Christian Cox, Chair (chair.dee@sicb.org); Sarah Diamond, Chair-Elect (chairelect.dee@sicb.org); Tonia Schwartz, Past Chair; Andrea Rummel, Program Officer (dpo.dee@sicb.org); Ariel Kahrl, Secretary and Alex Gunderson Secretary Elect (secretary.dee@sicb.org); Princeton Vaughn as SPDAC representative.
Hello SICB DEE members!
The upcoming meeting in Pittsburg January 2027 is fast approaching! We are so excited to catch up with everyone and see the new and interesting science that everyone has to share.
Message from the Chair
Hello again from your DEE Chair! DEE Leadership has been busy over the summer planning and organizing DEE-based activities for the 2027 SICB meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are many exciting symposia, a new special session, contributed talks and posters, and social activities that should make this an excellent meeting.
Congratulations to our new Program-Officer Elect, Dr. Alisha Shah (Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University). Thanks to all who agreed to be nominated, and those of you that voted in this election. We appreciate your participation in our division.
We have created a new special session for the 2027 SICB meeting called “DEE Spotlight”. The goal of this session is to encourage established scientists to give big-picture talks with conceptual syntheses, conceptual or methodological advances, field and research program overviews, or similar broad-scale perspectives. There is an exciting slate of DEE Spotlight speakers this year, and we hope to see many of you in this session.
There will be many other DEE-sponsored events at the SICB annual meeting in January. We have an amazing set of finalists for both talks and posters for SICB 2027 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 Pittsburgh in January!
Welcome Alisha Shah as our new Program-Officer elect!
Thanks to all of you who voted in our spring election! Here’s a short bio about our new program officer-elect:
My research interests fall at the intersection of physiology, community ecology, evolution, and climate change. Aquatic insects have fascinated me ever since I started working with them in graduate school. Understanding what factors shape their physiological traits and predicting how they will respond to rapidly changing temperature and oxygen in their habitats is a main goal of my research. In doing this work, my lab and I not only test hypotheses, run experiments, advance theory, and ‘play’ in rivers and ponds (!), but we also enjoy creating an inclusive and collaborative research community, while sharing a passion for the conservation of organisms we work with.
As Program Officer-Elect, I am eager to contribute to the planning and coordination of DEE programming, supporting a smooth programming process, and supporting community-building events such as the divisional social and Meeting of the Minds—opportunities that were formative in my own experience. I am committed to maintaining and strengthening the inclusive and supportive culture that defines SICB. Ensuring that all members feel welcomed, valued, and able to fully participate is essential to the continued success of our division. I am honored to contribute to DEE in this capacity and support its mission within SICB.
Upcoming DEE Officer Elections
We will hold elections this coming spring 2027 for Chair-elect and for Secretary-elect. Please let us know if you are interested in serving or have questions about these positions.
What to expect at SICB 2027: A word from our program officer
I am just back from the DPO programming meeting in Pittsburgh where we worked to place nearly over 1350 contributed abstracts into over 200 sessions for the 2027 SICB meeting, in addition to 12 exciting symposia and complementary sessions. This year, there are 21 talk and 14 poster sessions in our division, with some exciting cross-divisional sessions that exemplify what our membership does best—integrative and comparative biology! We are also featuring a “DEE Spotlight” session on Jan 5, highlighting big-picture talks from established and longtime DEE members.
DEE will sponsor four symposia at the 2027 meeting:
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- Jan 4 S2: Using evolution and development to predict phenotypic response to climate change
- Jan 5 S4: Building the bridge between extinct and extant biology
- Jan 6 S7: Feedback between host phenotypes and the microbiome: Physiological mechanisms and behavioral outcomes
- Jan 7 S10: Integrating polyploidy across levels of biological organization and organismal systems for novel insights
Remember to start dreaming up those 2029 symposium proposals and if you get inspired during the 2027 meeting, please send me an email at dpo.dee@sicb.org and we can meet up to discuss your idea!
Meeting of the Minds
We are pleased to announce that our flagship mentoring event, Meeting of the Minds (formally known as Beers and Brains), will be held once again at this year’s meeting! If you’re looking for a way to participate in informal and friendly chats with mentors and mentees about science and science careers over good food and drink, please consider signing up.
**Sign-Up Is Different This Year**
Interested in Meeting of the Minds? Be sure to select DEE as your primary division of interest when completing the SICB Divisional Mentoring sign-up during registration.
You must register by early bird registration (December 2nd) to participate in Meeting of the Minds. Be on the lookout for an email in early December asking about your preferences and interests so we can place you in the proper group. Don’t miss your chance to take part in DEE’s flagship mentoring event!
Already registered? No worries! Please email our Student-Postdoc Representative, Princeton Vaughn (princetonvaughn@princeton.edu), to be sure you’re added to the list!
Small-group Mentoring
Looking for a more flexible, personalized approach to mentoring? Our small group mentoring option connects you with mentors or mentees who share your interests, offering you freedom to arrange meetings at your own convenience. Small-group mentoring offers a more informal way to build connections, have in-depth conversations, and network on your own schedule. You must register by early bird registration (December 2nd) to participate in small-group mentoring. Be on the lookout for an email in early December to share your mentoring interests and preferences so we can connect you with a small group of mentors or mentees who share your interests.
Already registered? No worries! Please email our Student-Postdoc Representative, Princeton Vaughn (princetonvaughn@princeton.edu), to be sure you’re added to the list!
Please join us at the following DEE events:
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- DEE Dessert Social on the evening of Tuesday Jan 5th (8-10pm), where we will join up with DAB, DPCB, and DNNSB for desserts, small bites, and a cash bar (and, if you don’t know what all the abbreviations stand for, you should come learn at the social!)
- DEE Member Meeting, Sat Jan 4 5:45-6:45 PM
- The Huey Award Best Student Talk session will be Monday Jan 4 from 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM, and
- The Huey Award Best Student Poster session will be on the same day Jan 4 from 3:30 – 5:30 PM
From our SPDAC representative Princeton Vaughn
Are you interested in exploring careers beyond academia? Wondering how you can apply your skills in ecology, evolution, and comparative biology to a diverse group of non-academic jobs? The SICB Student and Postdoctoral Affairs Committee (SPDAC) is preparing a workshop for SICB 2027 about pursuing non-academic jobs for those with backgrounds in integrative and comparative biology. We will host a panel of four speakers from areas including science communication, museums, industry, and conservation. We’re still getting the schedule together, so please keep a look out for a date, time, and location for this event! Contact DEE SPDAC representative Princeton Vaughn (princetonvaughn@princeton.edu) with any questions!
SICB’s PUI mailing list
Do you work at a PUI or would you like to work at a PUI? Interested in joining SICB’s PUI group? If you’d like to join our mailing list to hear about events both at SICB and virtual events throughout the year, sign up using the link below! We will have a booth at the meeting as well as other social events and workshops at SICB 2025.
https://forms.gle/8s2aBcEbePauURJv6