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Division of Invertebrate Zoology (DIZ): 2001 Fall Newsletter



In this newsletter:



Message from the Chair

Rachel Ann Merz

    There is no doubt about it, Fall is really here. The crickets are chirping slower, the leaf detritus is building up and the termites are taking wing on their nuptial flights. It's time to think ahead to the depths of winter and a wonderful annual meeting in sunny Anaheim, California! As you will read in the Secretary's report, DIZ is sponsoring a variety of interesting symposia and many members have submitted abstracts for paper and poster presentations.

    DIZ has three elected officers - the Chair, Secretary/Treasurer and Program Officer. Ideally each serves for three years, with each office's elections offset so that in any single year only one new officer is rotating into place. This pattern had come out of sequence, so that two years ago the membership elected both a president and program officer in the same year. To get the election sequence back in register, the plan was for the chair to serve for only two years, with election of a new chair scheduled for this Fall. With the tragedy of Larry McEdward's death this summer the division was left without its program officer. After consultation with the DIZ executive committee, SICB president Marvalee Wake, and SICB program officer John Pearse, I volunteered to serve a third year as chair of DIZ and to hold the election for program officer this year. Damhnait McHugh, Bill Kier and Jan Pechenik graciously served as a nominating committee and successfully convinced two wonderful candidates (Penny Barnes and Sid Bosch) to run for the office. I thank the committee for their diligent service and the candidates for the willingness to serve. Penny and Sid's campaign statements are later in this newsletter and election materials will follow by regular mail. Please vote.

    Stepping in to help with the program officer's duties this Fall has given me a new view of the fantastic and enormous job done by John Pearse, the society's program officer. He and the division program officers have crafted a wonderful series of paper and poster sessions and balanced an abundance of symposia. If (when) you find overlaps or conflicts in planning your time in Anaheim, please recognize that it's a pleasure to be in a lively society that has a multitude of interesting things happening.

    The judging of student papers and posters this year will be organized by Sara Lindsay (Clay Cook has gone on to the presidency of the AMS). Sara and Shea Tuberty (the Graduate Student/Postdoctoral affairs committee representative) will be organizing a mailing to DIZ students to invite them to the Division meeting and to offer advice about the structure and presentation of talks and posters. Sara will be gathering faculty together to serve on the judging panel - if you would like to participate, please contact her (email: slindsay@maine.edu, phone 207-581-2739).

     The Chairmanship of the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship Committee has also changed. Mike LaBarbera, the former chair, is going to be teaching at Friday Harbor this summer and to avoid the reality or appearance of a conflict of interest asked to be removed from the committee. Thanks to Mike for his hard work and devotion to the program and students! I have asked Amy Johnson, who served on the committee last year, to take on the chairmanship and I am delighted that she has agreed to do it for the next two years. One change that Amy wanted was a way for students to submit their applications over the web. Amy and Ruediger Birenheide, (SICB's webmaster) are in the process of setting this system up. Thanks to both of them for helping students have even better access to this terrific opportunity. If you know of a student who is planning to do work or take a course at a fieldstation for the first time you should direct them to Amy Johnson and the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship (details to be found under the DIZ pages at the SICB website - or contact Amy Johnson, Biology Department, Bowdoin College, Brunswick ME 04011). As always, if you have questions or suggestions please let me know. As always, if you have questions or suggestions please let me know.




Message from the Secretary

Will Jaeckle

    I hope that each of you had a successful summer studying your favorite invertebrate animal. For each of us, however, the summer's successes were tempered by news of the sudden death of our Program Officer Larry McEdward. Larry's contributions to our science, our division, and our society were many, but perhaps our greatest loss is the removal of Larry's infectious enthusiasm about science and life. Our division will be honoring Larry and his life at this year's society meeting in Anaheim with a poster that will stand throughout the meeting. A personal thanks is extended to Richard Strathmann for contributing a "Tribute to the Science and Life of Larry McEdward" that is contained within this newsletter.

    DIZ will be sponsoring or co-sponsoring three symposia at the Anaheim meeting. These are:
  • "New perspectives on the origin of metazoan complexity", co-organized by Ruth Ann Dewel and Julian Smith (co-sponsored with AMS and DEDB),
  • "Integrative approaches to biogeography: Patterns and processes on the land and in the sea", co-organized by Rachel Collin and Marta deMaintenon (co-sponsored with DEE and DEDB), and
  • "Retirement mini-symposium in honor of Russel L. Zimmer", co-organized by Scott Santagata and Mike Temkin (sponsored by DIZ).
Despite the hectic nature of our annual meeting, please attend and support these DIZ sponsored symposia.

    Unfortunately DIZ is not presently involved in the sponsorship of any symposia for the Toronto meeting and the deadline for application has elapsed. If you have ideas for a symposium for future meeting, please direct them to the newly elected Program Officer. As Rachel mentioned in her message, Sid Bosch and Penny Barnes have agreed to run for the vacant office of DIZ Program Officer. Their respective CVs and Goal Statements can be found in this edition of the Newsletter. You will also receive this information and a ballot from the SICB main office later this year. Please participate in this process by casting your vote.

    Our sincere thanks are extended to Clay Cook for his yeoman service coordinating the Student Award Committee and we wish him well during his tenure as the new President of AMS. Clay has passed the reins of this valuable committee to Sara Lindsay (see Message from the Student Award Committee). I encourage everyone to assist Sara in the all-important process of evaluating the research efforts and presentations of the younger members of our Division.

    Shea Tuberty (see Message from the Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee) reported that the Anaheim meeting schedule contains a number of important events that discuss career choices and funding opportunities for younger members of our society. Please take advantage of these valuable seminars and discussion groups. The insight and wisdom of those who have passed successfully through these early stages of a career in science can help your own professional development strategies.

    I urge all members to attend our annual business meeting on Thursday January 3rd (5:15-6:15). Here you have an opportunity to interact with those who share a common love and respect for invertebrate animals and participate in the governance of our division. We will also be promoting less formal interactions among division members through the "DIZ-AMS social" that will be held on Friday (Jan. 4th) from 6:30-7:30. Both events are excellent opportunities to meet and talk to the members of your division and the American Microscopical Society.

    For new and future members of the Society, take a moment review the criteria for qualification and application process for the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship (see Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship). This endowed award provides financial assistance for young graduate students and advanced undergraduate students to help defray the costs of their first professional experience at a research station. Any financial contribution that members of the division can make to support this fund and maintain the vigor of this program would be appreciated and should be direct to Amy Johnson.

    Finally, thanks should be given to Rachel Merz for her stewardship of our division during a tumultuous summer and fall. She has worked diligently with the society's Program Officer (John Pearse) and the SICB leadership to ensure DIZ's representation in the 2002 meeting. Her selfless decision to remain Chair of DIZ for a year beyond the traditional tenure will reestablish the election schedule. Thanks Rachel!

     I look forward to seeing you in Anaheim and a very successful meeting.




Tribute to the Science and Life of Larry McEdward

By Richard R. Strathmann

Larry McEdward's sudden and unexpected death on July 2, 2001 was a hard blow for family and friends and also a great loss to science.


Larry's success in research and teaching came from his grasp of general issues, his ability to reduce general questions to specific questions, and his ability to make the specific questions answerable by developing new methods. My first knowledge of Larry was that there was a graduate student in Florida known as the larval marvel. He lived up to this early reputation as he continued his graduate work at the University of Washington. He pursued his studies of evolution, form, and function of marine larvae with characteristic energy and enthusiasm throughout his career. He favored echinoderms in his studies, but (peculiar as these animals are) the implications of his studies are much broader.


In his research on evolution of life histories, he focused on key problems. One of these was the relation between parental investment per offspring and offspring performance and fitness. Another was evolutionary transitions between modes of development: feeding and non-feeding larval development and non-larval alternatives. Larry explored these relationships with new models, using his skill and experience in programming, and then tested the new hypotheses with comparative and experimental studies. With his students as collaborators he examined consequences of the continuum in facultative larval feeding among closely related species. In yet another line of research, they analyzed a spectacular change in development of body axes associated with evolution of brooding. He also developed evidence for a reversion to pelagic development, despite loss of larval features. In the year before his death, Larry and his students were developing models for a more unified theory of bentho-pelagic life-histories.


When usual methods proved inadequate, Larry invented new ones. He introduced new morphometric methods for measuring complex 3-dimensional ciliary bands to assess feeding capacity of disparate larval forms. He introduced manipulation of parental investment to test evolutionary hypotheses and new methods for measuring organic content per egg to analyze variation in parental investment. Other researchers continue to apply these methods to diverse organisms.


Larry's intelligence, skill at solving problems, willingness to help people, and sense of humor made him an excellent colleague. Many of you knew Larry through his professional associations. Larry was an active member of SICB/ASZ and the current Program Officer in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Larry completed his Masters Degree at the University of South Florida, Ph.D. Degree at the University of Washington, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta, Canada before joining the Zoology Department at the University of Florida. He was also a visiting scientist and instructor at the Friday Harbor Laboratories and at the Bamfield Marine Station. Larry was one of the originators of the "Evo-Devo" course at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. He edited numerous reviews of larval biology and echinoderm biology, including Marine Invertebrate Larvae (the leading one-stop reference book for the field), the Larval Development issue of Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, and the recent Echinodermata issue of Canadian Journal of Zoology. This incomplete list does not do justice to the number and diversity of his professional activities and institutional associations.


Larry's life was much too short, but he made a very good life of it. He devoted himself to family, friends, science, mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, and chocolate. To an onlooker, his priorities in these pursuits were not always obvious. I know that chocolate ranked above climbing, because he would not give it up to condition himself for still more demanding climbs.


As a teacher and researcher, Larry leaves a model for his students to follow. There is much research and teaching that Larry would have done that will now never be done, but even so, he leaves discoveries and insights that will stimulate young biologists around the world. In addition to his scientific legacy, he leaves many good memories. Larry's humor joined insight with generosity. Being remembered with a smile is a great legacy.


Publications of Larry R. McEdward:


  1. McEdward, L.R. (accepted). Calculation and interpretation of the level of egg provisioning in marine invertebrate life cycles. Evolution.

  2. McEdward, L.R. (accepted). Simulation models of reproductive strategies in marine benthic invertebrates: Fitness differences under fluctuating environmental conditions. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

  3. McEdward, L.R., W.B. Jaeckle, and M. Komatsu. (in press). Phylum Echinodermata: Asteroidea. Invited chapter in An Atlas of Invertebrate Larvae, C.M. Young, M.E. Rice, and M. Sewell (eds.), Academic Press.

  4. McEdward, L.R. and B.G. Miner. 2001. Echinoid larval ecology, pp: 59-78. The Biology and Ecology of Edible Sea Urchins, J.M. Lawrence (ed.), Elsevier, Amsterdam. (Invited review).

  5. McEdward, L.R. and B.G. Miner. 2001. Larval and life cycle patterns in echinoderms. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79:1125-1170. (Invited review).

  6. McEdward, L.R. and P.Y Qian. 2001. Effects of the duration and timing of starvation during larval life on the metamorphosis and juvenile size of the polychaete Hydroides elegans. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 261:185-197.

  7. McEdward, L.R. and K.H. Morgan. 2001. Interspecific relationship between egg size and the level of parental investment per offspring in echinoderms. Biological Bulletin 200:33-50.

  8. McEdward, L.R. 2000. Introduction; larval evolution. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 11:383-384. (Invited editorial).

  9. McEdward, L.R. 2000. Adaptive evolution of larvae and life cycles. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 11:403-409. (Invited review).

  10. McEdward, L.R. 2000. The origin and evolution of marine invertebrate larvae. Quarterly Review of Biology 75:191-192. Book Review.

  11. McEdward, L.R. and J.C. Herrera. 1999. Body form and skeletal morphometrics during larval development of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 232:151-176.

  12. McEdward, L.R.. 1997. Reproductive strategies of marine benthic invertebrates revisited: facultative feeding by planktotrophic larvae. Amer. Nat. 150:48-72.

  13. McEdward, L.R. and D.A. Janies. 1997. Relationships among development, ecology, and morphology in the evolution of echinoderm larvae and life cycles. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 60:381-400.

  14. McEdward, L.R. 1996. Experimental manipulation of parental investment in echinoid echinoderms. American Zoologist. 36:169-179.

  15. Herrera, J.C., S. McWeeney, and L.R. McEdward. 1996. Diversity of energetic strategies among echinoid larvae and the transition from feeding to nonfeeding development. Oceanologica Acta 19:313-321.

  16. McEdward, L.R. & M.G. Hadfield. 1996. Flexibility in life cycles. Oceanologica Acta 19:468. (invited conference proceedings paper).

  17. Nichols, D., L.R. McEdward, & A.B. Smith. 1996. Evolution of life history traits. Oceanologica Acta 19:469-470. (invited conference proceedings paper).

  18. McEdward, L.R. (ed.) 1995. Ecology of Marine Invertebrate Larvae. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

  19. McEdward, L.R. 1995. Evolution of pelagic direct development in the starfish Pteraster tesselatus (Asteroidea: Velatida). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 154:299-327.

  20. Janies, D.A. and L.R. McEdward. 1994. A hypothesis for the evolution of the concentricycloid water-vascular system, pp: 246-257, in Reproduction and Development of Marine Invertebrates, W.H. Wilson jr, S.A. Stricker, and G.L. Shinn eds., Johns Hopkins Press

  21. Janies, D.A. and L.R. McEdward. 1994. Heterotopy, pelagic direct development, and new body plans in velatid asteroids, pp:319-324, in Echinoderms through Time (proceedings of the 8th International Echinoderms Conference, Dijon, France), B. David et al., eds, Balkema Press, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

  22. McEdward, L. R. and D. A. Janies. 1993. Life cycle evolution in asteroids: What is a larva? Biological Bulletin 184:255-268.

  23. Janies, D. A. and L. R. McEdward. 1993. Highly derived coelomic and water-vascular morphogenesis in a starfish with pelagic direct development. Biological Bulletin 185:56-76.

  24. McEdward, L. R. 1992. Morphology and development of a unique type of pelagic larva in the starfish Pteraster tesselatus. Biological Bulletin 182:177-187.

  25. McEdward, L. R. & F.S. Chia. 1991. Size and energy content of eggs from echinoderms with pelagic lecithotrophic development. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 147:95-102.

  26. Paulay, G. & L.R. McEdward. 1990. A simulation model of island reef morphology: The effects of sea level fluctuations, growth, subsidence, and erosion. Coral Reefs 9:51-62. Received best paper award from the journal Coral Reefs for 1990.

  27. Qian, P.Y., L.R. McEdward, & F.S. Chia. 1990. Effects of delayed settlement on survival, growth, and reproduction in the spionid polychaete, Polydora ligni. International Journal of Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 18:147-152.

  28. McEdward, L.R., S.F. Carson & F.S. Chia. 1988.. Energetic content of eggs, larvae, and juveniles of Florometra serratissima and the implications for the evolution of crinoid life histories. International Journal of Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 13:9-21.

  29. McEdward, L.R. 1988. Experimental embryology as a tool for studying the evolution of echinoderm life histories. In: Echinoderm Phylogeny and Evolutionary Biology, A. Smith & C.R.C. Paul (eds.). Ch. 15, pp:189-196.

  30. Sinervo, B. & L.R. McEdward. 1988. Developmental consequences of an evolutionary change in egg size: An experimental test. Evolution 42:885-900.

  31. McEdward, L.R. & R.R. Strathmann. 1987. The body plan of the cyphonautes larva of bryozoans prevents high clearance rates: Comparison with the pluteus and a growth model. Biological Bulletin 172:30-45.

  32. Emlet, R.B., L.R. McEdward & R.R. Strathmann. 1987. Echinoderm larval ecology viewed from the egg. in: Echinoderm Studies, Vol. 2, pp:55-136, edited by M. Jangoux & J.M. Lawrence. A.A. Balkema.

  33. McEdward, L.R., & S.F. Carson. 1987. Variation in organic content and its relationship with egg size in the starfish Solaster stimpsoni. Marine Ecology Progress Series 37:159-169.

  34. McEdward, L.R. & L.K. Coulter. 1987. Egg volume and energetic content are not correlated among sibling offspring of starfish: Implications for life history theory. Evolution 41:914-917.

  35. McEdward, L.R. 1986. Comparative morphometrics of echinoderm larvae. I. Some relationships between egg size and initial larval form in echinoids. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 96:251-265.

  36. McEdward, L.R. 1986. Comparative morphometrics of echinoderm larvae. II. Larval size, shape, growth, and the scaling of feeding and metabolism in echinoplutei. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 96:267-286.

  37. Strathmann. R.R. & L.R. McEdward. 1986. Cyphonautes' ciliary sieve breaks a rule of biological inference. Biological Bulletin 171:694-700.

  38. McEdward, L.R. 1985. An apparatus for measuring and recording the depth dimension of microscopic organisms. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 104:194-200.

  39. McEdward, L.R. 1985. Effects of temperature on the body form, growth, ETS activity, and development rate of an echinopluteus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 93:169-181.

  40. Day, R.L. & L.R. McEdward. 1984. Aspects of the physiology and ecology of pelagic larvae of marine benthic invertebrates. pp: 93-120. in: Marine Plankton Life Cycle Strategies, edited by K.A. Steidinger & L.M. Walker. CRC Press.

  41. McEdward, L.R. 1984. Morphometric and metabolic analysis of the growth and form of an echinopluteus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 82:259-287.

  42. McEdward, L.R. & J.M. Lawrence. 1981. Respiratory electron transport system activity during larval development of Lytechinus variegatus Lamarck (Echinodermata: Echinoidea). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 70B:653-655.

  43. Diehl, W.J., L.R. McEdward, E. Proffitt, V. Rosenberg & J.M. Lawrence. 1979. The response of Luidia clathrata (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) to hypoxia. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 62A:669-67





Message from the Graduate Student-Postdoctoral Affairs Committee

DIZ Representative: Shea Tuberty(stuberty@uwf.edu)

    Hello fellow students of science! The Anaheim meeting is only a few months away and planning for this year's GSPAC workshop has begun in earnest. The workshop will be held on Friday, Jan. 4th from 7:30-9:30 pm. We will be facilitating a workshop with two working titles: "Modern Academia" and "Alternative Careers to Academia". The committee members hope to attract representatives from all levels of academia to discuss the positive and negative aspects of each level of an academic career. Representatives from government research agencies, private consulting firms, conservation (green) groups, lobbyists, and industry will also be invited to give students exposure to alternative career paths. The workshop will be organized, as in the past, with several rooms of 3-5 presenters and two rotations to allow you access to more than one group. We need your help and if you are interested in learning more about a particular organization or would like to nominate someone as a workshop participant please contact me and I will get them included.

    In addition to the GSPAC workshop, you may also choose to attend two additional informational workshops. The first is on National Science Foundation (NSF) funding and will be held twice: from 7:30-8:30 PM on Wednesday (Jan 2nd) and again on Thursday (Jan. 3rd) from 11:45-12:45 PM. The second workshop entitled 'Grantsmanship' will be held on Friday (Jan 4th) from 12:30-1:00 PM.

    The Student First -Timers Orientation will be held on Wednesday (Jan. 2nd) from 5:30-6:15 PM and is a terrific way to start your association with SICB. We will give you a jumpstart on the meeting events, let you in on how things work, and also allow you to meet others there for the first time, many of who you will see annually throughout your academic career! If you are a student short on cash (and who of us is not!) then consider applying for aid from SICB's Student Support Program. This program is very generous (see rules on the webpage) and provides free housing or registration in exchange for limited work for the society during the meeting. Please don't forget to attend the Grad student/postdoc luncheon at 11:30-12:50 PM on Thursday or the Dessert Social on Saturday from 9-11 PM.

    Lastly, I'd like to personally invite the student and postdoc members of DIZ to attend the divisional business meeting on Thursday (Jan. 3rd) from 5:15-6:15 PM. I know what you are thinking, but believe me when I say you will look at DIZ in an entirely new light once you have attended a business meeting. At the meetings, you will be able to actively participate in the decisions that affect the division and the society. It also allows you to meet those of us who represent your division. The DIZ-AMS social is on Friday (Jan 4th) from 6:30-7:30 PM and is another great way to meet other members of your division.

    Good luck in your studies and research and see you in Anaheim!




Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship

Amy Johnson (Bowdoin College and Chair of the Libbie H. Hyman Scholarship Committee) reminds us of the effort to expand the Hyman Memorial Scholarship Fund so that two scholarships can be awarded each year, one to an undergraduate and one to a graduate student. A field station experience can help shape a student's career. Contributions, large or small may be sent to:

SICB Business Office, Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship Fund, 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd., Suite 402, McLean, VA 22101.

Checks should be made payable to SICB and marked as a "Contribution to the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship Fund." All contributions are tax deductible.

This scholarship, in memory of Libbie H. Hyman, one of America's foremost invertebrate zoologists, provides assistance to students to take courses OR to research on invertebrates at a marine, freshwater or terrestrial field station. The Hyman scholarship is intended to help support a first field station experience for a first- or second-year graduate student or an advanced undergraduate student.

DIZ is working with the SICB webmaster to set up an online application webpage for the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship. It is expected to open in early January. Check the SICB awards website (sicb.org/awards.php3) for announcement and links.



Message from the Student Awards Committee Chair

Sara Lindsay

Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped judge student talks and posters at the Chicago meeting, and special thanks to Clay Cook for coordinating it all! As the new organizer, I'm looking forward to the Anaheim meeting and hope that many of you will be able to participate as judges again. Clay passed on names to me, but if you want to volunteer on your own, please feel free to email me: lindsay@maine.edu. At Chicago, a total of 19 student presentations (14 oral, 5 poster) were evaluated, each by 2 judges, and three awards were made. First place in the Best Student Paper Competition went to Stacey Combes (Dept. Zoology, Univ. Washington) for her talk titled "Spatial profiles of wing stiffness in hawkmoths and dragonflies". The second place paper was presented by Erica Goldman (Dept. Zoology, Univ. Washington), titled "Material properties shape dynamical responses of hydrozoan jellyfish". Erika Iyengar (Dept. Ecology & Systematics, Cornell Univ.) won the first place prize for student poster presentations with her poster titled "To steal or not to steal? That is the question. Suspension feeding versus kleptoparasitism in a marine snail". There was no winner of the Adrian M. Wenner Strong Inference Award. Each winner received a lovely certificate created by Rachel Merz, and one year of student membership in SICB and AMS. The first place winners also received a monetary award and credit toward purchases from the Oxford University Press or John Wiley Press. We thank the folks at OUP and Wiley for their generous donations and support in recognizing the outstanding contributions by our student members.




Elections: Program Officer Candidate CVs and Statement of Goals

Penny Barnes

Current position: Staff Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), P.O. Box 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama; Adjunct Faculty, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc., 17 Biological Lane, St. George's, Bermuda GE 01

Education: B.Sc. (Marine Biology). 1979. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; M.Sc. (Marine Ecology). 1987. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Ph.D. (Marine Ecology). 1994. University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom.

Professional experience: Office of Naval Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and STRI; STRI Research Affiliate; Leverhulme Research Fellow (Marine Biological Association of the U.K); Visiting Associate Professor, Princeton University; STRI Staff Scientist (1998 to present)

SICB participation: Member and presenter at Annual Meetings since M.Sc. research in the 1980's; Coordinator of Best Student Paper Competition, DIZ (1999); Student presentation judge DIZ (1999)

Other memberships: American Malacological Society, American Microscopical Society, National Shellfisheries Association, Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean (Secretary-Treasurer 1997-2001), Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. (Corporation Member)

Research interests: Ecology, physiology, systematics and evolution of bacteria-invertebrate symbioses, particularly bacteria-marine bivalve, sulfur-oxidizing symbioses; ecology, physiology, functional morphology, population genetics and systematics of marine mollusks.

Statement of goals: The responsibilities of the divisional Program Officer (DPO) include assisting in the organization of the scientific program for the annual meetings and ensuring that the SICB, and DIZ, showcases its science. The DPO acts as an advocate for DIZ at the annual meetings and interacts with other DPOs in the planning of interdivisional programs and the Annual Meeting in general. In the capacity of Program Officer for the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, I hope to serve the membership not only by responding to incoming proposals as effectively as possible, but also by actively encouraging new scientific themes for the annual meeting. I look forward to encouraging interdivisional programs as a means of promoting integrative and comparative biology. I will undertake to carry out the administrative aspects of the position (newsletter contributions, program scheduling) in a timely and effective manner. I anticipate that an increased awareness of the breadth of research in invertebrate zoology will be one of the many benefits of holding the position of Program Officer. In addition, assisting with organization of symposia and workshops for the annual meeting promises to be both stimulating and rewarding. Through this office, I hope to be of service to the Division of Invertebrate Zoology and the SICB.



Isidro Bosch

Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Biology, State University of New York; College at Geneseo (9 years)

Education: B.A. (Aquatic Biology). 1981. University of California at Santa Barbara; Ph.D. (Biology). 1988. University of California at Santa Cruz

Professional experience: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution; Member NSF Polar Research Diving Board (6 years); Organizing Committee, North American Echinoderm Conference (1992, 2001)

SICB participation: Member and presenter at numerous annual meetings starting in 1985; Libbie Hyman Scholarship Committee (3 years); Co-author in two symposium papers

Other memberships, organizations: Great Lakes Research Consortium

Research interests: UV photobiology of invertebrates, ecology of invertebrate embryos and larvae, life history ecology and evolution, limnology.

Statement of goals: As Program Officer for DIZ my primary responsibilities would be to solicit, select and promote appropriate symposia for the meetings, to assist symposium organizers in developing and executing their plans, to assist the Society Program Officer with the logistics of the meetings, and to work alongside fellow officers in promoting the continued success of the DIZ. Having served twice as a member of the organizing committee for the North American Echinoderm Conference, my experience for the position is somewhat limited. However I am committed to serving SICB and DIZ with enthusiasm and motivation. My interests and experiences in research have always been of an integrative nature and I look forward to promoting events and themes that conform to this spirit of interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration.



Link to officer list on DIZ page