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DEE: 1998 Spring Newsleter

This Newsletter by Section

Message from the Chair and Secretary

Dianna K. Padilla and Sarah Cohen

Although it seems we just started, it is time to elect new officers in the Division of Ecology and Evolution. It has been exciting watching and participating in the new changes and recent growth of SICB. These are exciting times for the Society. Unlike many societies, this is one where individuals can and do make a difference. It has been a pleasure for both of us to serve the Society, and we look forward to the new faces and changes that will come in the future.

Some of the changes we hope will continue:

  1. An effort to include integrative biologists studying a broader diversity of taxa (including those photosynthetic) in the Society.
  2. Development of cross-sectional symposia with an evolutionary emphasis on questions about physiology, ecology, behavior, developmental biology and organismal diversity.
  3. Increasing opportunities for students in SICB and at the Annual Meeting. SICB offers opportunities for training in many aspects of one's career, from research presentations and grant support, to committee work and organizing events and symposia. It is already a great strength of the Society that it is so easy for students to enjoy opportunities for informal and formal interaction with their peers, colleagues and mentors at the Annual Meeting.

Election for Chair and Secretary

The Nominating Committee chose an excellent group of candidates to run for these two offices. Sarah Woodin, University of South Carolina, and Cathy McFadden, Harvey Mudd College, are running for chair. Susie Worcester, California State University, Monterey, and Linda Walters, University of Central Florida, are running for secretary. Biographies and statements by the candidates are found on the next page. We encourage you to vote by sending in the enclosed ballot by Dec. 11.

1999 SICB Annual Meeting

The 1999 SICB Annual Meeting will be in Denver, Jan. 6-10. We encourage you to attend, even if you will not be presenting a paper or poster. This meeting has several interesting symposia, including a one day mini-symposium, "Excellence in Invertebrate Biology: A Tribute To Alan Kohn," honoring the president of SICB, Alan J. Kohn. This symposium is cosponsored by the Division of Ecology and Evolution and the Division of Invertebrate Zoology. Alan has retired after a distinguished research and teaching career. His research has focused on the ecology and biology of marine invertebrates, particularly gastropods in the genus Conus. Students of Alan's will be presenting papers on a variety of topics. This symposium will be a time for all of Alan's friends, colleagues and students to pay tribute to his career and contributions. We encourage all of you to attend the symposium and congratulate Alan on his retirement. In addition, there are several interesting society-wide symposia, and several DEE sessions of contributed papers and posters that promise to be very interesting. Denver should be a great meeting. We hope to see you there.

Best Paper and Poster Awards Judges for Denver

One of the most important facets of the Annual Meeting is the opportunity for students to present their research in talks or posters. DEE presents cash awards to the student presenters of the best talk at each meeting. Mike Hart (mwhart@is.dal.ca) has once again kindly agreed to chair the committee that will judge papers and posters in Denver. We need volunteers to serve on this committee. Please e-mail Mike if you are willing to help out. If you are presenting a paper or a poster, please refer to the Spring 1998 SICB News. You will find many helpful hints on how to improve your presentation and the types of things judges will take into account when assessing your talk or poster.

Symposia for Future Meetings

Although it is too late to organize a society-wide symposium for Atlanta (Jan. 4-8, 2000), there is time to organize mini-symposia for Atlanta and society-wide symposia for the 2001 meeting in Chicago (Jan. 3-7). For Society-wide symposia, proposals must be to the Society program officer by April 1999. Please contact the program officer if you have ideas. Mini-symposia are much easier to organize and get into the program. Presently, DEE has no symposia planned. Contact the DEE program officer, Don Levitan (levitan@bio.fsu.edu) if you have any questions about organizing a symposium.

Grants-in-Aid

The new program Grants-in-Aid for graduate student research has been a wonderful success. We encourage all DEE graduate students to apply for these grants. We also need volunteers to serve on the committee that evaluates proposals. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact Dianna Padilla (padilla@life.bio.sunysb.edu).

DEE Candidates for Election

Candidates for Chair-Elect

Sarah Ann Woodin

Current Position: Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
Education: B.A. with honors, Goucher College, 1967; Ph.D., University of Washington, 1972.
SICB Activities: Member of the editorial board of American Zoologist, 1983-87 (Division of Invertebrate Zoology representative), organizer and participant in several symposia, chair of several sessions at Annual Meetings.
Other Memberships: Ecological Society of America, British Ecological Society, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, American Society of Naturalists, Sigma Xi, Society for the Study of Evolution.
Research Interests: Marine benthic ecology, recruitment processes, biogenic disturbance, chemical ecology.
Goals Statement: I joined SICB as a graduate student because, more than any other society, its meetings spanned the breadth of biology. SICB provides me with a means for establishing interdisciplinary collaborations and exchanges and exposes me to new approaches to questions. My goal is to continue to find new ways to foster such interdisciplinary aspects of the Society and to strive to make its meetings financially accessible.

Catherine S. McFadden

Current Position: Associate Professor of Biology, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Calif.
Education: B.S., Biology, Yale University, 1982; Ph.D., Zoology, University of Washington, 1988.
Professional Experience: Postdoctoral work, Zoology, University of California, Davis, 1988-89; NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship, Port Erin Marine Laboratory, University of Liverpool, 1989-90; Barbara Stokes Dewey Assistant Professor, Biology, Harvey Mudd College, 1991-96; Research Associate, Zoology, University College Dublin, 1994; Associate Professor, Biology, Harvey Mudd College, 1996-present.
SICB Activities: Member of ASZ/SICB since 1985; Best Student Paper Award, ASZ, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, 1986; Best Student Paper Award, ASZ, Division of Ecology, 1988; Best student paper competition judge, SICB, 1998.
Other Memberships: Society for the Study of Evolution; Western Society of Naturalists.
Research Interests: Ecology and life history evolution of clonal marine invertebrates; genetic structure of marine invertebrate populations; molecular systematics of alcyonacean soft corals. Goals Statement: As a member, I have valued SICB equally for its support of research interests that straddle boundaries between traditional disciplines, and for the support the Society has shown to me over the years (first as a graduate student and, most recently, as a faculty member at an undergraduate teaching college). As chair, I would work to ensure that these qualities that have kept me returning to SICB continue to be strengthened and safeguarded. I would like to see DEE continue to broaden its membership by sponsoring more symposia designed to break down the zoology/botany barrier and to emphasize the ecological similarities among plant and animal communities. I am also concerned by the high costs of membership in the Society and the escalating cost of the Annual Meeting, and I will work to ensure that the Society remains friendly and affordable to graduate students and others who lack large research and travel budgets.

Candidates for Secretary

Suzanne Worcester

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Institute for Earth Systems Science and Policy, California State University, Monterey Bay, Calif.
Education: B.S. with honors, University of Utah, 1987; Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1994.
Professional Experience: Postdoctoral Scientist, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1994-96.
SICB Activities: Member since 1988.
Other Memberships: Ecological Society of America, Society for Conservation Biology, Sigma Xi.
Research Interests: Organismal and population level marine ecology; biomechanics, ecology and conservation of vernal pools and other wetland ecosystems.
Goals Statement: I will work to bring greater taxonomic diversity to SICB, particularly bringing more integration across taxonomic disciplines. I will also contribute toward developing a greater integration with the Ecological Society of America.

Linda J. Walters

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.
Postdoctoral Positions: GIROQ, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada; Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, India; Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Education: B.S., Bates College, 1983; M.S., Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 1986, 1991.
Other Memberships: Sigma Xi, Ecology Society of America, Western Society of Naturalists, Women's Aquatic Network.
Research Interests: Ecology of marine invertebrates and macroalgae: dispersal of propagules (invertebrate larvae, vegetative fragments, gametes); exploration behaviors of competent larvae; natural anti-fouling compounds; refuges and post-attachment success of sessile organisms.
Goals Statement: I have benefited tremendously from SICB since becoming a member as a beginning graduate student. SICB provides a venue for presenting my research and hearing presentations from many important colleagues. I have met many contacts through SICB, including people who have taught me everything from sources of funding to postdoctoral opportunities to interviewing skills. I would now like to serve SICB as secretary of the Division of Ecology and Evolution to promote both science and related scientific opportunities to new and established members.

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