HomeVolume Spring 2005
View/Download this newsletter in PDF format

Division of Animal Behavior (DAB): 2005 Spring Newsletter






Message from the Chair

Scott MacDougall-Shackleton

Happy spring, and I hope everyone had a great time in San Diego despite the wet weather. I would like to thank the membership for the high level of participation this year at the DAB social/business meeting, and indeed throughout the meeting. I think the combined social and business meeting format worked well and I hope to make it a tradition. In Orlando I will try to make sure we have a room booked for a longer period of time to allow more time to socialize following the business part of the meeting.

Many of us are active in other divisions of the Society, so I appreciate your participation in DAB. Animal Behavior is one of the most integrative of fields in the life sciences, so it is important for it to have a strong home in the SICB. If you are interested in becoming active in the executive committee of the division, or would like to nominate one of your colleagues please do let us know. Besides serving as chair, secretary, or program officer another way to support the division is to propose and organize quality symposia such as 2005's "Mating Systems and Sexual Selection in Hermaphrodites". The deadline for proposals for the 2007 meeting in Phoenix is in August. There are straightforward directions on how to propose a symposium on the SICB web site.

Speaking of the web site, we are seeking ways to improve ours. Feel free to make suggestions and check back in the near future for updates. We have material from several of you for inclusion as "research blurbs" on the DAB website. Contact us if you would be interested in having your own research showcased, or would like to suggest that the research of someone else be showcased, on the website.

Finally, congratulations to our winners of the best student paper awards: Jacqualine Grant for best student oral presentation and Jennifer Lancaster for best student poster.




Message from the Graduate Student/Postdoc Representative

Lawrence C. Spezzano Jr.

Hello to all DAB graduate students and post docs!

I hope everyone is having a productive winter stimulated by the great research presented at our previous meeting in San Diego. At this meeting, DAB members Michelle Beck, Jamie Cornelius, Heidi Fisher, Jennifer Lancaster, Brooke Miller and Angela Rivera received SICB Grants-in-Aid of Research Awards and Mark Laidre received the Fellowship of Graduate Student Travel (FGST) Award. Also, congratulations to Jennifer Lancaster and Jacqualine Grant for winning the Best Student Poster and Best Oral Presentation in 2005, respectively!

As a recent DAB member and representative of SPDAC, I am excited about future research endeavors and involvement "behind the scenes" during planning stages of the 2006 SICB conference in Orlando. SPDAC is feverishly hammering out the details for the upcoming meeting and one item of business was the Welcome and Meeting Orientation. Topics included workshops that advise 1) how to maximize the first meeting experience, 2) how to plan graduate and post-doctoral careers and 3) how to develop strategies for planning the next academic move. We encourage students of all levels to attend these workshops and may have one paneled by post docs to advise "from the trenches". For local flavor, we are scouring Orlando for local musical talent to perform during the Conference Social. Symposia topics are still being discussed, but they promise to be interesting.

Lastly, I look forward to interacting with researchers from this and other divisions of SICB. Many folks who attend summer conferences such as the International Congress in Behavioral Ecology do not know of or attend SICB. Perhaps, they are not aware of the DAB, or the integrative collection of research topics offered by this conference. I encourage each of you to spread the word among your friends and colleagues about the eclectic, student-friendly tone of SICB and invite them to get involved!

SICB also has a generous student support program for the annual meeting (http://www.sicb.org/meetings/2005/studentsupport.php3). Specifically, here are a number of organizations offer grants and fellowships that DAB students may want to consider:
  • SICB Grants in Aid of Research, due Nov. 22nd. http://www.sicb.org/awards.php3#giar

  • SICB Fellowship of Graduate Student Travel, due Nov. 22nd, which provides funds for travel and other expenses at distant research laboratories, museums or field sites. http://www.sicb.org/grants/fgst/index.php3

  • SICB Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship, which provides assistance for students to take courses or to carry on research on invertebrates at a marine, freshwater, or terrestrial field station. Generally due in March. http://sicb.org/grants/hyman/

  • Fall 2005 EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships, which funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines. Closing date Nov. 23rd. http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2004/2005_star_grad_fellow.html

  • Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research Program provides funding for the purchase of specific equipment necessary to undertake the proposed research project and travel to and from a research site. Proposals are due October 15th and March 15th. http://www.sigmaxi.org
I encourage anyone who has any questions or who'd just like to say hello to email me or stop me at the next conference.

See you in Orlando!

Lawrence




Link to officer list on DAB page