Fall 2022: Division of Comparative Endocrinology

Message from DCE Leadership

Rachel Bowden, Chair, chair.dce@sicb.orgSara O’Brien, Program Officer, DPO.DCE@sicb.org; Christine Lattin, Secretary,  secretary.DCE@sicb.org; Kat Munley, Student Postdoc Representative, kmunley@indiana.edu

Upcoming Meeting in Austin, Texas, January 3-7, 2023

The 2023 SICB Conference Program is coming together nicely! The 2023 meeting will offer over 1800 submitted abstracts representing a slew of symposia, special sessions, complimentary sessions, best student presentations, luminary lectures, and more! SICB abstract submissions have approached pre-pandemic levels, so we expect a lively conference in January.

Symposia and sessions that may be particularly interesting to DCE members include: “Daily torpor across birds and mammals: Recent progress and how do we advance the field?”, “Biology at birth: The role of infancy in providing the foundation for lifetime success”, and “Envisioning a diverse, inclusive, and safe future for field biology.” SICB is also offering a cache of DCE-focused sessions: “Comparative Endocrinology,” “Examining Mechanisms of Parental, Developmental or Environmental Impacts,” and the poster session “Exploring Topics on Stress and/or Development.” The Best Student Presentation Gorbman Award session and Riddiford Award Session for the Best Student Poster will both be on Wednesday, January 4. Please contact the DCE Program Officer (dpo.dce@sicb.org) if you are willing to judge Best Student Posters; we are always looking for volunteers!

The meeting will also have some other great events for students and postdocs, both within the division and across SICB more broadly:

  1. DCE Student-Postdoc Rep Kat Munley will be organizing Lunch with a Comparative Endocrinologist, which gives undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to meet more senior DCE members at the SICB meeting. More information about this event will be coming soon!
  2. This fall, Kat will also be starting a “Meet the Scientist” initiative on the DCE Twitter account, in which a different DCE member will be featured in a post every other week. To kick off this program and count down to the SICB annual meeting, she will first showcase students selected for the Gorbman and Riddiford Award sessions.
  3. The Student-Postdoctoral Affairs Committee (SPDAC) will be organizing workshops both online and in person on topics relevant to students and postdocs. SPDAC is also presenting an interactive poster this year entitled “SPDAC PRESENTS: Questions you didn’t know you had – The graduate student and postdoc edition,” in which students and postdocs will share knowledge and advice through lived experiences with others pursuing this path, and post questions they wish they had asked when starting their careers.
Tyrone Hayes, our 2023 Howard A. Bern Awardee
Tyrone Hayes, our 2023 Howard A. Bern Awardee

We will be welcoming Dr. Tyrone Hayes as our 2023 Bern Lecturer! Dr. Hayes is a famously dynamic and captivating speaker, so we are thrilled to have the opportunity to watch his talk in person. This lecture is certain to be one of the highlights of January’s meeting.

This year’s conference venue, the Austin JW Marriot, features a roof-top deck called The Edge that offers food and beverages with a lovely bird’s eye view of the city. SICB will also be holding a closing celebration with food and drinks on Friday, January 6, so be sure to stick around for the fun and excitement at this year’s 2023 SICB Celebration Party!

We also want to encourage all DCE members to think about symposium ideas for future meetings. While it may seem a bit daunting to put together a symposium, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience that allows you to connect with established scientists, promote up-and-coming colleagues, and put a stamp on your field. There are many resources available to assist you with symposium preparation, including several DCE members that have organized previous symposia. If you are considering ideas for future meetings, please contact the DCE Chair (chair.dce@sicb.org) and DCE Program Officer (dpo.dce@sicb.org).

Election Results and Upcoming Elections

Britt Heidinger, our new DCE Program Officer Elect
Britt Heidinger, our new DCE Program Officer Elect

Our new Program Officer-Elect is Britt Heidinger. Thank you very much to both candidates who ran for this position for your willingness to serve your division!

Our next elections will be in 2023 for both Chair-Elect and Secretary-Elect. Please consider running or nominating a colleague who you think might shine in one of these roles.

Serving on the DCE Executive Committee is a wonderful way to connect with and contribute to your professional community and learn more about the workings of a large scientific society.

Social Media

When Kat Munley became DCE’s Student-Postdoc Rep, one of her goals was to increase our division’s social media presence. Since she started moderating the DCE Twitter account in January 2022, we have become the 3rd most popular Twitter page of all the SICB divisions! We have gained over 100 new followers since January, and our account is consistently showing increases in impressions, profile visits, and mentions. If you haven’t already, follow the DCE Twitter account (@sicb_dce), and make sure to tag our account in your tweets to share your research, papers, grants, student or postdoc opportunities, and other news! We also have a DCE Facebook page, which can be a great resource for technical questions, job postings, and other DCE-related information.

Student-Postdoc Funding Opportunities

If you are a student or postdoc member of SICB, please be aware of these SICB funding opportunities. Most of the deadlines passed on October 24, but the Charlotte Mangum Student Support Deadline has been extended to October 27. If you missed it this year, be sure to look out for these application opportunities next year!

  1. Grant-in-Aid of Research (GIAR): provides up to $1000 of research support for graduate student members of SICB.
  2. Fellowship of Graduate Student Travel (FGST): provides up to $2000 for travel to distant research labs, museums, or field sites to graduate student members of SICB.
  3. Charlotte Mangum Student Support Program: provides financial support in the form of reduced housing or registration fees at the SICB annual meeting to undergraduate and graduate student members of SICB. Please check the Mangum website for more details about this popular program.
  4. Broadening Participation Professional Development Award: provides funding for undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members from underrepresented groups to attend the SICB annual meeting.
This photo shows a chicken embryo after four days of development, with students sampling the extra-embryonic membranes in the background. The Paitz Lab at Illinois State University investigates how the extra-embryonic membranes metabolize and respond to glucocorticoid hormones. Photo courtesy of Emily Harders, a Master’s student in the lab.
This photo shows a chicken embryo after four days of development, with students sampling the extra-embryonic membranes in the background. The Paitz Lab at Illinois State University investigates how the extra-embryonic membranes metabolize and respond to glucocorticoid hormones. Photo courtesy of Emily Harders, a Master’s student in the lab.