Message from DNNSB Leadership
Megan Gall, Chair, (chair.dnnsb@sicb.org); Jamie Theobald, Program Officer (dpo.dnnsb@sicb.org); Jessica Fox, Secretary (secretary.dnnsb@sicb.org); Loranzie Rogers, Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Representative (loranzierogers@fas.harvard.edu), Daniel Speiser, Secretary-Elect (dispeiser@gmail.com); Rachelle Belanger, Program Officer-Elect beginning in 2025 (belangra@udmercy.edu)
Greetings from the DNNSB Leadership! We are looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming SICB meeting. If you will be attending the meeting, please join us at the Members Meeting, Divisional Social, and Best Student Presentations in Atlanta!
Election Results
This year, divisional members elected Rachelle Belanger (University of Detroit Mercy) as our next Program Officer. Rachelle will begin a term as Program Officer-Elect in the spring of 2025 and will become Program Officer in the spring of 2026, when Jamie Theobald ends his term. Congratulations Rachelle!
Upcoming Elections
After the Atlanta meeting, in spring of 2025, we will be electing our first Chair-Elect. This Chair-Elect position will begin in the spring of 2026. The Chair-Elect will then take over as Chair in Spring of 2027, when our current Chair, Megan Gall, will end her term. A committee will be soliciting nominations for this position. Please consider serving if you are contacted by the committee. We also encourage you to reach out to any of the current DNNSB executive officers by email or chat with us in Atlanta at our Members Meeting if you are interested in serving.
Call for Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Representative
Our current Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Representative, Loranzie Rogers, will be ending his term after the Atlanta meeting. Thank you for your service to our division and to SICB, Loranzie! We are seeking interested students or postdocs to represent DNNSB on the Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee and serve on our divisional Executive Committee. The term of service is three years and will begin in the Spring of 2025. If you are interested in serving, or would like to recommend a student or postdoc, please contact the DNNSB chair at chair.dnnsb@sicb.org.
Call for Volunteer Judges for Best Student Presentation
We have a fantastic slate of both talk and poster presentations in our annual DNNSB Best Student Presentation competitions. As always, we are looking for your support in judging these presentations. For those that have already volunteered to judge presentations during registration, thank you! You will hear from us as we approach the meeting. For others, you can declare your interest when you register for the conference or by contacting DNNSB leadership. We thank you in advance for your help!
2025 SICB Meeting
The SICB Program Committee met in early October to prepare the meeting schedule for Atlanta 2025. DNNSB was represented by our Program Officer, Jamie Theobald.
DNNSB sessions and Best Student Presentations
This year DNNSB, in conjunction with DAB, has organized 127 posters and 159 oral presentations. The DNNSB talks are arranged in to 12 sessions
We received 32 applicants for best student talks and 41 applicants for best student poster presentations. Eight talks were selected for the DNNSB BSP talk session to take place on Wednesday, January 5, from 8:00-10:00 am in A601. These presentations are the best of the conference, so we encourage you to attend and check them out. ALL of the posters are in contention (as we voted last year not to limit poster competitors), which means we will need judges! Postdocs are eligible to judge, and we strongly encourage you to help.
Congratulations to the following students for their selection into the BSP talk session:
- Parker Hughes
- Carlie Anderson
- Denise Yamhure R
- Alexzander Martin Cook
- Raveena Chhibber
- Haneal Pae
- Vanessa M. Moreno
- Russell Husted Ward
Symposia for 2025
DNNSB is cosponsoring three symposia at the 2025 meeting including “Cities as a natural experiment: how organisms are finding different solutions to the same urban problems”, “Pollinator-plant interactions in a changing landscape”, and “Cnidarian Sensory Systems”. DNNSB is also cosponsoring “Sensory biology and behavioral endocrinology of fishes: a special session honoring the work of Karen Maruska”. We hope to see you there!
Symposia for 2026 (and 2027)
For SICB 2026, we are very excited about the lineup of DNNSB-related symposia! Symposia related to neurobiology, sensory biology, and behavior are always well-received and nearly always make the cut. If you have an idea for a symposium, please submit a proposal. Moreover, please contact any of the DNNSB executive officers if you want feedback about your ideas.
For Students and Post-Docs
SPDAC is hosting a few events and programs during the SICB 2025 meeting in Atlanta.
Non-academic jobs workshop: Interested in jobs outside of academia? SPDAC will be hosting a panel of scientists who have pursued careers in the government and private sectors on January 6th from 12:15 – 1:15 pm. Sign up when you register for the meeting if you are interested. Lunch will be provided for those that sign up!
SPDAC booth: SPDAC will be hosting a booth during the meeting that will be covering a range of broad research approaches that can be incorporated into your research. Check out the booth for new lessons and experts sharing examples!
Social with the social: Whether you are new or returning, join other students and postdocs at the ‘Social with the social,’ following the opening plenary talk. Details for where to find folks will be posted in the meeting program.