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SICB


SICB Spring 2003 Newsletter
News & Announcements








Revised Constitution

An ad hoc committee headed by Past-Secretary Penny M. Hopkins has revised the constitution. Members will be asked to vote on the changes. Please go to http://sicb.org/revconstitution.php3 for more information and links to the revised text of the constitution.




Audrey Gorbman Lecture Series in Comparative Physiology

The new Aubrey Gorbman Lecture Series in Comparative Physiology will create an opportunity each year for the new Department of Biology (formerly Zoology), University of Washington, to host an outstanding lecturer to present their emerging and exciting research in Comparative Physiology. They will meet with graduate students, faculty and postdoctoral fellows, and promote scholarly interchange with the Department of Biology, the University, and the world. This lecture fund was made possible by donations from Aubrey's family, as well as from faculty in his old department. Additional contributions are also welcome from the larger scientific community. If anyone would like to contribute to this fund please contact Ms. Kathryn Hahn, Department of Biology, Box 351800, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (hahnkc@u.washington.edu). We feel much gratitude for all the work Aubrey has done for the Department of Biology (Zoology), University of Washington, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology both as a member and a former President. His legacy will be carried on with this fund, and we hope the lectures will spark the imagination of future scientists in Comparative Physiology.





Frontiers in Polar Biology in the Genomic Era

As we enter the twenty-first century, the polar biological sciences stand well poised to address numerous important issues, many of which were unrecognized as little as 10 years ago. At the same time, the era of "genome-enabled" biology is upon us. Genomic approaches, in concert with other existing technologies, allow us to examine polar biological questions of unprecedented scope and to do so with extraordinary depth and precision. The National Academies' Committee on Frontiers in Polar Biology recently released its report, Frontiers in Polar Biology in the Genomic Era. The report identifies numerous research problems in the areas of evolution of polar organisms, polar physiology and biochemistry, ecosystems biology, and human impact on polar ecosystems that could benefit from genomic sciences. The report also assesses the impediments to the conduct of polar genomic research and emphasizes the importance of ancillary technologies to the successful application of genomic technologies to polar studies. The development of a new initiative in polar genome sciences that emphasizes collaborative multidisciplinary research is recommended to facilitate genome analyses of polar organisms and to coordinate research efforts.

For More Information: Contact Evonne Tang, of the National Academies' Committee on Frontiers in Polar Biology, at 202-334-3648; ETang@nas.edu. Frontiers in Polar Biology in the Genomic Era is available from the National Academies Press; 2102 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20055; 800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10623.html.

This report is sponsored by the Office of Polar Programs and the Directorate for Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation.





Meeting Announcements

XIIIth International Conference on Invertebrate Dioxygen Binding Proteins
On behalf of the organisers of the "XIIIth International Conference on Invertebrate Dioxygen Binding Proteins" we are pleased to invite the members of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Physiology to attend this meeting. The meeting will focus on all aspects of invertebrate oxygen carriers and also on related oxygen using enzymes like tyrosinases. It will take place in Mainz (Germany) on September 7 - 12, 2003. For the preliminary program, registration details and further information, please refer to the Conference's home page: http://www.io2bip.uni-mainz.de/


Gordon Conference on "Hormones and Development", Connecticut College, June 8-13, 2003
The major emphasis of this meeting is on hormones that work via nuclear receptors and the manner by which these receptors then orchestrate complex programs of development. The program brings together workers using a variety of techniques that are applied to hormone action in insect, amphibian and higher vertebrate systems.

The Keynote speaker is Prof. Keith Yamamoto (UCSF).

The session topics are:
Nuclear Receptors and Signaling Systems
Tissue Specificity of Hormone Action
Hormones and Gene Networks
Hormones and Tissue Morphogenesis
Environmental Aspects to Hormonal Signaling
Transgenic Approaches for Studying Hormone Action
Gene Networks and the Control of Development

The list of invited lecturers and the titles of their talks can be found at the Gordon Conference web site, http://www.grc.uri.edu/programs/2003/hormones.htm .

We encourage poster presentations by all participants. The poster sessions on related topic areas are scheduled for the late afternoon. In addition, one poster presenter from each topic area will be asked to give a short (15 min) platform presentation so that exciting, late-breaking results can be presented.

To apply to attend the meeting, go to the Gordon Research Conference web site at http://www.grc.uri.edu/ and follow the instructions for "Attending a Conference" and the "On-line application". Senior graduate students and postdocs are especially encouraged to attend. We have applied for funds for the support of a limited number of graduate students and postdoctorals. Funding will not be known, though, until the time of the conference.