Symposium proposal submissions for Evolution 2018 in Montpellier, France are now open! Symposia proposals will be accepted until June 26. Note that this is during the Evolution 2017 meeting, so be sure to submit your proposal before you leave! Information about the format of the meeting, the symposia and what we expect for symposia organizers can be found at http://evolutionmontpellier2018.org/call-symposia.
Thank you to all who participated in a March for Science, either in DC or at one of the 600+ satellite marches around the world! More than 1 million people marched on April 22. (Read more about the number crunching on the March for Science blog.) Here is Sally Otto, SSE President, at the Vancouver march. To stay involved in advocating for science, check out the AAAS Force for Science page and the new March for Science website.
The first issue of the open access journal Evolution Letters is now live! This journal is co-owned by SSE and the Society of Systematic Biologists, and members receive reduced publication fees. Read the first issue here. Submit your manuscript here.
Register today and join us for EVOLUTION 2017: June 23-27, 2017 in Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon. Information about the SYMPOSIA and meeting schedule, as well and past and future meetings, can be found on our meeting web page.
Please come join the Diversity in Science luncheon at Evolution 2017! This event will be a discussion on identifying bias and increasing diversity across all dimensions. Cost is $15, and lunch is included. Add it to your registration by logging in here.
A few seats are still open for the AIBS Workshop following the meeting! The workshop is titled "Informing and Engaging Decision-makers" and will take place June 28. Learn more here and add it to your registration by logging in here.
A number of program officers from the NSF's Division of Environmental Biology will be at Evolution this year. For a full list see the DEB Blog. There will also be an NSF Information Session during the meeting.
Regular talks are now full, but you can still submit a poster until May 20. To submit a poster, follow this link, click on "Registration", sign in with the email and password you used to register, click "Author Center" in the top menu, and then click "Author/Attendee Login." The option to submit a poster will be on that page.
Travel Award recipients for the Evolution 2017 meeting in Portland have been selected! Applicants should check their emails for award notifications. These awards total $43,500 in funding support to our student and postdoc members to attend and present at this year's meeting. Travel Award recipients are not eligible for the registration rebate offered in return for volunteering at the conference.
We were pleased to see that the NSF, NIH and others were largely spared in the recent federal fiscal decisions. Learn more from the AIBS Policy Report.
The SSE Education Committee is pleased to announce the winner of the 2017 Stephen Jay Gould Prize: Dr. Timothy R. Birkhead. Dr. Birkhead is Professor of Behavior and Evolution at the University of Sheffield and has made major contributions to understanding how animal behavior evolves under environmental pressures and in response to competition. Dr. Birkhead has had a distinguished career both advancing the science of evolution and in conveying that knowledge to the general public. Dr. Birkhead has promoted evolution through his extremely successful popular science books that include Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition (2000), The Red Canary(2003), The Wisdom of Birds (2008), Bird Sense (2012), Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology Since Darwin (2014), and The Most Perfect Think: The inside (and Outside) of a Birds Egg (2016), as well as through many popular science articles. Congratulations!
Congratulations to the 27 graduate students who were selected to receive a Rosemary Grant Research Award from the SSE. The goal of these grants is to identify and support innovative and potentially high impact research by beginning graduate students. These awards represent over $60,000 per year of investment into research by our doctoral student members.
This note is a call for proposals for support for local and regional educational outreach activities to take place during 2016. It is our hope that these projects will lead to ongoing outreach collaboration in future years. Preference will be given to new collaborations, but extensions of previously projects that have evidence of success are allowed. Guidelines for applying for funds to support SSE 2016 outreach projects are as follows:
Applications will be ranked by an SSE Education Committee working group according to the following criteria:
We expect to fund in the range of 10-20 applications, with announcement of awards to take place by February 8, 2016.
Examples of past outreach activities have included public lectures, exhibits, student competitions, and professional development events for teachers. We especially encourage proposals that focus on discussing and implementing evolution education reforms recommended in the Vision & Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: Chronicling Change, Inspiring the Future (2013) report < http://visionandchange.org/files/2015/07/VISchange2015_webFin.pdf > or on dialogues between undergraduate instructors and K-12 teachers around the new emphasis on evolution in the AP Biology Curriculum Framework (2015) <https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-biology-course-and-exam-description.pdf> and the Next Generation Science Standards <http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards>. 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,
Robert T. Pennock
Chair, SSE Education Committee Outreach Grants Program
Dear Colleagues,
Below are the links from the Evol2014 About Women in Science events on the topic of Implicit Bias. For each session, we have provided Joan’s presentation and the workshop responses from the attendees. We hope that you find the information useful.
We would like to thank the organizers of Evol2014, the three societies who sponsored these events, our guest speaker, Joan Herbers, and our attendees.
Post-tenure PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.clfs.umd.edu/biology/dudashlab/Evol2014%20Post-Tenure%20Workshop%20ImplicitBias%20Final.pdf
Post-tenure Take Home messages
http://www.clfs.umd.edu/biology/dudashlab/Post-Tenure%20Workshop%20Summary%20Evol2014%20Final%202July2014.pdf
Lunchtime PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.clfs.umd.edu/biology/dudashlab/Lunchtime%20NetworkingWorkshop%20Evol2014%20Final%202July2014.pdf
Lunchtime Take Home messages
http://www.clfs.umd.edu/biology/dudashlab/LunchtimeWorkshop%20Summary%20Evol2014%20Final%202July2014.pdf
Sincerely,
Michele Dudash and Jenny Boughman
The 2015 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution is planned for June 26-30, 2015 in Guaruja, Brazil. The SSE Council 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 proposals, SSE Council seriously considers the diversity of participants as a major qualification. Symposium organizers are expected to take into account gender, seniority, nationality, and other aspects traditionally underrepresented in Society symposia when preparing proposals. In addition, 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 will select two proposals for half-day symposia at the annual meeting in June 2014. All applicants will be notified of the Council's decision in August. The Society provides travel support for organizers and participants in sponsored symposia. Details are available on request. To be assured of full consideration, proposals must be received by midnight Eastern Standard Time on June 6, 2014:
Butch Brodie
Executive Vice President, SSE
Department of Biology
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400328
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328
bbrodie@virginia.edu
Proposals should be sent by email (bbrodie@virginia.edu) as a single attachment in PDF format (under subject heading: SSE Symposia Proposal). Please expect and request confirmation of receipt of the proposal.
This note is a call for proposals for support for such activities to take place during 2014. It is our hope that these projects will lead to ongoing outreach collaboration in future years.
Guidelines for applying for funds to support SSE 2014 outreach projects are as follows:
Applications will be ranked by an SSE Education Committee working group according to the following criteria:
We expect to fund in the range of 10-20 applications, with announcement of awards to take place by February 15, 2014.
Examples of past outreach activities have included public lectures, exhibits, student competitions, and professional development events for teachers. This year we would especially encourage proposals that focus on discussing and implementing evolution education reforms recommended in the Vision & Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (2011) report <http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/> or on dialogues between undergraduate instructors and K-12 teachers around the new emphasis on evolution in the AP Biology Curriculum Framework (2012-13) < http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/10b_2727_AP_Biology_CF_WEB_110128.pdf> and the Next Generation Science Standards <http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards>.
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,
Robert T. Pennock, On behalf of the SSE Education Committee
This note is a call for proposals for support for such activities to take place during 2013. It is our hope that these projects will lead to ongoing outreach collaboration in future years.
Guidelines for applying for funds to support SSE 2013 outreach projects are as follows:
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,
Robert T. Pennock, On behalf of the SSE Education Committee
The SSE-IC mission is to foster international relationships between evolution societies and its members with particular focus on students and early-career scientists. The committee sponsors annually a series of activities/awards to reach this goal:
1. International Travel Stipends (IT- Awards)
2. Co-sponsorship of symposia organized by non-US based evolution societies
3. Evolution International Events (EIE) awards
The International Travel Stipend is managed directly by the SSE-IC committee. 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. The equivalent of 10,000 euros will be devoted to the International Travel stipends. 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.
These stipends are for students and young scientists to attend the SSE meeting in Snow Bird, Utah in June (http://www.evolutionmeeting.org/) and the ESEB Congress in Lisbon in August 2013 (http://www.eseb2013.com/). The stipend will contribute to covering travel, living expenses and congress registration fees. The stipend will be paid out as a reimbursement after the congress, based on specification of the expenses.
Eligibility:
Applicants must be SSE members (for becoming a member of SSE, see http://cms.gogrid.evolutionsociety.org/)
Applications can be submitted by scientists at various stages of their professional career (e.g., Masters and PhD students, postdocs, and lecturers).
Scientists working in a country with high GDP are not eligible (for the list of excluded countries see below).
People who received an SSE travel stipend in the last five years are not eligible.
Applicants must submit to present either an oral communication or a poster to be eligible for the stipend. This will be verified before the reimbursement, but no proof that a poster or talk is accepted is necessary at the application stage.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE STIPENDS ARE GIVEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANALOGOUS STIPENDS TO ATTEND THE LISBON MEETING OFFERED BY ESEB (separate call), SO THERE IS NO NEED TO APPLY TO BOTH
How to apply: send your application by email to the SSE International Committee, c/o Prof. N Wedell <N.Wedell@exeter.ac.uk>. The application should be no more than 2 pages long and include:
Please submit the application as a single PDF-file.
A support letter from the applicant advisor/mentor/senior colleague is also required. Support letters should be sent to the same email address (N.Wedell@exeter.ac.uk) by the applicant’s mentor.
Deadline: March 31, 2013, 24:00 GMT.
Members professionally based in the following countries are not eligible for the travel stipend: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland , United Kingdom, United States of America.
The goal of this award 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 also create the opportunities for new collaborations for the invited speakers.
Eligibility: 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 this award, including CV (not included in the page limit).
6. The institution/organization responsible for administering the funds.
7. A rationale of the event explaining how the presence of the invited speaker(s) will foster international cooperation and mutually benefit SSE and the meeting sponsors.
8. A budget showing (1) how funds from SSE, (2) the meeting sponsors, (3) and other sources will be used to cover the symposium.
Applications should be sent as a single pdf document to Prof. Nina Wedell (SSE-IC Chair; N.Wedell@Exeter.ac.uk).
Deadline for application is March 31, 2013; applications received after that date will be considered as funds allow.
These events are aimed at furthering the purpose of the Evolution Society by fostering 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: 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.
2. The institution that will be responsible for administering the funds.
3. The title event.
4. A rationale of the event explaining why the event is needed, how does it fit with the purpose of the SSE 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.
5. A description of the event.
6. A list of the primary participants who have been contacted and have expressed interest in being part of the event, if funded.
7. Dates and location of the event.
8. How the participants will be selected.
9. 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.
10. 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.
Applications should be sent as a single pdf document to Prof. Nina Wedell (SSE-IC Chair; N.Wedell@Exeter.ac.uk).
Deadline for application is March 31, 2013; applications received after that date will be considered as funds allow.
MACROEVOLUTION: FOSSILS, FRAMEWORKS, AND PHYLOGENIES
Call for nominations
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan invites nominations of outstanding scientists early in their careers to take part in an exciting international symposium on the conceptual and methodological integration of paleontological and phylogenetic approaches to the study of macroevolution. The symposium events will take place from 15-17 March 2013, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Nine early-career scientists will be selected to present their work alongside two plenary speakers and participate in panel discussions. We welcome nominations of scientists who are studying any aspect of macroevolution using paleontological, molecular phylogenetic, or theoretical approaches. We are especially interested in scientists whose work recognizes the promises and/or challenges of developing a unified neontological and paleontological framework for understanding macroevolutionary patterns.
Early career scientists are defined as senior graduate students (who stand to receive their Ph.D. within one year), postdoctoral researchers, and first- or second-year faculty. A colleague or advisor must provide the nomination.
A nomination consists of a brief letter of recommendation addressing the nominee’s scientific promise and ability to give a good talk, the nominee's curriculum vitae, and a brief abstract of the proposed presentation (< 200 words, written by the nominee). Nominations may be sent electronically (in one file if possible) to eeb-ecss-nomination@umich.edu using the nominee's name as the subject line (last name first, please). More information is available at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/ecss2013.
All nominations must be received by January 15, 2013.
Selected participants will be contacted by February 1, 2013 and will have all expenses covered (registration, travel and accommodation). An official announcement of the slate of speakers will be issued soon thereafter.
For more information, contact Cindy Carl at cacarl@umich.edu and/or go to our website at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/ecss2013.
Dear SSE Members,
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Integrative Organismal Systems has issued an updated solicitation for the core programs (NSF 13-506) along with a revised set of IOS Frequently Asked Questions (NSF 13-09) which are now available on the IOS home page at: http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=IOS
The core programs covered under this solicitation in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) support research aimed at understanding why organisms are structured the way they are and function as they do. Areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to, developmental biology and the evolution of developmental processes, nervous system development, structure, and function, physiological processes, functional morphology, symbioses, interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic environments, and animal behavior.
The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) will also host a Webinar to discuss the outcomes of the new preliminary proposal system thus far and answer questions about the updated solicitation on Monday, December 10th. Information about how to sign up for the webinar will follow shortly and be posted to the IOS home page.
Please feel free to post these links and information for your membership and include them in your newsletters.
Michelle Elekonich
Michelle M. Elekonich, PhD
IOS Science Advisor
ICOB Program Director
Behavioral Systems Cluster Leader
Division of Integrative Organismal Systems
Directorate for Biological Sciences
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
tel : 703.292.7202
fax : 703.292.9153
email: melekoni@nsf.gov
The next preliminary proposal deadline for IOS is January 18, 2013. The current IOS core program solicitation NSF 13-506 can be found here: nsf.gov - Publications - nsf13506 Division of Integrative Organismal Systems - Core Programs - US National Science Foundation (NSF)
FAQs for the core solicitation can be found here: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13009/nsf13009.jsp?
