SSE International Committee (SSE-IC)

Mission and yearly activities
The SSE-IC committee mission is to foster international relationships between evolution societies and its members with particular focus on students and young scientists. The committee sponsors annually a series of activities/awards to reach this goal: 

1. International Travel Awards (IT- Awards)
2. Co-sponsorship of symposia organized by non-US based evolution societies
3. Evolution  International Events (EIE) awards

Application guidelines
The International Travel Award is managed directly by the SSE-IC committee.  In 2008 we provided 15 travel awards ($700 each). For the other two award types, the SSE-IC committee will present the best proposals to the SSE council, which will decide on the winner for that year.

Budget
The total budget for these awards is $20,000. Half of this amount will be devoted to the International travel awards. The rest of the available funding will be either given to either a single proposal from one category or divided amongst the best proposals in either of the two categories.

Application procedures
For the 2010 proposals applications for all the awards should be sent by email as a single pdf document to Dr. Nina Wedell (SSE-IC Chair; N.Wedell@Exeter.ac.uk).
Deadline for application has been extended to March 31, 2010.

International Travel Awards  (IT- Awards)

Description of the award: These awards arefor non-US students and young scientists to attend the SSE meeting and for US graduate students and young scientists to attend evolution meetings organized by evolution societies other than SSE. The majority of the awards is intend for non-US residents to attend the SSE meetings but a small number of awards will be available for US-based students to travel to meetings abroad. The award will cover:
1. Support toward travel and living expenses.
2. SSE Registration fees (the award will not cover late registration fees).
3. Membership in SSE including an electronic subscription to Evolution for 1 year.

Eligibility: Applications can be submitted by young (<35 years old) scientists at various stages of their professional career.  Applicants from North America, Europe, Australia or New Zealand should be SSE members. Proposal can be submitted several times, but if successful, winners are not eligible for a second award for a period of 5 years. Applicants cannot apply for other SSE sponsored travel awards in the same year,  but they can seek support from other sources. They must present either an oral communication or a poster to be eligible for the award.

The application should be no more than 2 pages long and include: name of the applicant; meeting name and dates; budget, including sources of additional support; an explanation of how attendance to the  meeting will further their professional goals. A CV and a support letter from the applicant advisor /mentor are also required.  Support letters should be sent to the same email address by the applicant mentor.

Evolution International Events Awards (EIE Awards)

Description of the award: These events are aimed at furthering the purpose of the Evolution Society and to foster international collaborations amongst evolution oriented societies and scientists. Eligible events would include specialized symposia, workshops and short courses in any aspect of evolutionary biology. The events could be hosted either in the US or abroad and preference should be given to events that specifically include participants from countries other than the USA.

Eligibility: The EIE event could be held either in the USA or abroad. If held in the US, the event should have a clear training component targeting students and young scientists from countries other than the US. If held abroad, this event should be co-sponsored by SSE members and by scientists from the hosting country.  Co-sponsorship by the Evolution society from the hosting country, when possible, will be encouraged.  SEE membership for one year is a mandatory requirement to be included in the registration fee (not for participants that are already SSE members).

An application should not be more than 3 pages long and include:
1- Names and titles of the organizers.

1. The institution that will be responsible for administering the funds.
2. The title event.
3. A rational of the event explaining why the event is needed, how does it fit with the purpose of the Society and the goals of this specific award, how SSE support will improve the event, how participation of young scientists from the geographic region where the event will be promoted.
4. A description of the event.
5. A list of the primary participants, which have been contacted and have express interest in being part of the event, if funded.
6. Dates and location of the event.
7. How the participants will be selected.
8. A budget showing (1) how funds from SSE will be used, (2) how funds from other sources will be used, (3) the fee structure to attend the event, if funding will not allow to cover all the costs.
9. A CV of the proposal PI’s (SSE member and co-sponsor from the hosting country). The CV’s are not included in the 3 pages limits for the proposal.

Co-sponsorship of symposia organized by non-US based evolution societies

Description of the award: The goal of this type of awards is to foster communication between scientists from different countries by stimulating scientific dialogue through co-sponsored symposia. Evolution societies with limited financial resources will have the opportunity to invite speakers (SSE members) to their meeting. This will provide growth opportunities for both societies, since it will not only benefit the hosting society but it will also create the opportunities for new collaborations for the invited speakers.

Elgibility: Organizers of approved symposia may apply to seek partial support for symposia that include SSE members as invited speakers.

Application: An application should not be more than 3 pages long and include:

1. Name(s) and affiliations of the symposia organizer, including CV (not included in the page limit).
2. The meeting and its dates.
3. The symposia title.
4. A list of the committed symposia speakers.
5. Name(s), affiliations of the symposia speakers to be supported through tis ward, including CV (not included in the page limit).
6. The institution/organization responsible for administering the funds.
7. A rational of the event explaining how the presence of the invited speaker(s) , will foster international cooperation and mutually benefit SSE and the meeting sponsors.

SSE Photo Contest

Please submit your photos of anything with an evolution theme to be shown at the annual joint meeting of our societies. Photos will be judged at the All-Society banquet and cash awards of 100, 50, and 25 US dollars or equivalent will be given to the top three entrants. The photos may contribute to the SSE web site. You do not need to attend the meeting or banquet, but you do need to be a member of one of the three societies.

Please submit one photo as a power point slide with a figure legend of 2-3 lines written in Ariel font (or similar) of font size 24, Black. Legend should begin with your name followed by a colon, e.g., Alice Smith:
The LEGEND MUST BE IN BLACK FONT IN A WHITE TEXT BOX BELOW THE FIGURE (or will not be considered).

Please submit electronically by Monday noon June 8th to
Charles B. Fenster, EVP SSE: cfenster@umd.edu

with subject header: Photo for Joint Meeting.

In the text of your letter please indicate your society affiliation.

SSE Pedagogy

Please submit an exercise or lecture aid that you use for a large lecture class to facilitate the explanation of an evolutionary concept or phenomenon., e.g., more clever than using dice to demonstrate probabilities, coin tossing to explain drift, a cryptically colored creature to demonstrate camouflage.

Please provide a power point slide to illustrate your teaching aid. Depending on time and entry number, contributions will be noted at the banquet. You do not need to attend the meeting or banquet, but you do need to be a member of one of the three societies.

Following review, all entries will be listed on the web site and contributors will be acknowledged. 

Please submit electronically by Monday noon May 24th to
Charles B. Fenster, EVP SSE: cfenster@umd.edu

with subject header: Pedagogy Joint Meeting.

In the text of your letter please indicate your society affiliation.

Photos of Evolutionary Phenomenon (Winners of the 2008 All Society Photo Contest)

David Hillis | Katie Theisen | Khidir Hilu

The 2009 Stephen Jay Gould Prize

Eugenie Scott receiving the Gould Award from SSE President Craig Moritz and from Scott Edwards representing SSE Education Committee.

The Stephen Jay Gould Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould.

The winner of the 2009 Stephen Jay Gould Prize is Eugenie C. Scott. Dr. Scott has devoted her life to advancing public understanding of evolution. As the executive director of the National Center for Science Education she has been in the forefront of battles to ensure that public education clearly distinguishes science from non-science and that the principles of evolution are taught in all biology courses. She has served on the boards of many organizations, such as the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, and as a consultant to organizations from the National Academy of Sciences to WGBH/NOVA to the Mississippi Department of Education. In these efforts, she has been an important leader in the public sphere, molding and focusing the efforts of scientists, educators, lay people, religious groups, skeptics, agnostics, believers, scholars, and ordinary citizens through firm but gentle guidance.

Dr. Scott is a gifted communicator and public intellectual. She is a frequent guest on radio and television shows, and an eloquent spokeswoman for science. Her writings have illuminated the process of science to thousands, and her books have exposed the efforts of many groups in our society to hobble and undermine the teaching of science to our younger generation. The organization she helped create far transcends the considerable reach of her own voice, vastly amplifying her impact on public understanding. For these many reasons, it is extremely appropriate that Dr. Scott be the first recipient of the Gould Prize.

The Stephen Jay Gould Prize Committee:
Scott Edwards, Chair
Sam Scheiner
Lacey Knowles
Mohamed Noor

The Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize                                          

The Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist.   The prize was established in memory of Professor Dobzhansky by his friends and colleagues, and reflects his lifelong commitment to fostering the research careers of young scientists.

Dr. Judith Mank 2009 Prize Winner

The winner of the 2009 award is Judith Mank. Judith Mank is the author of more than 25 papers that explore the ways in which evolutionary forces act differently on male and female traits.   Dr. Mank completed her doctoral research in Genetics at the University of Georgia in 2006 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University before commencing her current position in the Department of Zoology at Oxford University. Dr. Mank has a keen eye for important questions, and her work incorporates an exciting range of cutting-edge experimental methods grounded in classical evolutionary theory. Dr. Mank’s large-scale phylogenetic analyses of parental care and reproductive biology of ray-finned fishes demonstrated the importance of sexually selected traits in cladogenesis, as well as the lability of sex determining mechanisms in that group. She has documented the generality of the “fast-X” phenomenon to Z chromosomes in birds, and established the importance of effective population size and drift in driving the exaggerated evolutionary rates of sex chromosomes. In her current position, Dr. Mank employs tools that include selection experiments, next-generation sequencing techniques, and broad-scale expression studies to identify mechanisms that underpin the sexually dimorphic phenotypes observed in so many metzoans.

Past Dobzhansky Prize winners:

1981 Douglas R. Cavener
1982 Elizabeth Anne Zimmer
1983 Anthony J. Zera
1984 Robb F. Leary
1985 Joshua J. Schwartz
1986
1987 Ary A. Hoffman
1988 Steven A. Frank
1989 Bernard J. Crespi
1990 Erik Greene
1991 Jonathan Losos
1992 Barry Sinervo
1993 H. Allen Orr
1994 David Haig
1995 David Begun
1996 Rufus A. Johnstone
1997 Massimo Pigliucci
1998 Christian Peter Klingenberg
1999 Jason B. Wolf
2000 Thomas Lenormand
2001 Alexander Badyaev
2002 Howard Rundle
2003 Daven Presgraves
2004 Aneil Agrawal
2005 Daniel Bolnick
2006 Russel Bonduriansky
2007 Franziska Michor
2008 Patrik Nosil

Nomination/Application for the 2010 Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize

The Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist.  The prize was established in memory of Professor Dobzhansky by his friends and colleagues, and reflects his lifelong commitment to fostering the research careers of young scientists.
            Eligibility – The candidate must have a Ph.D. (or equivalent) awarded no earlier than May 2006 and no later than 1st February 2010, and must be actively involved in research in the field of evolutionary biology.  There are no other restrictions.  Applicants do not have to be members of the Society for the Study of Evolution, but such membership is encouraged.
            Nomination/Application.- Candidates may apply directly or may be nominated.  Established researchers are encouraged to nominate outstanding young scientists who may be unaware of the existence and prestige of this prize.  Each candidacy must be supported by the following materials detailing the candidate's career to date: (1) a curriculum vitae, (2) a summary of research accomplishments, (3) a 3-5 page statement of research plans for the next 5 years (note length limitation), (4) pdf copies of three recent publications, (5) names and addresses of the three referees (including the nominating scientist where applicable) who have sent supporting letters.  N.B.: THE THREE LETTERS OF REFERENCE ARE SENT SEPARATELY, but no application will be considered without these letters. 
            All application/nomination materials must be sent as PDF e-mail attachments, preferably united in a single file.  No file type other than PDF will be accepted.  The deadline for receipt of all materials, including letters of reference, is 15 February 2010.  All materials should be sent to the secretary of SSE (Judy L. Stone) at the following email address:

jstone@colby.edu

            Award.- The Dobzhansky Prize is accompanied by a check for U.S. $5000, and will be awarded at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, June 25-29 2010, in Portland, Oregon.  The recipient is expected to be present to receive the award and to give an oral presentation about his/her research.  To facilitate attendance, the SSE provides funds to cover the costs of conference registration, accommodation during the conference, and expenses for travel to and from the conference.  The recipient will be notified of the award by late March 2010.

The R.A. Fisher Prize                                                                                 

The R. A. Fisher Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize the most significant paper published in Evolution in the previous year based on a recent PhD dissertation.

This prize pays tribute to one of the most distinguished evolutionists of the 20th Century, Sir Ronald Fisher, who with JBS Haldane and Sewell Wright, developed theoretical population genetics and established its central position within evolutionary biology.  Fisher’s interests ranged widely, but placed particular emphasis on the dynamics of mutation and selection and how these contribute to adaptation.

Dr. Megan Higgie 2009 Prize Winner

This year’s Fisher Prize is awarded to Dr. Megan Higgie, for her paper:

Higgie, M. and M. Blows. 2008. The evolution of reproductive character displacement conflicts with how sexual selection operates within a species. Evolution 65:1192-1203.

There has been extensive debate surrounding the concept of reinforcing selection, yet how reinforcement – selection for assortative female-choice because of reduced fitness associated with hybridization – interacts with sexual selection is under-explored. This paper uses an experimental approach to examine this interaction in the Drosophila serrata/birchii system, for which Higgie and her colleague, Mark Blows, have previously demonstrated strong displacement of male signals (cuticular hydrocarbons, CHCs) and female choice in D. serrata when sympatric with D. birchii. After crossing sympatric and allopatric populations of D. serrata, both male signals and female choice reverted to the allopatric phenotype as a result of sexual selection. This creative and elegant set of experiments demonstrates that substantial geographic variation in mate recognition systems can arise through opposing forces of sexual and reinforcing selection.  As discussed by the authors, the divergent mate choice that results could well contribute to speciation within one of the two interacting species.  Dr. Higgie is currently a postdoctoral scholar, supported by the Australian Research Council at the Australian National University, where she is examining interactions between sexual and reinforcing selection in the green-eyed tree frog, Litoria genimaculata.

Past Fisher Prize winners:

2006 Maurine Neiman
2007 Guillaume Martin
2008 R. Brian Langerhans

Nomination/Application for the 2010 R. A. Fisher Prize

The R. A. Fisher Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution for an outstanding Ph.D. dissertation paper published in the journal Evolution during a given calendar year. The award comes with a $1000 honorarium.

            Eligibility -- To be eligible for consideration, a manuscript must be based on graduate work of the primary author.

            Nominations/Application -- Authors of eligible manuscripts may initiate a nomination upon acceptance of their manuscripts for publication. Nominations must include the final version of the manuscript, dissertation completion date, and a supporting letter from the Ph.D. supervisor or other individual familiar with the work. If the candidate is not the sole author of the paper, the supporting letter should identify the candidate’s role in completing the research and writing the paper. Nominations for manuscripts published in 2009 will be accepted throughout the year but must arrive no later than January 31, 2010. The complete nomination should be submitted electronically to: the secretary of SSE (Judy L. Stone) at the following email address:

jstone@colby.edu

The Society for the Study of Evolution’s Committee for the Stephen J. Gould Award for the Improvement for the Understanding of Evolution is soliciting nominations for the Award for 2010. With this annual award the Society for the Study of Evolution recognizes, promotes, and rewards individuals who have increased public understanding of evolutionary biology and its place in modern science. The award will include a cash prize of $5,000 and the expectation that the recipient will present the Public Outreach Seminar at the Evolution Meeting (expenses for travel/lodging and registration would be covered by the SSE). The awardee should be a leader in evolutionary thought and in public outreach who can deliver an inspiring lecture for both professionals and the broader public at the 2010 meetings of the Society in Portland, OR.

Nominations should include the CV of the nominee along with a 1-2 page letter describing why this individual is worthy of the award.

Please send nominations via e-mail to the Chair of the Committee, Sam Scheiner, at sscheine@nsf.gov. Please submit nominees by December 18. All nominations will be treated confidentially and will be evaluated by members of the Committee and the Council for the Society. An awardee will be announced in early February.