Message from the DEE Leadership
Christian Cox, Chair (chair.dee@sicb.org); Kristi Montooth, Program Officer (dpo.dee@sicb.org); Ariel Kahrl Secretary (secretary.dee@sicb.org); Morgan Muell as SPDAC representative.
Message from the Chair
Hello again from your DEE Chair! DEE Leadership has been busy for the past few weeks planning and organizing DEE-based activities for the 2026 SICB meeting in Portland, Oregon. There are many exciting symposia, contributed talks and posters, and social activities that should make this an excellent meeting.
We want to congratulate our new Chair-Elect, Sarah Diamond (Case Western Reserve University), as well as our new Secretary-Elect, Alex Gunderson (Tulane University), and are looking forward to them joining our leadership team next year!
I also want to thank Charles M. Watson (Texas A and M University San Antonio) and Dara Orbach (Texas A and M University Corpus Christi) for accepting their nominations and participating in the election of DEE leadership. A big thanks is also due to all of you that voted in the DEE elections!
There will be many DEE-sponsored events at the SICB annual meeting in January. We have an exciting set of finalists for both talks and posters for SICB 2026 as part of the Huey Best Student Presentation competition. You should consider attending one of our several DEE-sponsored symposia, as well as the Best Student Presentation talks and posters. We also hope you will participate in our student and postdoc mentoring event, Meeting of the Minds, as well as our divisional social. Finally, I hope that many of you can attend our DEE Members meeting. This meeting is a great opportunity for DEE leadership to hear from our membership, and I would encourage everyone to attend, whether this is one of your first meetings or you are a DEE regular.
I hope to see everyone in Portland in January!
What to expect at SICB 2026
A word from our program officer
Ecology & Evolution will be well represented at SICB 2026 with over 366 presentations (25 in complementary sessions, 203 talks, and 138 posters) and multiple symposia that will be of interest to our membership. Important events for you to engage with DEE during the meeting include:
Jan 4 Huey Finalist Talks will be from 1:30-3:30 (C123) followed by Huey Finalist Poster Presentations from 3:30-5:30 in the Exhibit Hall
Jan 4 DEE member meeting 5:45-6:45 (Oregon Ballroom 201)
Jan 5 Coffee break social with DEE, DCPB, DAB and DOB 9:30-10:30 am in A105
Jan 6 Meeting of the Minds from 4-6 PM
Remember to start dreaming up those 2028 symposium proposals and if you get inspired during the 2026 meeting, please send me an email at dpo.dee@sicb.org and we can meet up to discuss your idea!
We will once again be offering our popular Meeting of the Minds mentoring event for this year! We hope to again provide slots for up to 100 mentees and 25 mentors. Different from previous years, we will primarily be collecting names of both mentor and mentee participants during registration – be sure to register by the end of Early Bird registration (Dec 1) and indicate you wish to be included for the DEE mentoring event!
New this year: if you’re unable to get a slot for Meeting of the Minds, or simply prefer a smaller-scale mentoring experience, this year DEE will also be matching mentees with mentors to meet up individually at our Breakfast Social. Our goal is to provide mentorship opportunities to all members of DEE. Look out for a survey sent to all members in December if you are interested in this mentoring experience.
From DEE SPDAC representative
Morgan Muell
Interested in getting a job outside of academia? Back by popular demand, the SICB Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee (SPDAC) is preparing a workshop for SICB 2026 about pursuing non-academic jobs. We will host a panel of 4 speakers from areas including government, industry, and the non-profit sector. Date and Time TBD. Contact DEE SPDAC representative Morgan Muell (mrm0161@auburn.edu) with any questions!
Look out for an email about the SPDAC sticker contest! SPDAC will vote on the best sticker design to print and distribute at SICB 2026. No AI designs allowed. Designs will be due around the end of October.
Interested in the opportunity to serve the division? DEE is looking for a new SPDAC representative starting after the 2026 meeting. The position is a 3-year term and primarily involves organizing Meeting of the Minds, as well as assisting with SPDAC general affairs. If you would like to be considered for the position, please email DEE Chair Christian Cox (chair.dee@sicb.org) with a short statement (~2-3 sentences) on why you would like to serve the division. Contact Morgan Muell with any questions about the position!