Dear Member of the DEDB,
In this letter I wish to focus on a single issue, which affects the life of the Division and I therefore want your full attention drawn to it. At the last meeting of SICB the issue came up that some divisions have a problem attracting the participation of their members to sustain normal operations and societal functions. Fortunately this does not apply to our division, thanks to the dedication of you and your colleagues. One of these divisions is the Division of Developmental and Cell Biology. In Toronto the chair of that division, Patricia Glas, and I discussed how to help the DDCB live through this bottleneck of member participation. We came up with the idea that our divisions could associate and perform some of their functions together. The intention is to be able to maintain a formal presence of Cell Biology in SICB. At the same time this will streamline processes and functions such that DDCB is not paralyzed by the lack of officers to perform these functions. Over the summer Pat and I drafted a Memorandum of Understanding that describes the details of the agreement between our divisions. This memorandum was then vetted by the President of the Society, John Wingfield, and the executive committee and is now posted on the divisional website:
http://www.sicb.org/divisions/dedb.php3
Please consult this website for details and bring up any objections you may have against this move by sending an email to me (
gunter.wagner@yale.edu) or our secretary, Frietson Galis (
galis@rulsfb.leidenuniv.nl). Pat and I will bring this document, and your reactions to the next business meeting of our division and ask for a vote. In order to be prepared for this vote, please read this document and send your reactions before we come to New Orleans. At the meeting I will only consider comments that were submitted by December 15th 2003.
Thank you for your continuing enthusiasm for the division. I am looking forward seeing you at our next meeting.
¡Que tal! I hope that the year has been good to you. I have
exciting news regarding the scientific program of the 2004 Society of
Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting scheduled
for the 5
th though the 9
th of January in New
Orleans as well as for the 2005 annual meeting in San Diego.
The divisional
program officers, SICB Program Officer, past, SICB Program Officer
elect, and Meeting Director and Assistant Director (Burk Associates)
converged at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel September 27th
and 28th to finalize a comprehensive scientific program
for the SICB 2004 New Orleans meeting and the SICB 2005 San Diego
meeting.
2004 SICB Annual Meeting:
http://www.sicb.org/meetings/2004
This year SICB members submitted 1115
abstracts, almost 400 more than last year. The 2004 scientific
program looks outstanding, thanks to all who submitted abstracts.
Your efforts are critical to the survival of the division and the
society. Below is a listing of the topics, divisional sponsors,
and number of abstracts submitted.
A. Development: DCDB and DEDB; 80
abstracts
B. Ecology and Behavior: DAB and DEE; 120 abstracts
C.
Environmental Biology: DCE, DEE, DSEB and DCPB; 69 abstracts
D.
Evolution: DSEB, DEDB, DVM, DEE; 166 abstracts
E. Integrative and
Comparative Issues: DIZ and DNB; 21 abstracts
F. Morphology: DVM
and DIZ; 200 abstracts
G. Physiology and Behavior: DCPB; 167
abstracts
H. Regulatory Biology: DCE, DCPB, DNB; 106
abstracts
I. Mini-symposia: 14 abstracts
J. Symposia: 172 abstracts
The DEDB's broad program
representation in New Orleans promises an exciting and productive
meeting. DEDB, DCDB and DVM, and DEE will have joint oral and poster
sessions.
I particularly encourage you to stay
for the Evolutionary Innovations symposium organized by
Gerd B. Müller and Stuart A. Newman. "This
symposium will provide insight into organismal formative processes
that extend beyond the genetic level, physical/material properties,
architectural constraints, and the dynamical properties of
reaction-diffusion systems embodied in genetic and developmental
networks. A group of impressive speakers has been assembled to
describe experimental and theoretical analyses that illuminate
scenarios of morphological innovation in a variety of vertebrate and
invertebrate systems."
Gerd and Stuart have funding from the
National Science Foundation to hold this symposium. We need good
attendance for this symposium and support for all DEDB activities.
DEDB is also
co-sponsoring the Model Systems for the Basal Metazoa
symposium organized by Neil Blackstone, Hans Bode, Cliff Cunningham,
and Rob Steele. "Developing a clearer picture of character
evolution in the metazoans requires both robust phylogenies and
well-documented character states. These issues have attracted
considerable attention recently (e.g., at the following recent SICB
symposia: Evolutionary Relationships of Metazoa phyla [Jan '98],
HOX Clusters and the Evolution of Morphology [Jan '00], The Lesser
Known Protostome Taxa [Jan '01], New Perspectives on the Origin of
Metazoan Complexity [Jan. '02]). Analyses of character evolution
crucially depend on the character states of basal taxa. There is a
strong consensus that the basal metazoans are represented by sponges
(which may be paraphyletic), placozoans, cnidarians, and ctenophores.
Character evolution in metazoans can thus be illuminated by
developing well-studied "model systems" in these basal
groups. At this time, sponges seem deserving of an entirely separate
treatment, in part because they exhibit several primitive features
and in part because their systematics is in a state of flux. Here
the focus will be on the possibly more derived basal
metazoans - placozoans, cnidarians, and ctenophores. By virtue of
their greater diversity and, correspondingly, greater scrutiny
particularly at the molecular level, cnidarians will receive the bulk
of the attention."
Keep checking the
SICB website and DEDB newsletter for updates regarding this symposium
and others that DEDB will co-sponsor. The SICB website should soon
have a link to the DEDB/DCDB webpage that will be up in the near
future.
2005 SICB
Annual Meeting:
http://www.sicb.org/meetings/2005
At the September
2003 meeting we also reviewed and approved the symposium for the 2005
meeting scheduled for January 4-8, 2005 in San Diego.
The DEDB is the primary sponsor for the
following 2005 symposia:
WormNet: Recent Advances in
Annelid Systematics, Development, and Evolution organized by
Kenneth M. Halanych, Ph.D. This symposium will be sponsored by DEDB,
DIZ, and DSEB.
Terminal Addition, Segmentation,
and the Evolution of Metazoan Body Plan Regionalization
organized by Nigel Hughes, Ph.D. and David Jacobs, Ph.D. This
symposium was selected as a society-wide symposium for the 2005 SICB
meeting in San Diego because of the breadth of the topic and the
general interest that we expect it to generate.
Encourage your
graduate students and colleagues to join SICB and the DEDB and keep
sending your original research papers and/or symposia to Evolution
and Development (Blackwell Science, Inc.), Molecular
and Developmental Evolution, or to Journal of the
Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology, journals
sponsored by SICB.
¡Mira!
The 2004 SICB Annual Meeting Hotel
The 2004 SICB
Annual Meeting will be held at the New Orleans Marriott, 555 Canal
Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. Our hotel is
on the edge of the French quarter and fully equipped with audio
visual equipment, lounges, bars, and beverages of your choice. I am
hoping that New Orleans will promote exciting and productive
discussions and collaborations.
I hope to see you
in New Orleans.
¡Saludos de
Puerto Rico!