SICB 1998 Fall Newsletter

---

Meeting Co-sponsors
SICB Information
Contributors to SICB Funds
Announcements

Late-Breaking Symposium

The Wildlands Project: Holding Off the Sixth Extinction

Michael E. Soulé and Stuart Pimm will focus on conservation biology in a late-breaking symposium at the 1999 Annual Meeting, Jan. 6-10 in Denver. In this symposium titled "The Wildlands Project: Holding Off the Sixth Extinction," Soulé and Pimm will discuss the changing environment, biodiversity and the social causes of the destruction of nature worldwide.

Soulé is research professor in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, and president of The Wildlands Project. He has written and edited a number of books on biology, conservation biology, and the social context of contemporary conservation. He has published more than 100 articles on various subjects including population and evolutionary biology, population genetics, island biogeography, environmental studies, biodiversity policy, and ethics, and he continues to do research on the genetic basis of fitness and viability in natural populations.

Pimm is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee and is the author of over 150 papers plus three books. For most of his career, he has tried to join the critical issues of the loss of biodiversity with the difficult scientific issues that are often essential to resolve them. Receiving the Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment (1993) allowed him to develop a greatly increased involvement in the policy issues surrounding biodiversity issues. This late-breaking symposium will kick-off the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 6 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

---

Election Results

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology's secretary, Thomas G. Wolcott, announces the following results of the General Elections held in the spring of 1998.

President-Elect
Martin Feder

Secretary-Elect
Penny M. Hopkins

Member-at-Large
Harvey B. Lillywhite

---

1999 SICB Annual Meeting Symposia

SICB is featuring 10 groundbreaking symposia at the 1999 SICB Annual Meeting, Jan. 6-10 in Denver. Below is a brief look at each.

"Organismal, Ecological and Evolutionary Significance of Heat Shock Proteins and the Heat Shock Response"
This symposium focuses on how organisms in the wild actually use heat shock proteins to cope with stresses encountered. You'll find out how evolution has yielded the present-day form of the stress response, and the importance of heat-shock proteins for natural species and ecological communities. Organized by Gretchen Hoffmann, University of New Mexico and Martin Feder, University of Chicago.

"Evolutionary Origin of Feathers"
The symposium will contribute to understanding interactions among behavior, structure, function and development, which underlie the evolutionary origin of complex structures, such as feathers, that characterizes a major vertebrate group. Organized by Paul F. A. Maderson, University of New York and Dominique Homberger, Louisiana State University.

"Phenotypic and Genotypic Strategies to Chronic Hypoxia"
Physiological acclimatization to chronic hypoxia will be compared and contrasted with putative evolutionary adaptations to low oxygen in the environment. Responses involving oxygen supply and oxygen demand will be explored at the molecular, cellular and organismal level. Organized by James W. Hicks, University of California and Frank L. Powell, University of California.

"Tribute to Erika Plisetskaya: New Insights on Enteropancreatic Hormones"
This symposium is in honor of Dr. Erika Plisetskaya, research professor emeritus, University of Washington. The major issues to be addressed include: 1) hormone biosynthesis from gene to bioactive peptide, 2) hormone structure-function relationships, and 3) evolution of hormone-receptor interactions. Organized by Mark A. Sheridan, North Dakota State University and Stacia Sower, University of New Hampshire.

"Evolution of Starfishes: Morphology, Molecules, Development and Paleobiology"
Among starfishes, fascinating life cycles and complex morphological patterns have evolved within a basic body plan. Discussion will center around current perspectives on phylogeny, the implications of the recently discovered concentricycloids, and consideration of significance of events that precede the diversification of extant asteroid groups in the Jurassic. Organized by Daniel Janies, American Museum of Natural History and Daniel Blake, University of Illinois.

"Animal Consciousness: Historical, Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives"
The symposium will examine the history of modern scientific and philosophical ideas about the consciousness of non-human animals and then turn to theoretical and epistemological issues. Organized by Matt Cartmill, Duke University and Irene Lofstrom, Duke University.

"Function and Evolution of the Vertebrate Axis"
Presentations in this symposium will focus on three areas - the skeletal support system, locomotion and the design of the axial systems in general. Axial systems in model organisms will be discussed, including hagfish, bony fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Organized by John H. Long, Jr., Vassar College and Tom J. Koob, Shriners Hospital for Children.

"Comparative Vertebrate Reproduction: Neuroendocrinology, Behavior and Life History Aspects"
Scientists will gather to honor the many contributions of Dr. Richard Evan Jones in the field of comparative reproductive endocrinology on his retirement from the Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Organized by David O. Norris, University of Colorado, Boulder, and Catherine R. Propper, Northern Arizona University.

"Endocrine Disrupting Contaminants: From Gene to Ecosystems"
Environmental contaminants that have the potential for interfering with natural hormones produced by the body. The existence and potential impacts of such contaminants are the focus of this symposium. Organized by Louis J. Guillette, Jr., University of Florida and D. Andrew Crain, University of Mississippi.

For more information on the Annual Meeting, visit the SICB Web site at: www.sicb.org

---

1999 Annual Meeting Final Program and Abstracts

To manage your Annual Meeting registration fees and dues more effectively, you will receive your copy of the American Zoologist 1999 SICB Annual Meeting Final Program and Abstracts (issue number 6) at the meeting. This issue will not be mailed out before the meeting. Members and subscribers not attending the meeting will receive a copy of the American Zoologist Abstract issue in the mail in January.

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
1313 Dolley Madison Blvd Suite 402
McLean VA 22101
Phone: 703-790-1745 or 800-955-1236
FAX: 703-790-2672
E-mail: SICB@BurkInc.com