SICB Resources


SICB Resolutions and Positions
Positions adopted by the Society.- AIBS Letter to Trump Transition Team On Making Scientific Research and Education a Priority (signed by SICB and 58 scientific organizations) (December 22, 2016) PDF
- SICB Letter to the Supreme Court on Diversity in Science (December 21, 2015) PDF
- SICB Letter to President Obama regarding global climate change (February 6, 2013) PDF.
- SICB Resolution on Financial Refocusing at the Field Museum of Natural History (approved January 6, 2013)
- SICB Resolution on Climate Change and Ocean Acidification (approved March 1, 2012)
- SICB Response to NSF report "Under the Microscope" (June 8, 2011) PDF
- Letter regarding sponsorship of the National Endowment for the Oceans Act (June 21, 2011) PDF
- SICB Response to NSF regarding discontinuation of the "Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fellows in K-12 Education" Program (March 14, 2011) PDF
- Evolution and Climate Change (adopted Jan 2008)
- Endangered Species (adopted Spring 1996)
SICB Resolution on Financial Refocusing at the Field Museum of Natural History
Whereas - The Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, IL), one of the world's great natural history museums, houses synoptic collections that are of fundamental importance to the international scientific community.
Whereas - The research and educational programs carried out by curators and research staff at the museum are of world-class quality.
Whereas -The curatorial and research staff as well as the quality and care of the biodiversity collections are threatened by announced intentions to greatly reduce funding for the scientific program of the Museum.
Therefore - Be it resolved that because the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology values the Field Museum of Natural History as a center of research excellence and scholarship in integrative biology, and as a significant and important resource for the scientific community and the public, we expect the Field Museum to continue its long-held commitment to support core collections-based research programs and maintain its high standard of service to the scientific community.
SICB Resolution on Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
Whereas - global climate change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, primarily through the combustion of fossil fuels and the generation of carbon dioxide.
Whereas - carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas that is both warming the planet as it increases in the atmosphere, and causing ocean acidification through its absorption by the world's oceans.
Whereas - the global scientific community has reached a consensus, based on extensive measurements and models, that climate change and ocean acidification have been influenced in large part by human actions.
Whereas - climate change and ocean acidification are causing significant changes in organisms, habitats, biotic communities, and ecosystems and are predicted to cause irreversible negative impacts on living systems by the middle to the end of the 21st century.
Therefore - be it resolved that the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), with a membership comprised of over two thousand three-hundred biologists, takes a public stand in affirming the demonstrated existence of human-induced climate change and ocean acidification, as well as the urgent societal need to address its biological consequences, to improve humankind's adaptive capacity, and to mitigate both causes and effects.
Prepared by Jim McClintock, PhD
Chair, Division of Invertebrate Zoology
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Revised by Kenneth P. Sebens, PhD, SICB President
and SICB Executive Committee
Resolution on Evolution and Climate Change
Recognizing that science is under attack in the U.S. as evidenced by the wide-spread disregard for the scientific process and the suppression and distortion of scientific data across a broad spectrum of areas in which we, as biologists, have special expertise, be it resolved that the SICB take a public stand in support of scientific truth, especially:
(Approved 5 Jan 2008)
- in support of the teaching of evolution as a scientific fact, and under the name of "evolution;"
- in support of efforts to publicize broadly the impacts of the suppression of scientific evidence on societal concerns such as global climate change, environmental conservation and stem-cell research; and
- to authorize the SICB Executive Committee to issue press releases and editorials, initiate and publish statements, and sign collective statements consistent with (1) and (2) above.
(Approved 5 Jan 2008)
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Resolution on Endangered Species
The
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (formerly the American Society
of Zoologists) has a membership of 2,200 professional biologists within the
United States and other countries. Our expertise ranges from cell biology to
ecology in academic, government, and business settings. In its 106 year
history the Society has counted among its members many eminent scientists and
is a vital force in organismal biology.
To
maintain life on the planet, it is essential that governing bodies recognize
the importance of natural ecosystems and act responsibly toward the diverse
array of organisms to limit human-caused extinction. Both non-domesticated
organisms and their natural habitats have combined aesthetic, cultural and
scientific value that is broadly recognized by the majority of society. As the
presence of humans and the products of human lifestyles impact the land and
oceans, we can and should act to contain and reduce these effects. Laws
regarding these conservation objectives (such as the Endangered Species Act,
Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act) are currently subject to change and
dilution due to pressure from select groups that are fundamentally focused on
immediate economic goals, rather than on long-term economic and ecological
sustainability and social needs. Our position as an international Society
concerned for the welfare of the Earth's life is that a) containment
legislation should grow in strength to counteract the unsustainable rates of
consumption of limited and non-renewable world resources and b) we must reduce
the rates of production and consumption by technologically advanced nations,
such as the United States. Underlying this position is the inarguable need to
control the world's human population growth.
In
recognition of these conditions, and in a non-partisan fashion, the Society for
Integrative and Comparative Biology has this list of resolutions, directed at
the United States:
1) We
support the reauthorization and strengthening of the Endangered Species Act, to
protect non-human species and their habitat. This is provided that the
opportunity to modify the Act is not subverted in order to weaken it. We
endorse efforts to enhance (not replace) the ESA with habitat conservation
plans that result in an
increase
in viable habitat and the populations of threatened and endangered species
contained within. We do not support such plans when they benefit developers at
the expense of habitat needs (as is the case with wetlands development).
2) We
support reestablishment of endangered species (
e.g.,
the gray wolf) into their formerly-occupied habitat, with the
full
protection of the current version of the ESA
,
and not as "experimental, non-essential" populations. Given the disruptive
effects to terrestrial ecosystems, we oppose the lethal control measures taken
by the federal and state governments in the lower 48 against various native
predators (
e.g.,
coyotes, bobcats, black bears, cougars) and in Alaska against wolves and bears
through "predator-control" programs and liberal hunting and trapping regulations.
3) We
fully support the provisions of the Convention for International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) and recommend enforcement of the treaty, including
economic sanctions, due to heavy trade in parts from organisms currently
threatened with extinction, such as the tiger. We support the efforts of the
U.S. government to halt commercial whaling and recommend increased diplomatic
pressure and the application of economic sanctions in the face of violations of
international agreements by specific countries, such as Japan (with its
misnamed "scientific-whaling" program) and Norway.
4) We
strongly recommend the designation of all remaining "wildlands" (areas with few
or no roads) in the public domain in the United States as
Wilderness
,
with the added provision that these lands should be unavailable for livestock
grazing. These areas have been identified by governmental agencies, but are
still available for logging, mining, and grazing.
5) We
regard methods of extraction of primary resources and power generation that
damage the ecosystems involved and reduce their continued productivity as
biological travesties. This includes, but is not limited to, clearcutting
old-growth and mature forests for timber and wood pulp, construction of dams,
and large-scale trawling for benthic fish and shellfish on the sea bed (an
activity which results in extensive bottom destruction). We urge that there be
no more logging of mature forests on public lands and an immediate end to the
incorrectly termed "salvage logging" program enacted through a Congressional
rider (#318). Means of supporting human productivity must simultaneously
sustain humans and protect the integrity of the ecosystems impacted, to ensure
our survival as a species.
6) We
urgently recommend an immediate decrease in the rate of damage to the Earth's
atmosphere due to production of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals.
These gases are considered by most scientists to be responsible for global
warming and increases in ultraviolet radiation exposure in polar and temperate
regions, leading to possible disruption of latitudinal thermal regimes and
weather patterns by warming and increased risk of UV-induced mutagenesis for
exposed organisms (including humans). The U.S. must support existing and
future international conventions for reductions in these gases and chemicals
and stop avoiding them and providing exceptions to larger corporations.
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