{"id":1095,"date":"2021-04-02T08:31:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T08:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sicb.burkclients.com\/wp\/?page_id=1095"},"modified":"2021-04-12T21:49:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T21:49:07","slug":"spring-2021-dcb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sicb.burkclients.com\/wp\/?page_id=1095","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2021: Division of Comparative Biomechanics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Message from the Chair<\/h2>\n

John Long, <\/span>chair.dcb@sicb.org<\/span><\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

With the end of this year\u2019s remote annual meeting, we say, \u201cFarewell and welcome!\u201d\u00a0 Leaving us in her role as Chair of the Division is Stacey Combes, who gave us excellent leadership for two years.\u00a0 Please join me in thanking her.\u00a0 Fortunately for us, she can\u2019t be entirely free of DCB yet:\u00a0 she will continue to advise us as the Past Chair. Joining the Division\u2019s Executive Committee is the Chair-Elect, Brooke Flammang, winner of the 2020 election for that position. Welcome! After observing from the wings, she will take the reins in two years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With elections in mind, this Spring we\u2019ll elect a new divisional Program Officer and Secretary. Many thanks to our Nominating Committee, David Hu (chair), Kakani Katija, and Marianne Porter. They considered self-nominations – which are always encouraged – and also generated a separate list of nominees from the DCB membership list. We are very grateful to the following candidates for accepting the nomination: Mason Dean and Jimmy Liao for Program Officer; Maria Laura Habegger and Floris van Breugel for Secretary. Please read their biographies, below.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both positions are extremely important, with much hidden work behind the scenes. As indicated in our <\/span>divisional bylaws<\/span><\/a>, the main job of the Program Officer is to \u201carrange for the programs\u201d of the division. Sounds simple until you have to solve that puzzle at the same time that all the other divisional program officers are solving theirs while considering available rooms, proximity to related talks, and the always vexing overlap of sessions. The main job of the Secretary is, frankly, to keep the Division running. They organize communications, produce and edit the newsletter, and manage nomination committees and nominees. This is critical service to our division and we thank the candidates for standing for election.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are seeking volunteers to form this year\u2019s Gans Award Nomination Committee. With nominations due usually in mid-August, the work of the committee takes place shortly thereafter. Please email me if you are interested in either being on the committee, nominating someone, or self-nominating. Details about the award and nomination process are found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to all members for pulling together to make the SICB 2021 Annual Meeting work.\u00a0 I want to give a special thanks to Armita Manafzadeh, our Student and Postdoctoral Representative, who innovated and organized to make our two joint DCB-DVM Socials a great success. Also, Matt McHenry, our Program Officer, worked the scheduling puzzle I mentioned, above, under very fluid conditions throughout the fall. Finally, a personal thanks to our Secretary, Emily Kane, for a steady hand on the tiller, keeping us on course in the face of headwinds and rough seas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carl Gans Award: Keynote Address at SICB 2021<\/b><\/h4>\n

Dr. Martha Mu\u00f1oz, winner of the 2021 Carl Gans Award, gave the keynote address, <\/span>‘Constraint’, a Double-edged Sword for Evolution<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/b>A faculty member at Yale University (www.marthamunoz.com\/<\/a>), Dr. Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s work is a great example of the approach to biomechanics that Dr. Gans championed:\u00a0 comparative, ecological, and evolutionary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Congrats to Dr. Mu\u00f1oz, and thanks to Twitter user Hugo A. Ben\u00edtez, @HugoBenitezd, for capturing this screenshot<\/a> featuring both Martha (right) and DCB chair Stacey Combes (left).<\/p>\n

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Stacey Combes and Martha Munoz during Gans Lecture, SICB 2021<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each year, DCB evaluates applications for the Carl Gans Award, which was established to recognize Carl Gans\u2019 contributions to animal morphology, biomechanics, and functional biology. The Gans Award is given to (1) an outstanding young investigator in the field of comparative biomechanics and\/or (2) an investigator at any career stage for a significant contribution to the literature of comparative biomechanics published in the preceding <\/span>five<\/b> calendar years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The awardee receives a commemorative plaque at SICB, reimbursement for travel expenses to the meeting, and the honor of joining the ranks of past Carl Gans Awardees, such as Martha Mu\u00f1oz, Alyssa Stark, Misty Paig-Tran, Brooke Flammang, Sharlene Santana, Chris Clark, and Eric Tytell.\u00a0 We would love to see more members of our growing, vibrant DCB community included in the nominee pool for this award, so please think about submitting an application or nominating one of your colleagues! Additional details about the Gans award are available at: <\/span>http:\/\/sicb.org\/membership\/awards.php3#gans<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to the DCB Best Student Presentation Award winner!<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Anthony Lapsansky<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The best student presentation competition offered a remarkable glimpse into the up-and-coming research of the graduate students in our division. Finalists were chosen from a larger pool of students who submitted extended abstracts in September, and all of the finalists presented fascinating work. We would like to thank the DCB BSP committee for their impeccable organization and the time they dedicated to this year\u2019s competition.\u00a0 We are already looking forward to hearing from next year\u2019s new talent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winner of <\/span>The Mimi A. R. Koehl and Stephen A. Wainwright Award for the Best Student Talk in Biomechanics <\/span><\/i>was Anthony Lapsansky from the University of Montana, with his talk titled: <\/span>Aquatic locomotion in non-aquatic birds and the secondary evolution of subsurface swimming<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tribute to Steve Wainwright<\/h4>\n

Many members of DCB were deeply saddened to hear of Steve Wainwright’s passing last year. Mark Westneat and I have compiled a tribute to Steve, with many current DCB members contributing. Please click here<\/a><\/strong> to read about Steve’s impact on so many of us.<\/p>\n

If you are interested in<\/span> honoring Steve by supporting graduate students through SICB’s Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) program,\u00a0 we invite you to contribute to the Stephen Wainwright named fund<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Message from the Program Officer<\/b><\/h2>\n

Matt McHenry <\/span>dpo.dcb@sicb.org<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Despite the many challenges faced by our membership over the past year, the SICB leadership achieved a major feat by organizing an annual meeting with more registrations than any in recent years prior. As is typical of our meetings, DCB and DVM played a disproportionately large role in the symposia and contributed sessions. About one-fifth of contributed talks were within session organized by our divisions and we sponsored half of the symposia.<\/span><\/p>\n

SICB 2021 looked a little different this year, but the new format made it one of our most accessible meetings – even pets had a chance to join! Image by Twitter user Ben Tidswell, @BenKTidswell, who posted<\/a>: \u201cI wasn\u2019t the only one interested in Anthony Lapsansky\u2019s talk about the aquatic locomotion of birds!\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Ben Tidswell’s view of Anthony Lapsansky’s talk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Symposia<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Symposia are vital to the division and the society in general. They serve to highlight major themes in our field, provide perspectives from outside the society, and serve as a basis for influential published volumes of Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB). Through a strong history of divisional leadership, we are on a streak of supporting excellent symposia. The symposium talks at the virtual meeting covered an impressive diversity of topics, including how to teach with experiential learning, the integrative biology of dogs, the diversity of biological adhesives, the fluid-structure interactions of swimming appendages, and the mechanics of behavior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are on track to continue supporting diverse and interesting symposia at the upcoming meeting in Phoenix. Here are the topics that DCB is sponsoring for SICB 2022:<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Lesser known transitions: organismal form and function across abiotic gradients. <\/strong>Organizers: Charlotte Easterling, Mary Kate O’Donnell, & Matthew Kolmann<\/li>\n
  2. Open source solutions in experimental design. <\/b>Organizers: Kirk Onthank & Richelle Tanner<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Causal mechanisms of interspecific metabolic scaling patterns. <\/b>Organizers: Jon Harrison & Meghan Duell<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Evolutionary conservation and diversity in a key vertebrate behavior: “walking” as a model system. <\/b>Organizers: Haley Amplo, Alice Gibb, & Sandy Kawano<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Best practices for bioinspired design education, research and product development. <\/b>Organizers: Marianne Alleyne, Aimy Wissa, Andrew Suarez, & William Barley.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Reciprocal illumination between ecology and biomechanics: evolution, integration, and constraint. <\/b>Organizers: Lara Ferry & Tim Higham.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Maintaining strong DCB symposia depends on the creative energy of our members. As a former organizer myself, I can say that it is highly rewarding to gather a group of speakers whom you admire and to later see that work in a published volume of ICB. So, please consider organizing a symposium for SICB 2023 in Austin, TX. The deadline for a symposium proposal will be in August, though you will want to start planning soon.\u00a0 If you have some potential ideas, then do not hesitate to contact me with your thoughts (<\/span>dpo.dcb@sicb.org<\/span><\/a>). Here are some guidelines for what\u2019s involved when organizing a symposium: <\/span>https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/tkudwnr.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

    Once SICB members have submitted their symposium ideas, then I will be involved with deciding which ones to approve and grant DCB support. Please help guide me through this process by taking about one minute to fill out the following survey, which indicates the kind of symposium that you would like to attend or maybe organize yourself:\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/forms.gle\/WYgWamNE9ACLrfBL6<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

    Contributed presentations<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    The large numbers of DVM\/DCB contributions offer an embarrassment of riches for those of us who enjoy a variety of topics related to biomechanics. Nonetheless, I think we still have room for growth and I would therefore recommend that we all encourage abstract submission by biologists and engineers who have either gotten out of the habit of attending or would enjoy an introduction to our community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    You can help yourself get assigned to a session with speakers who share your interests. When you submit an abstract for the meeting, select your primary topic under the general subject of <\/span>Category B: \u2018Morphology and Biomechanics\u2019<\/b>. Presentations under that classification should cross my desk when we put the program together.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Finally, I have to offer my immense gratitude to Jake Socha, the society Program Officer (and DCB member) for all of his hard work in reorganizing how we run a meeting for the virtual format. I also was greatly helped by Mason Dean, the DPO for DVM, who did much of the organizing the DCB and DVM sessions. My job was largely facilitated by Jake and Mason\u2019s hard work.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Message from the Secretary<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Emily Kane <\/span>secretary.dcb@sicb.org<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    Just a few quick updates from me:<\/span><\/p>\n

    Member\u2019s Meeting minutes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Please review our 2021 Member\u2019s Meeting minutes (<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>). We will vote on their approval at the 2022 Member\u2019s Meeting next year, so let me know if you have any questions or concerns about them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Elections<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    This Spring we are electing a new Program Officer and Secretary of the Division of Comparative Biomechanics, who will each serve from January 2022 through the end of the annual meeting in January 2023. You can read each candidates’ biography at the end of this newsletter. We thank the candidates for their willingness to serve, as well as the Nominating Committee (Drs. David Hu, Kakani Katija, and Marianne Porter) for helping us assemble such a stellar list of candidates! We especially encourage student and post-doc members to vote – start shaping the future of your society now! Note that you do <\/span>NOT<\/span><\/i> need to have already paid your 2021 dues to vote \u2013 having attended the 2021 virtual meeting (or being a member in 2020) qualifies you to vote in the spring 2021 elections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    We need volunteers!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    You don\u2019t have to be a divisional officer to contribute to DCB! We will be soliciting volunteers to serve on the following committees in 2021. Volunteers should be DCB members with full status.<\/span><\/p>\n