SSE LOGO Contest

The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) announces a competition for an updated logo, to appear on the journal, website, letterhead, and on banners at society events. We invite submission of logo designs, in electronic format, to SSE Secretary Judy Stone (jstone@colby.edu), by October 15, 2010. A prize of $1,000 will be awarded for the winning design.

The logo should include the acronym SSE or the word Evolution as well as pictorial elements representing modern and forward-looking perceptions of process and/or pattern in biological evolution. The logo must be reducible to appear as letterhead on official communications (maximum size 4 x 5 cm). If desired, a small and larger version of the logo may be submitted.

Technical specifications for electronic images should follow standard guidelines of images for publication.

Logos will be evaluated according to artistic merit, clarity, and efficacy in conveying the essence of the study of biological evolution. The council of the SSE, together with input from a professional graphic artist, will select a limited number of finalists among those received by the deadline. Finalists will be notified, and SSE members will vote electronically among the finalists by early 2011. SSE will hold copyright for the winning logo.

Announcing Keystone Symposia’s Meeting on: “Evolutionary Developmental Biology”

Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology is accepting abstracts, scholarship applications and registrations for its first-ever conference on “New Evolutionary Developmental Biology,” which takes place February 27 – March 3, 2011 at Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, California, USA.  

Organized by Sean B. Carroll of Washington University School of Medicine, Trisha Wittkopp of Columbia University and Nicole King of the University of California, Berkeley, the conference will begin with a keynote address on the evening of Sunday, February 27 by Neil Shubin of The University of Chicago followed by three days of informative plenaries, short talks and poster sessions.  There will be afternoon free time for unstructured networking and leisure activities.

One major goal of evolutionary biology is to understand how morphological variation arises within populations and how species diverge. Four major challenges in understanding the genetic and molecular basis of morphological evolution are the identification of loci underlying trait divergence, the elucidation of functional changes within these loci, tracing the origin of functional variation and adaptations in populations, and reconstruction of how major innovations have been assembled over time. Current research in evolutionary developmental biology is addressing these challenges in a variety of model animals, plants and microbes. The pace of progress is such that it is now possible to pose general questions about the process of morphological evolution, such as: are there any general themes underlying the genetic and developmental basis of variation and divergence? And, are the phenomena and mechanisms observable over short time scales sufficient to explain processes that have unfolded over much longer time scales in the fossil record? The purpose of this Keystone Symposia meeting on evolutionary developmental biology is to gather the leading researchers across the discipline to share emerging information and to address these general questions. The prospective speakers include the most notable contributors to the field and emerging young investigators who together constitute an exceptionally broad representation of this highly interdisciplinary research field.

Discounted registration rates are available to students, and scholarships are available to students and postdoctoral fellows.

Deadlines: Abstract & Scholarship – October 26, 2010 / Late-Breaking Abstract – November 29, 2010 / Early Registration Deadline – December 28, 2010

Call for Symposia for 2011 Annual Meeting

The 2011 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution will be held from June 17-21, 2011 in Norman, Oklahoma and hosted by the University of Oklahoma. The Council of the Society invites proposals for the two Society-sponsored symposia to be held in conjunction with the meeting. Symposium proposals should include: (1) a synopsis of the symposium theme (about one page); (2) a tentative list of speakers, including institutional affiliations, and topics; (3) a rationale for the symposium explaining why this topic and this group of speakers are particularly appropriate for a Society-sponsored symposium; and (4) a statement that all potential speakers have been contacted and agree to participate in the symposium.

In evaluating symposium proposals, the Council will favor those proposals whose topics concern newly emerging fields, fields ripe for syntheses, and fields different from those that have been included in recent Society symposia. The Council particularly encourages proposals that include women, younger investigators and others traditionally underrepresented in Society symposia.
The Council will select two proposals for half-day symposia at its meeting in June 2010. All applicants will be notified of the Council's decision in July. The Society provides partial travel support for organizers and participants in sponsored symposia. Details are available on request. To be assured of full consideration, proposals must be received at the following address by midnight Eastern Standard Time on May 18, 2010:

Dr. Charles B. Fenster, Executive Vice President
The Society for the Study of Evolution
Department of Biology
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland, 20742 USA
e-mail: CFenster@umd.edu

Proposals can be sent as paper copies by mail or preferably as e-mail attachments in Word or RTF format (under subject heading: SSE Symposia Proposal). Please expect and request confirmation of receipt of the proposal.

Local and Regional Outreach Promoting the Understanding of Evolutionary Biology

Following a highly successful round of funding to support outreach activities themed around the Darwin bicentennial in 2009 (projects are listed at www.happybirthdaydarwin.org, the SSE has decided to extend further support for science outreach.  Towards that end, the SSE Education Committee has secured funds from the SSE Council to support local and regional outreach efforts promoting understanding of evolutionary biology.

This note is a call for proposals for support for such activities to take place during 2010.  As 2010 has been designated by the UN as the Year of Biodiversity, outreach efforts that highlight evolutionary understanding of biodiversity are particularly welcome in this round of competition.  It is also our hope that projects funded for 2010 will lead to ongoing outreach collaboration in future years.

SSE is also a partner for the inaugural USA Science Festival www.usasciencefestival.org to be held in October, and we also encourage proposals that would organize a local science festival to expand this national outreach effort.

As part of this initiative, we encourage SSE members to engage in partnership outside of their academic departments to gain access to expertise and facilities for reaching a broader audience, such as collaboration with regional natural history museums, zoos, botanical gardens, or schools. 

Guidelines for applying for funds to support SSE 2010 outreach projects are as follows:

1. Clearly but briefly state your plans in NO MORE THAN a single page.
2. Amounts requested may be up to $800, with additional matching funds clearly indicated.  Include letters of commitment from collaborative partners or indicate whom you have approached in this regard.
3. Send your request by email attachment (subject heading 'SSE Outreach
   2010') to Thomas Meagher trm3@st-and.ac.uk no later than 10 March 2009.

1. Clarity and quality of the proposed activity;
>
2. Expected impact in terms of reaching a broad audience;
3. Evidence, in the form of matching funds, of partnership outside of your immediate academic department;
>
4. Indication as to how the project might lead to ongoing outreach collaboration.

Examples of outreach activities might include public lectures, exhibits, student competitions, etc; but we do not want to be overly prescriptive. Indeed, we look forward to seeing how imaginative the SSE might be collectively. We look forward to your applications!

Even if you are not interested in applying for funding from the SSE, we encourage you to engage through whatever means are at your disposal in opportunities to promote public understanding of evolutionary biology.

Sincerely,

Tom Meagher, On behalf of the SSE Education Committee

Undergraduate Diversity at SSE/SSB 2010

For the eighth consecutive year, the Undergraduate Diversity at SSE/SSB program, funded by the Undergraduate Research and Mentoring in the Biological Sciences (URM) program at NSF, will take place at the 2010 meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) in Portland, OR. This year we again team up with staff at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) to send up to 25 undergraduates to the meetings to present posters and receive mentoring from graduate students, postdocs and faculty in evolutionary biology. For full information and links to the application portal see - www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/edwards/community/application.html.

Applications consist of a title, author line and abstract of the poster to be presented by the undergraduate; a one-page statement of academic interests and career goals; and a letter of recommendation. The personal statement should address how attending the Evolution meetings will help meet these goals, and should indicate whether or not the student plans to attend graduate school, if this is known. The letter of recommendation, ideally from the undergraduate's research advisor, should indicate how inclusion of the student will increase diversity of the group participants. All materials required for application can be found at the NESCent application portal. Details on selection criteria are available at the program headquarters at the Harvard web site.

We can only accept applications from students who are US citizens or permanent residents. Applications will be accepted only from students registered or very recently graduated from U.S. institutions, including Puerto Rico (i.e., no later than having finished classes during the winter or spring semesters before the meeting) and traveling to the meeting from within the US. Students demonstrating a need for funds to attend SSE/SSB will be given preference, and will be selected so that as a group, they will maximize cultural diversity among undergraduates at the meetings.

You can also contact one of the program organizers for more information: Scott V. Edwards (sedwards@fas.harvard.edu) or Richard Kliman (rmkliman@cedarcrest.edu), at NESCent: Jory Weintraub (jory@nescent.org)

Darwin 2009: 150 Years of Evolutionary Biology

On November 4-8 2009, the Department of Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” by hosting a four-day meeting where leading evolutionary biologists will lecture and help lead discussions on the current status and future of the study evolutionary biology. We will have three stimulating days of keynote addresses, evening panels and discussion groups, and ample opportunity for communication on the important issues of the present and future of evolutionary biology. Provision will be made for attendees to display research posters. All lectures will be in modern and pleasant facilities at Stony Brook University, with available nearby lodging and convenient transportation to the meeting site.

To register, secure lodging, and get further information on transportation, our Advisory Board, and other matters, please visit our web site
http://darwin09.org

Call for Symposia for 2010 Annual Meeting

The 2010 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution will be held from June 25-29, 2010 in Portland, Oregon and hosted by Portland State University. The Council of the Society invites proposals for the two Society-sponsored symposia to be held in conjunction with the meeting. Symposium proposals should include: (1) a synopsis of the symposium theme (about one page); (2) a tentative list of speakers, including institutional affiliations, and topics; (3) a rationale for the symposium explaining why this topic and this group of speakers are particularly appropriate for a Society-sponsored symposium; and (4) a statement that all potential speakers have been contacted and agree to participate in the symposium.

In evaluating symposium proposals, the Council will favor those proposals whose topics concern newly emerging fields, fields ripe for syntheses, and fields different from those that have been included in recent Society symposia. The Council particularly encourages proposals that include women, younger investigators and others traditionally underrepresented in Society symposia.

The Council will select two proposals for half-day symposia at its meeting in June 2009. All applicants will be notified of the Council's decision in July. The Society provides partial travel support for organizers and participants in sponsored symposia. Details are available on request. To be assured of full consideration, proposals must be received at the following address by midnight Eastern Standard Time on May 18, 2009:

Dr. Charles B. Fenster, Executive Vice President
The Society for the Study of Evolution
Department of Biology
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland, 20742 USA
e-mail: CFenster@umd.edu
Proposals can be sent as paper copies by mail or preferably as e-mail attachments in Word or RTF format (under subject heading: SSE Symposia Proposal). Please expect and request confirmation of receipt of the proposal.

Tri-Society Mentoring Program and Funding for Childcare at SSE Meetings

With a recent grant from the Elsevier New Scholars Program, we are launching childcare services to parents who will be attending the Evolution conference and a new mentoring program available to all members of SSB, SSE and ASN. We have received funding to support these new programs for the Evolution conferences from 2009 to 2011, and both will be available options on the Evolution 2009 online registration site. We encourage all members to take advantage of these opportunities, which are detailed below. If you have any questions about either of these two programs, please contact Leah Larkin (llarkin@pacific.edu) or Heidi Meudt (heidim@tepapa.govt.nz).

Childcare
Professional childcare services will be available on-site at the conference. Attendees who wish to use the childcare services should sign up on the online meeting registration form indicating the number of children and their ages. Childcare will be available from 8-5 pm on each day of the conference; options will also be available for evening events. Please indicate your interest in the online registration form, and we will contact you regarding prices and details. A subsidy is available to help offset the cost of childcare services at the conference for a limited number of graduate students, postdocs and early-career parents. Please indicate your interest in applying for the subsidy, which will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Evolution Mentoring Program
We are pleased to announce that the Evolution Tri-Societies Mentoring Program is now up and running in collaboration with MentorNet! This free program is available to ALL members of ASN, SSB and SSE. MentorNet is an award-winning mentoring organization that matches mentors with compatible protégés for an eight-month pairing, which includes weekly or biweekly e-mail discussion prompts to foster supportive mentoring relationships. We encourage ALL members of the three societies to participate, whether you will be attending the Evolution conference or not. We would like to especially encourage MENTORS to sign up, as the success of this program will largely depend upon having enough mentors to pair with the potentially large number of interested protégés. Interested mentors may sign up here, and interested protégés may sign up here. (Please note that if you are an early-career postdoc or assistant professors, you can be BOTH a protégé (requesting an established scientist mentor) AND a mentor for someone at an earlier career stage; to do this, simply create both a mentor profile and a protégé profile). When you create a profile in MentorNet's system using the above links, you must specify that you are a member of 'Evolution Tri-Societies (ASN, SSB, SSE)' (one of the MentorNet Affiliated Partners Plus). You will then answer a series of questions regarding your background information AND the type of mentor/protégé match you are looking for. It is very important that you designate that it is an "Absolute Requirement" that your mentor/protégé be a member of 'Evolution Tri-Societies'. This will ensure that members of ASN, SSB and SSE who participate in this mentoring program will only be paired with other members of the three societies. MentorNet's proprietary software will recommend suitable matches between established scientist mentors and early-career protégés (including undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and assistant professors) from SSB, ASN, and SSE. Those paired mentors and protégés who are also attending the Evolution 2009 meetings in June will have the opportunity to meet one another (and other participants) at a tri-society symposium luncheon at the conference as they begin their eight-month pairing.
Please spread the word about this new free mentoring program, which is yet another benefit to being a member of SSB, ASN or SSE. Encourage your students, postdocs, colleagues, and especially professors to join in, and sign up right now (after all, it is FREE and only takes about 5 minutes). Thanks, and happy mentoring!

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 2008-2009 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 2009 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, 2009.

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 in Moscow, Idaho (6/12-6/16). 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 June 8th 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

Letter urging Governor Jindal to veto the ID Creationist Trojan Horse Bill

PRESS RELEASE - June 27, 2008

Officers of the Society for the Study of Evolution and the Society of Systematic Biologists sent an open letter to Louisiana Governor Jindal urging him to veto the ID creationist Trojan Horse bill (SB 733).  We are dismayed that instead of defending the integrity of science, Gov. Jindal has thrown his lot in with the creationist lobbyists.  By signing this bill, Gov. Jindal has put sound science education at risk in Louisiana just as other irresponsible officials did previously in Kansas in 1999 and in Dover, Pennsylvania in 2005.  Once again, local school districts will be left to pay the price.  In Dover, the cost was over a million dollars when officials allowed Intelligent Design to be taught.  The cost to those students who will be taught ID creationists' erroneous "arguments against evolution" instead of real evolutionary science will be far greater.

Contacts: 
Johanna Schmitt
President, Society for the Study of Evolution
Stephen T. Olney Professor of Natural History, Brown University
 
Robert T. Pennock
Chair, Society for the Study of Evolution Education Committee
Professor, Michigan State University
Sabbatical Fellow, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center

Darwin-Wallace Medal to Fellow Members of SSE

It is our pleasure to announce that the following SSE members will receive the Darwin-Wallace Medal from The Linnean Society of London for "major advances in evolutionary biology since 1958". Two of our former members will recieve the award posthumously. The award is presented every 50 years and commemorates the 150th reading of the joint Darwin- Wallace paper "On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection" at the Linnean Society of London in 1858. The President of the Society, Professor David F Cutler, will award medals on Thursday 12th February 2009, the 200th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin.

Professor Nick Barton FRS,
Professor B C Clarke FRS, FLS,
the late Professor Stephen Jay Gould,
Professor B. Rosemary Grant FRS,
Professor Peter R. Grant FRS, FLS
Professor J L B Mallet FLS,
the late Professor John Maynard-Smith FRS, FLS,
Professor Mohamed Noor,
Professor H Allen Orr,
Professor Linda Partridge FRS.

An open letter to the Texas Education Agency regarding science education and the termination of Chris Comer

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.