issue for public consumption, but it also signaled the membership's desire to celebrate two of its major tenets. Recent organizational innovations in our annual meeting have greatly helped nurture integration of ideas across the society, but much is to be done in the coming years to integrate fully our ideas, approaches and research tools. Major biological advances (if not the major advances) will increasingly occur at the seams between disciplines. Thus, one of my goals will be to see that the seams between our society's divisions are productive zones for interaction and collaboration. Embracing integration should not result in dissolution of divisional boundaries – indeed, many members view the divisions as efficient ways of identifying and discussing ideas with like-minded members. Nonetheless, the recent "cross-society" symposia show that we all have much to learn from each other, and if elected I would continue to encourage and foster primary society-wide events that bring together divisions rather than isolate them.
A second tenet of our society, also reflected in its new name, is that of comparative biology. As society members, we have a pretty good handle on what we mean by comparative, and even a cursory glance at any program reveals the extent to which the comparative biology approach pervades our meeting. Yet, while we have actively chosen to drop the word "zoology" as a descriptor, we have not yet lived up to the full meaning of "biology," and our comparisons remain taxonomically limited. While being careful to preserve the essence of our meetings, I would encourage participation in our society by like-minded botanists and microbiologists working on similar, if not identical, problems to those of our membership. As just one example, the newly formed Evo/Devo Division could benefit from interaction with plant developmental biologists, who have made significant strides in developing an appropriate conceptual framework.
Finally, maintaining and growing our membership will be a perpetual goal of all society presidents. Simply put, productive scientists will join a society that has immediate, direct relevance to their research and teaching interests. With the upcoming retirement of the first, large wave of "baby-boomer biologists," the look of the SICB will be changing. As a society we must constantly stay tuned to the needs and interests of emerging young scientists considering membership.
Current position: Professor and Chair of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle.
Education: B.Sc. Special Honors in Zoology (1970), University of Sheffield, U.K. Ph.D. Zoology and Comparative Endocrinology (1973), University College of North Wales, U.K.
Professional experience: Assistant–Associate Professor, Rockefeller University, 1981-1986. Associate Director, Rockefeller University Field Research Center, 1982-1986. Associate- Full Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Washington, 1986 -present. Chair, Department of Zoology, 1998-present. Member, International Committee, International Symposia on Avian Endocrinology, 1984 - 1996. Chair, Scientific Program Committee, XXI International Ornithological Congress, Vienna, 1994. Chair, University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (1990 - 1993). Member, International Council, Federation of Comparative Endocrinology Societies, 1993 - 1997. Review Committee (Fachbeirat), Max-Planck Gesellschaft, 1994 – 1997, Chair 1999 - present. Executive Committee, International Ornithological Congress, 1998 - present. Co-Editor-in-Chief, General and Comparative Endocrinology, 1987 - 1989. Member, Editorial Board of General and Comparative Endocrinology, 1989 – present, Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 1988 – present, Poultry and Avian Biology Reviews, 1996 - present, Physiological Zoology, 1996 - present. Associate Editor, Encyclopedia of Reproduction, Academic Press, 1996-1998, "Hormones and Behavior" 1996- present, The Auk, 1998 – 2000, American Zoologist, 1999 - present. Coordinating Editor, Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 1999 – present.
Honors: Charles H. Revson Fellow in Biomedical Research (1981). Irma T. Hirschl Career Scientist Award, (1985). Fellow, American Ornithologist's Union (1989). Elliot Coues Award, American Ornithologist's Union (1987). Corresponding Fellow, Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft, (1990). Irwin Geschwind Memorial Lecturer, Western Regional Conference on Comparative Endocrinology, March 1992, Newport, Oregon. Shannon Award, National Institutes of Health (1992-1994). John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1993-1994). Benjamin Meaker Fellowship, University of Bristol (1993-1994). Donald. S. Farner Medal, International Symposium of Avian Endocrinology, 1996. Russell F. Stark University Professor, University of Washington, 1996-2001. The Quest Award, Animal Behaviour Society, 1996. Fellow, Animal Behaviour Society, 1997. The degree of Doctor Honoris Causa, Faculty of Science, Göteborg University, Sweden (1998).
SICB activities: Past Program Chair for the DCE, regular participant in symposia and contributed paper sessions. Member since 1976.
Other memberships: AAAS; Endocrine Society (U.K.); American Ornithologist's Union; Cooper Ornithological Society; Wilson Ornithological Society; British Trust for Ornithology; British Ornithologist's Union; Association of Field Ornithologists; Animal Behavior Society; Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology; Asia and Oceania Society for Comparative Endocrinology; International Society for Behavioral Ecology.
Research interests: Environmental control of reproduction and associated cycles of behavior, migration, molt and wintering strategies in birds and other vertebrates. Endocrine techniques are applied to samples collected both in the field and laboratory and investigations at the cell and molecular level are encouraged. Additional emphasis is emerging in the area of conservation biology.
Goals statement: We live in an era of supposed "last frontiers" including research areas such as molecular biology and biodiversity. But, when I look at the breadth of SICB, and the exciting integrative research and educational issues presented at annual meetings, all I see are major "frontiers" stretching into the foreseeable future. Many problems that we face in the next few decades involve biology (global climate change, loss of habitat and biodiversity, pollution, etc.). None of these can be solved by one specialized group. The huge global problems will require integration of cell, molecular and organismal biology on a scale unprecedented before.
There can be few organizations as well placed as SICB to deal with such problems. However, despite ground-breaking developments in our society, there is still a great need for more integration of fields at all levels and involvement of members, especially young investigators. For example, conservation biology is, perhaps, the ultimate field for integrative biology and it also interfaces with policy, politics and law. Yet we have no strong presence in conservation. There remain huge areas of integration where we should seek to combine cell and molecular biology to explore a new biodiversity - the mechanisms by which organisms deal with changing environments at ultimate and proximate levels. It will be my priority to build on our current strengths to promote and maintain this approach while ensuring the vitality of individual divisions within SICB. These goals are:
- Identify new areas of integration that will draw on the depth and breadth of existing divisions within SICB, and bring together investigators in these fields to discuss and suggest means of developing new areas of research and education.
- Draw upon the wealth of expertise within divisions to explore how basic biology can contribute to conservation biology. Are we losing more than just species? Are we also losing diversity of mechanisms by which animals deal with conditions on this planet?
- SICB must extend itself to other major groups in modern biology. For example, many of the current major issues in biological sciences involve sequencing genomes and genetic engineering, etc. in addition to conservation and issues of human-precipitated global change. Yet, biology as we know it in SICB tends to be less well represented, and we must work to keep the talent and incredible wealth of knowledge in our membership placed centrally among all the major issues being debated today.
Candidates for Program Officer Elect
Current position: Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati.
Education: B.S. University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1977, Ecology, Ethology & Evolution; M.A., University of South Florida, Tampa, 1980, Zoology; Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1985, Zoology.
Professional experience: Assistant-Associate Professor, University of Cincinnati, 1992-present; Postdoctoral Research Associate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 1986-1991. Research Associate, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1986-present.
SICB activities: Member since 1988; Editorial Board, American Zoologist, 1998-present; Chair, contributed papers in DVM, 1993 and on locomotion and movement; Chair, DVM Judging Committees for Student Paper, 1991, and Student Poster, 1995.
Other memberships: AAAS; American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Animal Behavior Society; Ecological Society of America; Herpetologist's League; Society for Neuroscience; Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Research interests: My research attempts to understand the evolution of complex systems involving a combination of behavior, physiology and morphology, and I have studied diverse topics dealing mainly with the locomotion and muscle function of snakes, fishes and, most recently, lizards. I integrate comparative, functional and experimental approaches combined with an ecological perspective to gain insights into the adaptive value of organismal-level traits.
Goals statement: I feel that the society has made the right move to emphasize interdivisional sessions rather than adhering to sessions-based only divisions. I have also been very favorably impressed with how well things worked during this first year with electronic submission of abstracts and making a searchable program available on the Web. I would welcome the opportunity to continue to enhance the process of organizing the program along both lines. I would work especially hard towards increasing the efficiency with which the program is organized with an even greater reliance on software and transfer of electronic information. I am optimistic that this technology will increase both the accuracy of the program and the speed with which it is assembled and posted on the Web.
Current position: Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Arthur K. Whitcomb Professor, University of New Hampshire.
Education: B.A. University of Utah, 1973; M.S. Oregon State University, 1978; Ph.D. Oregon State University, 1981.
Professional experience: Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, 1992-present; Program Director, Integrative Animal Biology Program, NSF (1996-1997); Chair of Biological Sciences POWRE Program, NSF (1997); Visiting Professor, MacQuarie University, Australia, 1994; Visiting Professor, Kitasato University, Japan, 1992; Associate Professor, UNH, 1987-1992; Visiting Professor, University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa, 1984-1985; Assistant Professor, UNH. 1982-1987; Research Associate, Department of Zoology, University of Washington, 1980-1983; Graduate Research Assistant, Oregon State University, 1976-1980; Fisheries Biologist, Peace Corps, Venezuela, 1973-1975.
SICB activities: Chairperson, Committee to Evaluate Best Student Paper for Division of Comparative Endocrinology, 1986. Committee member, 1988, 1989, 1992; Secretary, DCE, 1987 (1988-1989; two-year term); Program Officer, DCE, (1995-1997); Participated in Graduate/Postdoctoral Student Workshop, 1993 and 1994; Panelist, NSF sponsored workshop "Integration of Research and Education: What are our Responsibilities?", 1996; Co-Organizer of Symposium "Honoring Erika M. Plisetskaya…", 1999.
Other memberships: AAAS; Endocrine Society; Society for Neuroscience; New York Academy of Sciences; Sigma Xi
Research interests: Comparative biochemical, reproductive physiology and neuroendocrinology are the major focuses of my research program. My research investigates the molecular, biochemical and functional actions of brain and pituitary hormones involved in agnathan (lamprey and hagfish) reproduction. In addition, my laboratory has recently been studying endocrine disruptors in frogs.
Goals statement: The biological sciences are undergoing sweeping and exciting changes. SICB can be one of the leaders as we move towards an increased emphasis of integrative and multidisciplinary biology. My goals include 1) being proactive and an advocate for many of the proposed changes and initiatives that are in the strategic plan as well as from each of the divisions; and 2) promote programs and symposia to enhance the concepts of integrative and comparative biology, to maintain strong divisional structure and to integrate leading edge non-SICB symposia and speakers. Another goal would be to foster and encourage workshops or symposia on many of the changes in the biological sciences that have been driven by new scientific techniques and new knowledge that provide continuing new challenges to scientists.
Candidates for Member-at-Large Elect
Current position: Associate Curator of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History.
Lecturer, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago.
Lecturer, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago.
Education: Ph.D. 1990: Department of Zoology, Duke University. Bachelor of Arts 1984: Biology with Honors. The College of Wooster, OH.
Professional experience: Associate Editor, Systematic Biology, 1998-2000; Peer review for 21 journals and six books; 14 major international biodiversity expeditions; Hinds Fund Committee, University of Chicago, 1993-96: Science Advisory Council Chair (museum faculty senate), 1998-2000; Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Chair 1995-2000); Head of Division of Fishes, 1992-98; Chair: Committee on Graduate Student Participation, ASIH 1989-90. Training and Advising: two postdocs, four graduate students, eight other student committees, 12 undergraduate researchers. Public Museum Education: Public seminars, lectures/tours, Community Science Day, Good Morning America.
SICB activities: Member since 1988; D. Dwight Davis Award for Best Paper in Vertebrate Morphology: Division of Vertebrate Morphology, 1990; D. Dwight Davis Award Committee, Division of Vertebrate Morphology, 1992; Nominating Committee, Division of Vertebrate Morphology, 1998; Program Officer, Division of Vertebrate Morphology, 1994-96.
Other memberships: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, International Association of Vertebrate Morphologists, Neotropical Ichthyological Association, Pacific Ocean Research Foundation, Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society, Society of Systematic Biologists.
Research interests: Functional morphology and physiology of vertebrates, including morphology, behavior, kinematics and neuromotor patterns of feeding and locomotion.
Systematics and evolution of tropical marine fishes: molecular and morphological phylogeny of the families Labridae and Scaridae. Evolution of structural, functional and ecological features. Quantitative modeling of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems: mechanical design, morphometrics and computer modeling in vertebrate biomechanics. Whatever my students are into at the moment.
Goals statement: Most of us are SICB members because our meetings are great! Let's keep them that way by reducing costs and recruiting new members from the graduate student ranks that will ensure our future. Our annual meeting is so exciting because of the cross-disciplinary symposia and the fact that regular sessions are almost always diverse. Plus we don't have to fly after Christmas! Anything that can be done to keep the great sessions going should be a top priority. Most of us are not members because of the journal or the Web page. Without putting too fine a point on it, both of those aspects of the SICB could be improved. I would be interested in discussing ways to improve our face that we turn to the scientific community and the public.
Current position: Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolution, SUNY at Stony Brook, Sept. 1997 – present.
Education: Ph.D., Zoology, 1987, The University of Alberta; M.S., Zoology, 1982, Oregon State University; B.A., Zoology, 1978, University of Washington; B.A., Biological Oceanography, 1978, University of Washington.
Professional experience: Postdoctoral Researcher 1987-89, Cornell University, Assistant Professor, Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sept. 1989 - 1996, Associate Professor, Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996-1998.
SICB activities: Past Chair DEE, Co-organized symposia (Tribute to Alan Kohn, Plant-Animal Interactions), Co-organized workshop to develop plan to increase diversity in SICB and integrative biology, Best Student Paper judge for DIZ and DEE.
Other memberships: Ecological Society of America, American Malacological Union, Phycological Society of America, Western Society of Naturalists, Society for the Study of Evolution, Sigma Xi.
Research interests: Ecology and evolution of phenotypically plastic morphologies, functional morphology, marine ecology, biological invasions and impacts of exotic species.
Goals statement: The society is poised to take advantage of its new financial well-being. Historically the strength of the society has been the involvement of its membership. I would like to see officers play important roles as conduits for the membership to get their ideas and feelings to the executive, and more input from membership on important issues facing the society and the directions it should move. Another strength of the society is the diversity of areas and approaches to science covered by divisions. I would like to see this society become more diverse in its membership as well, particularly by taking active measures to increase participation of minorities at meetings and in integrative and comparative biology in general. Finally, many people still do not know that SICB is the society formerly known as ASZ. We need to make that connection for people, and encourage new members, including those who study plants as well as animals.