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Message from DAB Leadership
Avery Russell, Chair (chair.dab@sicb.org); Stephanie Campos, Program Officer (dpo.dab@sicb.org); Caitlin Gabor, Secretary (secretary.dab@sicb.org); Grace Junyue Zhong, Student-Postdoc Representative (gracez@stanford.edu)
A huge thank you to all of the presenters, attendees, and volunteers who participated in SICB 2024 in Seattle! This was our largest meeting to date. It’s evident that people are rebounding from COVID fatigue and eager to engage in person again.
First, we want to acknowledge the numerous individuals who interacted with DAB at SICB 2024
- Student Mentoring Program participants, both students and mentors
- Best Student Presentation competition presenters, attendees, and judges
- DAB Members Meeting attendees
We welcome Grace Zhong the new DAB SPDAC (Student/Postdoctoral Affairs Committee) representative. Don’t hesitate to reach out to her at gracez@standford.edu. We value your involvement in DAB and extend an invitation to all DAB members to take part in upcoming initiatives! If you’re interested in exploring other ways to engage with SICB/DAB, please reach out to a member of the DAB Executive Committee. Moreover, if you have ideas for enhancing DAB, please share them with us.
Best Student Presentation Competitions
Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2024 Marlene Zuk and Elizabeth Adkins-Regan competitions, including students, judges, and attendees. This year’s competitions showcased exceptional student work and a strong level of involvement throughout DAB. Eight finalists, out of 20 entrants, participated in the Zuk Award special session. Thirty-three students competed in the Adkins-Regan Award for Best student Poster Presentation sessions. We are proud of the caliber of student research showcased in the DAB Best Student Presentation competitions, as well as in the dedication of the judges and other DAB members to fostering student growth and development.
The Marlene Zuk Award for best oral presentation was awarded to Maria Salazar Nicholls for her talk entitled “Neural control of hatching enzyme release enables rapid escape-hatching in red-eyed treefrogs.” Maria is an Ecuadorian PhD student in the Warkentin Lab at Boston University. My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that underlie adaptive behaviors in early life stages. Specifically, I focus on red-eyed treefrogs and their rapid escape-hatching behavior. I use a multi-faceted approach to elucidate the mechanisms that enable these embryos to achieve rapid escape hatching, from sensory systems to the regulation of their hatching process.
The Zuk Award session showcased an impressive array of high-quality DAB student research. The other Zuk Finalists were Cory Berger “High-resolution tracking of zooplankton reveals metabolic control of diel vertical migration”; William Kirkpatrick “Parental care shapes offspring growth and is influenced by environmental temperature in two passerines”; Tessa Patton “Brain transcriptomics vary with sex and breeding stage in a socially polyandrous shorebird”; Madison Schumm “Effects of temperature acclimation on metabolism and behaviour in sheepshead minnows”; Kate Otter “Distinct phases of nudibranch predatory behavior are differentially affected by hunger and prey cue”; Miya Ball “Hunger effects on the signaling and cleaning behaviors of the cleaner shrimp”; Moth Castagna “Take it or Leaf it: Can Bees Learn to Use Leaf Shape to Find Flower Rewards?”. Congratulations to all the finalists on their outstanding achievement and for putting themselves out there!
Isabella Strohmeier received the Elizabeth Adkins-Regan Award for her poster “Maternal defense strategies: investigating female aggression in dyeing poison frogs.” Isabella is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign advised by Dr. Eva Fischer and postdoctoral fellow Sarah Westrick. She uses dyeing poison frogs (Dendrobates tinctorius) to understand how maternal aggression is modulated by offspring and mate involvement, as well as how testosterone drives female aggression. In her SICB poster, Isabella found that female poison frog aggression is dependent on their breeding status but is not directly related to testosterone levels.
Congratulations to the awardees and finalists. We are especially thankful to the 45 judges and for their invaluable contributions in evaluating and providing feedback for both the student talks and poster presentations!
DAB Mentoring Program
The DAB Mentoring Program, led once again by Dr. Rindy Anderson, saw the participation of twenty-seven mentors and 38 mentees this year. Rindy coordinated a small reimbursement for the meetup. The next goal is to enhance the Mentoring collaboration alongside the SICB Broadening Participation Program registration. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Rindy and the volunteer mentors for making this year’s program a success! We encourage you to consider participating next year or to reach out if you’d like to help with organization efforts.
Please Submit Proposals for SICB Symposia
Every year at SICB, symposia generate significant pre-conference excitement and draw large crowds at the conference itself. Please consider submitting a symposium proposal for SICB 2025 in Atlanta! Organizing a symposium is an excellent way to showcase current research in your field, introduce young investigators to the SICB community, contribute to the amplification of diverse voices, and share inclusive and innovative work from your divisions. Proposals for symposia for SICB 2025 in Atlanta will be due in August. SICB wants to see integration among divisions and across career stages including tenure track faculty as well as postdocs and even graduate students, and types of institutions. If you are considering submitting a proposal but don’t know where to start, we have the perfect resource for you! Check out the Symposium Organizer Playbook, a very thorough guide to proposing and organizing a SICB symposium,complete with a suggested timeline!
DAB is interested in supporting symposia that highlight animal behavior in diverse animal systems and in co-sponsoring symposia that integrate animal behavior with complementary fields of research. Symposia that address diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are highly encouraged. Benefits include increasing the profile of a research topic and publication of symposium papers in Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB). If you have an idea for a symposium topic or questions about organizing a symposium, please reach out to DAB’s program officer, Fernanda Duque DPO.DAB@sicb.org , who can help you navigate the symposium proposal process.
Please Vote in the Upcoming SICB Election
DAB is electing a new Divisional Chair this year, and all DAB members, including students, are encouraged to vote! In addition, all SICB members are eligible and encouraged to vote for Society-wide positions. More information about the DAB Chair candidates is below; the SICB-wide newsletter contains candidate biographies for Society-wide positions. The ballot can be accessed HERE.
Many thanks to the DAB Nominating Committee, composed of Dr. Dara Orbach, Dr. Jake Lasala, and Dr. Kelly Kissane, for their work lining up candidates. If you are interested in running for DAB office or serving on a future nominating committee, please reach out to a member of the current DAB Nominating Committee or the current DAB Executive Committee. We encourage all DAB members to consider how to get involved!
Follow DAB on Social Media
Please follow @SICB_DAB on Twitter and join the SICB Division of Animal Behavior group on Facebook. Our Twitter team, made up of Brett Hodinka (@BrettHodinka), Lisa Surber-Cunningham (@LisaLSurber), and Mena Davidson (@mena_davidson), is working hard to boost our social media presence and bring SICB DAB content to your feed. Thank you to outgoing social media team member, Dr. Sarah Manka-Worthington and Lisa Surber-Cunningham who has joined our team.
ABS 2024
The 2023 Animal Behavior Society (ABS) annual meeting will be June 26-29 in London, Ontario Canda. ABS is DAB’s sibling organization, and SICB DAB is often well-represented there!
Proposed DAB Bylaws Amendments
At the 2024 DAB Members’ Meeting in Seattle, Washington, the Division of Animal Behavior voted to create the office of Chair-Elect, to serve for one-year before assuming the position of Chair. In keeping with this vote, the DAB Executive Committee has proposed the following bylaws change. This proposed amendment will be on the Spring 2024 ballot and can be viewed here. The ballot can be found here, and it will be open until June 20, 2024.
Article III. Administrative Organization
Section 1. Officers. The officers of the Division shall be a Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, and Program Officer and shall comprise a Divisional Executive Committee. The term of office for the Chair, Secretary, and Program Officer shall be elected for a term of three years. The term of office for Chair-Elect shall be for one year, after which the Chair-Elect shall automatically assume the position of Chair. The Chair shall not be eligible to servefor election in consecutive terms. The Secretary and Program Officer shall be eligible for re-election. Elections for Chair-Elect, Program Officer, and Secretaryeach of these three offices shall occur individually and in consecutive years. In the circumstance where an elected officer is unable to complete their term of office, the following provisions are made: If the office of Secretary, or Program Officer, or Chair-Elect is vacated early, the Chair, in consultation with the Divisional Executive Committee, will appoint someone to serve until elections can be held to fill the position. If the office of Divisional Chair is vacant, the Divisional Executive Committee will appoint someone to be the interim Chair until an election is held.
Section 2. Elections. Election of officers shall be held by appropriately secure electronic ballots. The names of candidates for offices shall be published in advance of the election, and a brief biography of each candidate shall be made available on the ballot. The term of office of all elected officers and appointed representatives shall begin four weeks after the second SICB Executive Committee meeting at the Annual Meeting in the year the term is to begin and will end four weeks after the second SICB Executive Committee meeting at the Annual Meeting in the year the term is to expire.
Section 3. Nominations. Nominations for electionsall offices shall be prepared by a Nominating Committee appointed by the Chair in consultation with the Division Executive Committee. At least two candidates for each office should be named, although one write-in candidate is acceptable, and all candidates must be members in good standing of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Additional nominations for any office may be made in writing to the Executive Committee by any ten members of the Division.
Article IV. Duties of the Officers
Section 1. Chair. The Chair shall preside at the business meeting of the Division, shall be responsible for the program and meetings of the Division, and shall promote in every practical way the interests of the Division. The Chair shall represent the Division on the Executive Committee of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. The Chair shall liaise with the Animal Behavior Society and consult with the Executive of the Animal Behavior Society to promote shared interests.
Section 2. Chair-Elect. The Chair-Elect shall serve for a term of one year and then automatically assume the position of Chair. The Chair-Elect shall attend meetings at which the Chair officially represents the Division whenever possible, in order to prepare for their term of office, and shall assume the duties of the Chair whenever that person is temporarily unable to act.
Section 3. Secretary. The Secretary shall keep the records of the Division, request and prepare materials for SICB Newsletters, and shall perform such other duties as may be necessary and/or assigned. The Secretary shall substitute forassume the duties of the Chair in the event that both the Chair and the Chair-Elect are absent or unable to act.
Section 4. Program Officer. The Program Officer shall solicit and arrange programs for meetings of the Division and shall coordinate special programs with the Program Officer of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and of the Animal Behavior Society. The Program Officer shall substitute for the Chair in the event that both the Chair, Chair-Elect, and Secretary are unable to act.
Candidates for DAB Chair
The ballot can be found here, and it will be open until June 20, 2024.
Name: Suzy Renn
Current position: Roger Permutter Professor of Biology, Reed College Biology Department & Temporary Program Director for the Behavioral Systems Cluster in the Division of Integrative and Organismal Systems at the National Science Foundation
Education: B.S. Zoology University of Washington 1992; Ph.D. Neuroscience Washington University School of Medicine 1999
Professional Experience: I worked as a postdoc studying EvoDevo echinoderm in the lab of Maria Byrne at University of Sydney in Australia. I brought that way of thinking back to behavior to do a second postdoc with Dr. Hans Hoffman at Harvard University where we developed genomic techniques to study the evolution of social behavior using cichlid fish as a model.
SICB Activities: Active member since ~2003
Other Memberships: I’ve been an active member of the Animal Behavior Society, serving as Member at Large while we developed the JEDI award and added a diversity statement to student grants.
Research Interests: I study the evolution of social behavior using cichlid fish as a model
Goals Statement: Though I’ve been an active member of SICB since about 2003 organizing 2 symposia and presenting my own work on multiple occasions, it is really the greater than 80 undergraduate students I have mentored through the annual meetings that have really solidified my relationship with the society. As chair of DAB, I aim to support researchers across career stages in both their research and education efforts creating venues to champion the achievements of all members. Through my time at NSF I’ve come to appreciate the amazing breadth, creativity and impact of the outreach efforts of our community. I’d like to find ways to celebrate these efforts and foster new collaborations in all areas. I’d like to build networks to partner well-resourced research labs with the many faculty at PUIs, MSIs and emerging institutions that may have less access to resources, techniques and approaches and also find ways to connect our students with appropriate research opportunities. I look forward to acting as chair for the SICB division that has been so welcoming to me and all of my students.
Name: Jordanna Sprayberry
Current Position: Professor of Biology and Neuroscience, Chair of Neuroscience, Muhlenberg College
Education: B.S. Zoology University of Rhode Island, 1998; Ph.D. Biology University of Washington, 2005
Professional Experience: Assistant through Full Professor, Muhlenberg College (2008-now), PERT Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona (2006-2008)
SICB Activities: Member since 2001; co-organizing symposium “Pollinator-plant interactions in a changing landscape: embracing integrative approaches across scales” for SICB 2025; 2024 TAL-X Workshop facilitator “What is scaffolding and how does it improve student outcomes?”,; DAB Secretary 2009-1012; ad hoc BSP judge 2006+; BSP talk winner for DNB (2005); BSP talk winner for DAB (2004)
Other Memberships: (intermittent) International Society of Neuroethology, International Society of Chemical Ecology
Research Interests: I study the neuroethology of pollination. My current research is predominantly focused on bumblebees with studies ranging from the impact of behavioral state on color and odor integration to how odor pollution modulates foraging behavior, but I am equal opportunity pollinator lover.
Goals Statement: I have been a regular SICB attendee since early in my graduate studies, and have made the society my primary meeting since starting at a PUI in 2008. I am honored to have been nominated for chair, and happy to serve the society. Aside from the administrative components of the job, I see the chair as having two main responsibilities: 1) serving as a conduit between the DAB membership and SICB’s executive committee to ensure that DAB has a voice in society-wide business; and 2) locating, prioritizing, and helping to execute DAB community goals. I habitually center community in my leadership roles and would approach this position similarly.