The
Division of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology will host the two-day
workshop "Intro to Phylogenetic Comparative Methods in R"
as part of the Phylogenetics for Dummies series. R is a powerful,
free(!), high-level statistical computing language with a number of
well-developed packages that focus on tree manipulation and
comparative analysis. In R it is easy to:
The
first day of the workshop will be aimed towards users that are
completely new to the language and will cover topics like: R
language essentials, getting your data into R, manipulating trees and
tip data, printing trees and figures, and calculating independent
contrasts. The second session will cover a range of comparative
analyses including: Brownian and OU models of character evolution,
diversification analysis, ancestral reconstruction, and simulation
methods.
Participants
are encouraged to bring their own data sets (in nexus and/or csv
format) as well as a laptop computer. If you are interested in
attending please email M. Alfaro so that we can better gauge the
interests and experience levels of the attendees.
Aloha! Looking forward to seeing
everybody in Boston! I will wear my snuggies and look forward to
good seafood. The big news at this point is to report on the results
of officer elections this past spring. We had candidates running for
chair-elect and secretary-elect, and 102 votes were cast. Our new
chair-elect is Patrick O'Connor, Asst Professor of Anatomical
Sciences at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Our new secretary-elect
is Todd Oakley, Asst Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Marine
Biology at UC Santa Barbara. Please join me in extending a welcome
to our new officers!
The next piece of business to attend to
is some proposed by-laws changes. Lou Burnett, society secretary, has
taken on the Herculean task of going through all of the divisional
by-laws and has recommended changes that each division makes to bring
all the societal by-laws into agreement. In addition, we had one
proposed change from the meeting in San Antonio. These proposed
changes will appear again in the spring newsletter and voting will
take place later in the spring.
Proposed
Change to DSEB By-Laws:
The proposed changes
are shown below.
Additions are shown in
bold underline.
Deletions are indicated
with a strikethrough.
Questions
or comments about these changes can be addressed at the DSEB business
meeting in Boston. The proposed changes will appear again in the
spring newsletter and voting will occur later in the spring.
1. Division Chair
Term:
Article III. Section
1
The Chair-Elect shall
be elected before one annual meeting and serve for a term of one
year, and shall then successively and automatically become Chair for
a term of two three years and then
successively and automatically become Past Chair for two years."
Rationale: A proposal
was made at the last meeting to adjust the term length of the
Division Chair, to be consistent with lengths of terms of our other
officers and officers in other divisions.
2. Changes suggested to
fix inconsistencies between society and division:
a. Membership
Article II. Section
1
Any member of the Society for
Integrative and Comparative Biology may become a member of the
Division of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology by registering with
the SICB business office the Secretary of the
Division or the Executive Director of the Society, without payment of
additional dues.
Rationale; Membership
is actually much simpler than our bylaws suggest.
b. Student/
Postdoctoral Affairs Officer
Article III. Section
1
"The officers of the Division shall
be a Chair, Past Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Secretary-Elect,
Program Officer, and Program Officer-Elect, and
Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Officer. The Chair-Elect shall
be elected before one annual meeting and serve for a term of one
year, and shall then successively and automatically become Chair for
a term of two years and then successively and automatically become
Past Chair for two years. The Secretary-Elect shall be elected
triennially, and shall hold office for a term of one year, and then
successively and automatically become Secretary for three years. The
Program Officer-Elect shall be elected to serve for one year and
shall then successively and automatically become Program Officer for
three years. The Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Officer shall
be elected by the Student and Postdoctoral members of the division,
and serve for two years. Candidates must be Student or Postdoctoral
members of the division at the time of election, and may not be
re-elected. The Chair may be re-elected to serve another
term following the two-year term as Past Chair; the Secretary and
Program Officer may be re-elected to successive terms."
New Section 2 (renumber all
following sections). Student/ Postdoctoral Affairs Representative
The Division Chair shall appoint
a Student/ Postdoctoral Affairs Representative for a term concurrent
with the Division Chair. The Student/ Postdoctoral Affairs
Representative will contribute to the biannual Division newsletter
and represent DSEB at the graduate student/postdoc lunch at the
annual Society meeting. The Student/ Postdoctoral Affairs
Representative will serve on the Division Executive Committee as a
non-voting member.
Article IV. Section
7
Section 7. Student/Postdoctoral Affairs
Officer Representative
The Student/Postdoctoral Affairs
Officer Representative shall represent
Student and Postdoctoral members of the division on the divisional
Executive Committee, and on behalf of the division society-wide.
Rationale: Our bylaws
are in conflict with the society bylaws in that we have an elected
Student/ Postdoctoral Affairs Officer; under society rules, students
and postdocs may not run for SICB offices. The suggested changes to
fix this involve giving the person a slightly different title, and
appointing them rather than electing them.
c. Officer term
beginning
Article III. Section
2
"All officers and
appointed representatives shall assume the duties of their office at
adjournment of the next annual Society business meeting
at the end of the second SICB Executive Committee meeting at the
Annual Meeting in the year the term is to begin, and will end at the
adjournment of the second SICB Executive Committee meeting at the
Annual Meeting in the year the term is to expire.
Rationale: We have
officers assuming duties after the SICB business meeting; however
this isn't supposed to happen until after the second SICB Executive
Committee meeting.
d. Executive
Committee
Article III. Section
6
In intervals between meetings,
The management of the Division shall be vested in an
Executive Committee consisting of the officers of the Division."
Rationale: Management occurs between
and during meetings.
Link to officer list on DSEB page