Message from DNNSB Leadership
James Newcomb, Chair, chair.dnnsb@sicb.org; Jeff Riffell, Program Officer, dpo.dnnsb@sicb.org; Jessica Fox; Secretary; secretary.dnnsb@sicb.org; Loranzie Rogers, Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Representative, loranzie@uw.edu
Greetings from the DNNSB Leadership! We are looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming SICB meeting, regardless of whether you join us in person or via the adjacent SICB+ virtual platform. Our divisional priorities continue to include recruitment of colleagues into DNNSB, especially students and scientists in early stages of their careers. Please join us at the Members Meeting, Divisional Social, and Best Student Presentations in Austin!
Election Results and Bylaws Amendments
This year, you voted overwhelmingly to amend our bylaws pertaining to the membership of our executive committee. Previously, our executive committee consisted of a Chair, Program Officer, Secretary, and a representative for the Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee. We have now added a Chair-Elect, Program Officer-Elect, and Secretary-Elect, each of which will be elected such that they overlap with their respective executive officer for one year.
In other election news for 2022, divisional members elected Jamie Theobald (Florida International University) as DNNSB Program Officer for a 3-year term, officially starting at the end of the SICB meeting in Austin. Jamie will be taking over for Jeff Riffell, who has done a tremendous job as DNNSB’s Program Officer. Thank you, Jeff, for your years of service to SICB and DNNSB!
The DNNSB Executive Officers also nominated Loranzie Rogers (University of Washington) to be our new representative for the Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee. We had many early-career scientists volunteer to fill this position, which is a wonderful sign that points to increasing involvement of early-career scientists in DNNSB. Loranzie was appointed by the SICB President earlier this year and has now taken over for Maryam Kamran, who had previously served in this capacity. Thank you, Maryam, for your service, and we look forward to seeing your future involvement in SICB.
Upcoming Elections
This spring, we will be electing a new DNNSB Chair, as Jim Newcomb will be entering the last year of his term, and our first Secretary-Elect, so that that individual can begin their term after the meeting in 2023 and shadow Jessica during the last year of her term in 2024. A committee will be soliciting nominations for these positions. Please consider serving if you are contacted by the committee, or reach out to any of the current DNNSB executive officers if you are interested. Volunteering service to SICB is a great way to give back to the society.
Call for Volunteer Judges for Best Student Presentation
We have a slate of both oral and poster presentations that will be participating in our annual DNNSB Best Student Presentation competitions at the SICB conference. As always, we are looking for your support in judging these presentations. For those that have already volunteered to judge presentations, thank you! You will hear from us as we approach the meeting. For others, you can declare your interest when you register for the conference or by contacting DNNSB leadership. We thank you in advance for your help!
2023 SICB Meeting
The SICB Program Committee met over the weekend of September 24th (DNNSB represented by the indomitable Jamie Theobald) and prepared the meeting schedule for Austin 2023. This year, most of the presentations and posters are in-person, but participants can also join us virtually via SICB+.
Best Student Presentations: DNNSB’s submissions for BSP presentations more than doubled since last year (61 applicants for poster and presentations). The DNNSB-BSP talk session will be on Thursday, January 5th from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM in Room 203-204. These presentations are the best of the conference, so we encourage you to attend and check them out.
Symposia for 2023: In addition to the BSP sessions, DNNSB is the lead sponsor for two symposia at the 2023 meeting, including “Neuroethology in the age of gene editing: New tools and novel insights into the molecular and neural basis of behavior,” and “The role of mechanosensation in robust locomotion.”
There are several other symposia that we are also co-sponsoring, including “Biology at birth: the role of infancy in providing the foundation for lifetime success,” and “Daily torpor across birds and mammals: Recent progress and how do we advance the field?” Please keep an eye out for symposium details on the SICB meeting website.
Symposia for 2024 (and 2025): For SICB 2024, we are very excited about the lineup of DNNSB-related symposia! Although some things need to be finalized, we should have 2 DNNSB symposia for this next year, including one on the neural basis of locomotion, and another symposium on the evolution of animal senses. There are several others related to animal behavior. More details to come! Finally, if you have an idea for a symposium, please reach out to Jamie Theobald, who is our new Program Officer. Symposia related to neurobiology, sensory biology, and behavior are always well-received and nearly always make the cut. If you have an idea for a symposium, please submit a proposal. Moreover, please contact Jamie or Jim if you want feedback about your ideas.
For Students and Post-Docs
SPDAC is hosting a few events/programs during the SICB 2023 in-person meeting:
1) Social media roundtable: This is a networking/SciComm event for discussing how to use social media platforms to amplify your voice and connect with others in the scientific community.
2) Interactive poster: Throughout the meeting, the SPDAC will be presenting an interactive poster for graduate students and postdocs to share their knowledge and advice with others pursuing this path and post questions they wish they had asked when starting out in graduate school or as a postdoctoral scholar. We hope that this poster will provide a way for early career scientists to share insights with others on their experiences throughout their academic journeys.