{"id":679,"date":"2020-10-05T14:53:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T14:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sicb.burkclients.com\/wp\/?page_id=679"},"modified":"2020-10-28T17:08:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T17:08:43","slug":"fall-2020-dedb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sicb.burkclients.com\/wp\/?page_id=679","title":{"rendered":"Fall 2020 DEDB"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Deirdre Lyons, chair.dedb@sicb.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope this newsletter finds you, your families, and your labs safe, sane, and adapting to the new challenges that 2020 brought. For many of us, SICB 2020 in Austin was the last meeting we attended in person, and I for one am seriously missing sharing science with colleagues in the same room, running into old friends, and meeting new students and postdocs to chat about their experiments and career goals. On the other hand, the virtual meeting format for SICB 2021 has many advantages\u2014with no travel involved, more people can attend, and you never have to miss a talk because it’s double-booked in a different session; those with family obligations or teaching conflicts will be able to catch up on the oral and poster sessions asynchronously.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SICB leadership is doing everything they can to make the 2021 virtual meeting as rewarding as the in-person meetings. You can look forward to great talks and posters in the Best Student Presentations categories, and you can participate in the <\/span>annual Evo-Devo Meet-ups<\/span>, virtual style this time.\u00a0 These meetings provide an opportunity for students to talk with postdocs and faculty in their fields. These 1-on-1 or small group virtual meetings will be especially important this year, since students cannot chat with potential grad school or postdoc mentors at coffee breaks or poster sessions; I encourage faculty to participate! Invites to sign up for these virtual meet ups will go out in early December, so make sure to register before then. I\u2019d like to extend a big thank you in advance to our new Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee representative, Ryan Hulett (Harvard University), for organizing the <\/span>Evo-Devo Meet-ups<\/span>. Welcome Ryan!<\/span><\/p>\n

That brings me to welcoming the other new DEDB officers-to-be.\u00a0 Leslie Babonis is serving this year as the <\/span>Secretary-Elect<\/span>, as she simultaneously starts her faculty position at Cornell University in January 2021 (congrats Leslie!).\u00a0 At the end of the 2021 meeting, Frank Smith (University of North Florida) will become Program Officer-Elect and <\/span>Dave Angelini <\/span>(Colby College) will become Division Chair-Elect. I\u2019d like to thank the outgoing DEDB Chair, Kim Hoke, for her contributions to SICB and the DEDB (and answering lots of emails from me…). As the new DEDB Chair, I\u2019m excited to work with the existing officers, officers-elect, and all of the DEDB membership to keep SICB an important hub for discussions about EvoDevo.\u00a0 We have much to talk about.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One challenge many of us face is how to make teaching in a virtual setting engaging, effective, and fun.\u00a0 SICB has organized a number of resources including a <\/span>Database of resources for online instruction<\/span><\/a>, a<\/span> Database of guest lecturers<\/span><\/a>, and Lisa Whitenack has organized teaching circles, including one on EvoDevo. If you want to join this or other circles, contact Lisa (<\/span>lwhitena@allegheny.edu<\/span><\/a>). For those of you teaching invertebrate zoology, Bruno Pernet (Cal State Long Beach) has set up a Slack channel on the topic, which you can be added to by an email request to Bruno.\u00a0 Michael Barresi (Smith College) has been organizing zoom meetings about teaching Developmental Biology in the pandemic; follow him on Twitter at @mjbarresi.\u00a0 <\/span>Even more challenging and urgent is the issue of systemic racism in this country in general, and in STEM. SICB has made overt efforts over the last few years to make its meetings a safe space that promotes and encourages diversity. But this year has taught us that there is a lot more work to be done in all aspects of our lives.\u00a0 I plan to hold time for a discussion of antiracist actions our division can take at our DEDB business meeting.\u00a0 The day\/time of the business meeting is not yet set, but info will be forthcoming as the schedule solidifies.\u00a0 Remind your students that the business meeting is open to everyone!<\/span><\/p>\n

Good luck with the rest of the year (vote!) and don\u2019t forget to check in with yourselves and colleagues\/friends\/students about mental health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>See you all in 2021, my friends!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n