Society of Systematic Biologists

The lab of Robert Cox in the Department of Biology at University of Virginia invites applications for a Laboratory Technician to assist with research on the evolution, ecology, and physiology of lizards. Research in the lab focuses on sexual conflict, sexual dimorphism, life-history evolution, quantitative genetics, animal physiology, and behavioral endocrinology. The primary research responsibility is the care and maintenance of a large breeding colony of lizards, which includes training and coordinating student volunteers, overseeing the daily care of animals, maintaining equipment and cleaning cages, collecting and archiving data, and participating in research projects through data analysis and bench work potentially ranging from hormone assays to DNA extraction, PCR, and genotyping. Initial projects will be closely supervised with increased independence possible as experience and expertise are developed. A Bachelor's degree in Biology or a related discipline is required at the time of hire. Strong organizational, computer, and communication skills are essential, and experience with animal care and basic molecular biology techniques are desirable. Ideal start date would be between June and August of 2013. This position is for one year. Application materials should be received by May 16 for full consideration. Further details and instructions for applying to this position can be found at the Jobs[at]UVa website: https://jobs.virginia.edu Search for posting 0612071. Questions about the position can be directed to Robert Cox (rmc3u[at]virginia.edu) Questions about the application procedure can be directed to Mary Liberman (ml5ac[at]virginia.edu) -- Robert M. Cox Assistant Professor Department of Biology University of Virginia P.O. Box 400328 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328 Office: (434) 982-1987 Lab: (434) 243-3399 047 Gilmer Hall http://faculty.virginia.edu/coxlab/ cox.robert.m[at]gmail.com

--Apple-Mail-9-846433068 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates Undergraduates interested in gaining research experience in evolutionary biology are invited to apply for a summer National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) position available this summer in the lab of Emily Moriarty Lemmon at Florida State University. The summer REU student will help conduct genetic analyses of population structure in chorus frogs (Pseudacris) to test whether behavioral changes in phenotype correlate with population and landscape level genetic changes. The REU student will learn molecular techniques for working with DNA (traditional genotyping and high-throughput sequencing) and bioinformatic techniques for analyzing sequence data. Candidates should have an interest in evolutionary genetics and learning statistical methods for analyzing genetic data. Compensation will be $480 per week (corresponding to $12.00/hr; for approximately 8 hours/day; 5 days/week) for a total of 8 weeks and will also include a $1,200 stipend for housing and $1,208 for subsistence during the 8 week period. For students planning on graduate school, this experience would look great on your resume. To apply for this position, please contact Dr. John Malone at jmalone[at]bio.fsu.edu and include a CV along with contact information for three references. --Apple-Mail-9-846433068 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates 
Undergraduates interested in gaining research experience in evolutionary biology are invited to apply for a summer National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) position available this summer in the lab of Emily Moriarty Lemmon at Florida State University. The summer REU student will help conduct genetic analyses of population structure in chorus frogs (Pseudacris) to te st whether behavioral changes in phenotype correlate with population and landscape level genetic changes. The REU student will learn molecular techniques for working with DNA (traditional genotyping and high-throughput sequencing) and bioinformatic techniques for analyzing sequence data. Candidates should have an interest in evolutionary genetics and learning statistical methods for analyzing genetic data. Compensation will be $480 per week (corresponding to $12.00/hr; for approximately 8 hours/day; 5 days/week) for a total of 8 weeks and wil l also include a $1,200 stipend for housing and $1,208 for subsistence during the 8 week period. For students planning on graduate school, this experience would look great on your resume.
To apply for this position, please contact Dr. John Malone at jmalone[at]bio.fsu.edu and include a CV along with contact information for three references. --Apple-Mail-9-846433068--

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------=_Part_10596097_828226296.1367832894442 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Postdoctoral position in Statistical genomic rearrangement in Lille/France A postdoctoral position is available within the BONSAI team, a bioinformatics research group between INRIA Lille - Nord Europe and LIFL (UMR 8022 CNRS, University Lille, France). - Duration : 12 months - Starting date : between June 2013 and October 2013 Description The position is funded by a Nord-Pas-de-Calais region grant for a scientific project on the application of Bayesian models and Markov chains Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques to the analysis of genomic rearrangements. The successful candidate will work on exploring and developing new Bayesian probabilistic models for the analysis of genome evolution based on the evolution of genomic breakpoints. Application The ideal candidate should hold: - either a PhD in Probability and Statistics with a taste for applications in bioinformatics, - or a PhD in Computer Science / Computational Biology with an expertise in Probability and Statistics. If the Ph.D. thesis is not yet defended, the candidate should provide the planned defense date. Before applying, candidates should email their detailed CV with a list of publications, and a short description of their current research interests and future research plans to Aida.Ouangraoua[at]inria.fr . - Application deadline: May 20, 2013. http://tinyurl.com/dxlh4s4 ------=_Part_10596097_828226296.1367832894442 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable body {height: 100%; color:#000000; font-size:12pt; font-family:Times New Roman;}Postdoctoral position in Statistical genomic rearrangement in Lille/France

A postdoctoral position is available within the BONSAI team, a bioinformatics
research group between INRIA Lille - Nord Europe and LIFL (UMR 8022 CNRS,
University Lille, France).
- Duration : 12 months
- Starting date : between June 2013 and October 2013

Description 

The position is funded by a Nord-Pas-de-Calais region grant for a scientific
project on the application of Bayesian models and Markov chains Monte Carlo
(MCMC) sampling techniques to the analysis of genomic rearrangements.

The successful candidate will work on exploring and developing new Bayesian
probabilistic models for the analysis of genome evolution based on the
evolution of genomic breakpoints.

Application 

The ideal candidate should hold:< br> - either a PhD in Probability and Statistics with a taste for applications in
bioinformatics, 
 - or a PhD in Computer Science / Computational Biology with an expertise in
Probability and Statistics.

If the Ph.D. thesis is not yet defended, the candidate should provide the
planned defense date.

Before applying, candidates should email their detailed CV with a list of
publications, and a short description of their current research interests and
future research plans to Aida.Ouangraoua[at]inria.fr .

 - Application deadline: May 20, 2013.   http://tinyurl.com/dxlh4s4

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--_000_3583952D9A2A694CABBA5983B4D8A6D103DE94SCOMP0936wurnetnl_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable TravelGrants - ConservationGenomics Dear colleagues, The European Research Networking Programme "ConGenOmics", supported by the European Science Foundation, invites applications for travel grants intended to foster collaborations between European researchers working on topics related to the Programme. We will support the exchange of researchers, ideally targeting at early careers researchers such as PhD students and postdocs. We invite applications for short visits (1-2 weeks) as well as longer exchange visits (up to 4 months) to foster scientific interactions between institutions from different countries. The planned visits should be directly relevant to the scope of the ConGenOmics network, which include topics such as: - Development and transfer of genomic knowledge and approaches in a conservation context - Experimental study of the (genomic) mechanisms behind important biological processes of relevance for conservation - Application and development of data handling and processing strategies in conservation genomics - Application of community and metagenomics in conservation biological context After assessment of scientific merit and relevance to the ConGenOmics network, priority will be given to applications in the following order: - knowledge exchange between contributing countries - knowledge exchange between a contributing country and a non-contributing ESF member country or the associated USA Ecogenomics network Ecological Genomics Institute (EGI) at Kansas State University (KSU). - knowledge exchange between a contributing country and a non-ESF member country in Europe - knowledge exchange between a contributing country and any country not covered by 1-3 Further information and instructions on how to apply are available at http://www.ru.nl/congenomics/grants-application/travel-grants/ Deadline for submission: 31 May 2013 --_000_3583952D9A2A694CABBA5983B4D8A6D103DE94SCOMP0936wurnetnl_ Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

TravelGrants - ConservationGenomics

 

Dear colleagues,

The European Research Networking Programme "ConGenOmics", supported by the European Science Foundation, invites applications for travel grants intended to foster collaborations between European researchers working on topics related to the Programme.

We will support the exchange of researchers, ideally targeting at early careers researchers such as PhD students and postdocs. We invite applications for short visits (1-2 weeks) as well as longer exchange visits (up to 4 months) to foster scientific interactions between institutions from different countries. The planned visits should be directly relevant to the scope of the ConGenOmics network, which include topics such as:

- Development and transfer of genomic knowledge and approaches in a conservation context

- Experimental study of the (genomic) mechanisms behind important biological processes of relevance for conservation

- Application and development of data handling and processing strategies in conservation genomics

- Application of community and metagenomics in conservation biological context

 

After assessment of scientific merit and relevance to the ConGenOmics network, priority will be given to applications in the following order:

- knowledge exchange between contributing countries

- knowledge exchange between a contributing country and a non-contributing ESF member country or the associated USA Ecogenomics network Ecological Genomics Institute (EGI) at Kansas State University (KSU).

- knowledge exchange between a contributing country and a non-ESF member country in Europe

- knowledge exchange between a contributing country and any country not covered by 1-3

 

Further information and instructions on how to apply are available at

http://www.ru.nl/congenomics/grants-application/travel-grants/

 

Deadline for submission: 31 May 2013

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Manhattan has been described as one of the most real estate obsessed neighborhoods on earth (after Monaco); and another thing it is especially obsessed about is prestige. So, a comparison of the most prestigious apartment (Co-operative and Condominium) buildings is of especial interest, I guess.

In Manhattan, prestige seems to result from such things as the building's overall architecture, the scale and layout of the apartments, the notoriety of its current and past residents, the sheer cost of buying any of the apartments, and the requirement that a purchaser be able to stomach the exorbitant monthly maintenance fees.

However, these are not readily quantifiable attributes, except for the monetary ones, which change from year to year.


CityRealty (a New York City apartment search and resource site) has addressed this conundrum by evaluating the best-known apartment buildings based on a consistent set of non-monetary criteria: CityRealty's New York City Condos & Co-ops. They note:
We rate each building based on its architecture, location and features, using the same scoring methods and criteria for all buildings. The maximum number of points for Architecture is 44, Location 36, and Features 39. However, it is virtually impossible for any building to get the full amount of points for any category.There are 18 criteria for Architecture (each scoring 1-8 points), 14 criteria for Location (1-5 points), and 22 criteria for Features (1-5 points). CityRealty list 3,085 apartment buildings, but only 1,943 of them have ratings.

I have concerned myself only with those buildings that have ratings ≥ 88 (the ratings vary from 30–99), which is 95 buildings. These buildings differ very little in the top-scoring criteria, which is to be expected if they are considered to be the top-rated ones. These criteria include: Distinction of exterior (8 points), Retail quality (5), Street ambience (5), Distance to business district (5), Distinction of lobby (5), and Number of units per floor (5).

However, these buildings do differ considerably on the other criteria, which include presence or absence of all sorts of "desirable" characteristics, such as: gargoyles, illumination, water element, recreational roof, garage, maid's room, elevator person, and external air conditioners. This makes a network analysis possible, which would summarize the similarities among the various buildings.

The analysis

I compiled a list of 57 of the buildings for analysis, including all of the top buildings as rated by CityRealty (37 buildings; scores 92–99), plus a selection of others (20 buildings; scores 88–91) that appear to be noteworthy as indicated by various internet lists (eg. based on architecture, prestige, history, cost of apartments). I then collated the data provided by CityRealty. (See the Postscript for a comment on the data.) There are 29 Co-operatives and 28 Condominiums in the analysis. However, two buildings have identical scores, because the Time Warner Center and the Mandarin Oriental are two towers in the same development — the apartments in the south tower have a One Central Park address (Time Warner Center) and those in the north tower are The Residences at the Mandarin Oriental.

As usual for my data analyses, I have compared the buildings based on what is (appropriately!) called the manhattan distance and then calculated a NeighborNet network. Buildings that are closely connected in the network are similar to each other based on the various criteria used by CityRealty, and those that are further apart are progressively more different from each other.


The network shows seven clusters, which I have color-coded. These clusters represent buildings that have many characteristics in common. Notably, these buildings are also clustered in space, as shown in the map below, which is color-coded to match the network. (Note that yellow is a bit hard to represent in the network.) In particular, the colors occur as follows:

• light blue – around the fringe of the Upper East Side
• red – Upper East Side next to Central Park
• yellow – along the west side of Central Park
• pink – Upper West Side and south-west Central Park
• purple – south-east corner of Central Park + 2 Upper East Side + 1 Financial District
• blue – mostly around the southern and eastern sides of Central Park + 2 Midtown East + 1 Financial District
• green – Downtown + 2 west of Central Park

The strong geographical clustering of the different types of buildings within Manhattan is not unexpected, since many of the areas were developed at the same time and in a similar architectural style. (This geographical result is not because of the importance of Location in the CityRealty scores, since most of the buildings score very well on all of the Location criteria, except Traffic noise). Important differentiating Architecture criteria include: presence of a Plaza or Atrium, Water Element, Illumination, Non Rectilinear Form, Ceiling Height, and Balconies.

There are also perceived differences in the desirability of the various areas, which means that nearby buildings often provide similar Features (such as Recreational Roof, Elevator Person, Maids Room, Garage, or Catering). This is further related to the non-random distribution of the two apartment types: all green are condominiums; all light blue and yellow are co-operatives; all except one of the red are co-ops; all except two of the blues are condos; and only the pink and purple are mixtures of the two types. Co-operative buildings tend to provide a range of more expensive Features than do the condominiums (most of the co-ops are at the bottom-left of the network graph).

The purple group are all similar in ambience, in that they are buildings that include both a hotel and apartments (usually, the lower part is the hotel and the tower is a co-op or condo). The exception is the Cipriani building, which is part of a world-wide chain. The pink group were all built at a similar time (1902-1908, except the Dakota 1882) and in a similarly opulent style, and they are now designated as historic landmarks.

CityRealty also provides lists of the Top 10 Most Prestigious Co-ops and the Top 10 Most Prestigious Condos. These are indicated with numbers and letters, respectively, in the network diagram. These buildings are somewhat clustered in the network, but it is clear that "prestige" is not directly related to the criteria used by CityRealty in their ratings (if it was, then the buildings would be much more clustered in the network). Furthermore, buildings such as River House are not necessarily as prestigious as they once were (see here and here), and so their places in these lists might be contested.

It is also worth noting that not all of the most expensive buildings are necessarily in the list analyzed. For example, in 2012 very expensive apartments were also sold in the co-op buildings at 785 Fifth Avenue, 884 Fifth Avenue, and 1030 Fifth Avenue, which I did not include in the network analysis.

Finally, not all of the apartment buildings discussed here are necessarily lived in by their owners, particularly those in condominium buildings. For example, the New York Times has noted:
In a large swath of the East Side bounded by Fifth and Park Avenues and East 49th and 70th Streets, about 30 percent of the more than 5,000 apartments are routinely vacant more than 10 months a year because their owners or renters have permanent homes elsewhere, according to the Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey.This is particularly true of the most expensive condo apartments:
Pieds-à-terre exist throughout the New York City condo market, a separate little world of vacation homes and investment properties. But the higher the price, the higher the concentration is likely to be of owners who spend only a few months, a few weeks or even just a few days each year in their apartments. This very costly form of desolation means that some of the city’s most expensive residential buildings stand mostly dark, lonesome and empty on the inside.Postscript

I should point out, in passing, that CityRealty have not been as consistent in their ratings as might be hoped. For example, they note that: "On occasion, we may add (or subtract) a few points based on our subjective view of the building, so if the numbers don't add up exactly as you expect, that's why." I have ignored these extra subjective points.

What I have not been able to ignore is some of the other inconsistencies. For example, "The Collection" building stands out like a sore thumb in the Sutton Place area (it is glass while its near neighbors are brick), as does "40 Bond Street" (it is bright green while its neighbors are brick or stone). Nevertheless, CityRealty have coded them: "Contextual Design: No, but Very Good", and scored both buildings 3 out of 3 on this criterion. Clearly, this confounds two criteria, Distinction of Exterior and Contextual Design, as CityRealty are allowing their claim that each building is an "Architectural Masterpiece" (and thus they score 8 out of 8 on Distinction of Exterior) to cloud their decision about whether each building also has "Contextual Design" (where CityRealty admit that each building should score 0 out of 3). Even more oddly, they also code "The Gainsborough" building exactly the same way ("Contextual Design: No, but Very Good") and yet, in the photo they show, this building seems to fit perfectly into its context. Indeed, "The Collection" might also fit in, if it was in a more modern location than Sutton Place, but there seems to be no such hope for "40 Bond Street".

The evolution of multicellularity was a major evolutionary transition that led to the emergence of a new level of biological complexity. At least two dozen such transitions have taken place in diverse groups, leading in some cases to evolutionary radiations with major consequences for biodiversity. Like other major evolutionary transitions, multicellularity increases biological complexity through the formation of new organizational structures. For example, component cells of multicellular individuals forego opportunities for independent reproduction to facilitate the reproduction of the multicellular individual as a whole. Dissolution and death of multicellular individuals readily occurs when cooperation breaks down, cancer being a prime example. There are multiple mechanisms to ensure cooperation of component cells in most extant multicellular species. However, the origin and the maintenance of multicellularity are two distinct evolutionary problems. Component cells in a nascent multicellular organism would appear to have frequent opportunities to pursue individual non-cooperative reproductive strategies at a cost to the multicellular individual. How then does multicellularity evolve? Multicellularity is studied in diverse model systems and by researchers in various fields. An understanding of the general principles involved in transitions from unicellular to multicellular life will benefit from integrating perspectives across these systems and fields of research. The purpose of this Catalysis meeting is to integrate the perspectives of scientists and scholars directly investigating multicellularity. The group will generate a foundational publication on the evolution and origins of multicellularity.

Subject: Two Biodemography PhD Positions at University of Zurich There are two biodemography PhD positions available in my research group at the University of Zurich. The details of these position can be found here: http://popecol.org/temp/PhD_UZH.pdf The prospective candidates are welcome to contact me with any questions. All the best, Arpat Ozgul Assistant Professor of Population Ecology Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies | University of Zurich Office: 34-J-24 | Tel: +41 (0)44 63 *54746* | arpat.ozgul[at]ieu.uzh.ch | popecol.org Arpat Ozgul

Postdoctoral Scholar in Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics We are currently accepting applications for post-docs combining computational genomics, molecular evolution, and disease biology. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in biology, genetics, computer science, statistics, bioinformatics, computational biology, or a related field and knowledge of molecular evolution. Knowledge or experience in complex genetic traits and network biology are a plus. The ideal candidate for this position will have substantial input to the specific nature of the research project. However, the project should broadly fit within the lab's goals of understanding how evolution plays a role in shaping and understanding complex health traits. There are opportunities to develop novel integrative evolutionary methods, analyze clinical genomic data, and to work on evolutionary analysis projects that could have a direct impact on human health. Interested candidates should send a CV and a short (1 page) description of both research interests and ideas for possible projects to me at dudleylabmssm[at]gmail.com. Review of applications will begin in April 2013, and will continue until the position is filled. Joel Dudley, PhD Director of Biomedical Informatics Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai http://research.mssm.edu/dudley/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/joeldudley joel.dudley[at]gmail.com

Background: Multiple infections of the same host by different strains of the same microparasite species are believed to play a crucial role during the evolution of parasite virulence. We investigated the role of specificity, relative virulence and relative dose in determining the competitive outcome of multiple infections in the Daphnia magna-Pasteuria ramosa host-parasite system. Results: We found that infections by P. ramosa clones (single genotype) were less virulent and produced more spores than infections by P. ramosa isolates (possibly containing multiple genotypes). We also found that two similarly virulent isolates of P. ramosa differed considerably in their within-host competitiveness and their effects on host offspring production when faced with coinfecting P. ramosa isolates and clones. Although the relative virulence of a P. ramosa isolate/clone appears to be a good indicator of its competitiveness during multiple infections, the relative dose may alter the competitive outcome. Moreover, spore counts on day 20 post-infection indicate that the competitive outcome is largely decided early in the parasite’s growth phase, possibly mediated by direct interference or apparent competition. Conclusions: Our results emphasize the importance of epidemiology as well as of various parasite traits in determining the outcome of within-host competition. Incorporating realistic epidemiological and ecological conditions when testing theoretical models of multiple infections, as well as using a wider range of host and parasite genotypes, will enable us to better understand the course of virulence evolution.

Bob Mesibov (who has been a guest author on this blog) recently published a paper on data quality in in ZooKeys:

Mesibov, R. (2013). A specialist’s audit of aggregated occurrence records. ZooKeys, 293(0), 1–18. doi:10.3897/zookeys.293.5111
In this paper Bob documents some significant discrepancies between data in his Millipedes of Australia (MoA) database and the equivalent data in the Atlas of Living Australia and GBIF (disclosure, I was a reviewer of the paper, and also sit on GBIF's science committee). This paper spawned a thread on TAXACOM, and also came up at the GBIF meeting I was at earlier this week.

One thing lacking from the discussion is a clear sense of just how big are the discrepancies between GBIF and MoA data, so I grabbed the data provided by Bob (http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.293.5111.app and extracted the records where GBIF and MoA disagreed. I converted these to GeoJSON and threw them on Google Maps:



You can see a live version here http://bl.ocks.org/rdmpage/raw/5501293/ (it can take a little while for the map to appear). I've connected the MoA and GBIF localities for the same occurrence by a straight line, and the the MoA records are encircled by an estimate of their uncertainty (for many records the circle is invisible at this scale).

There are some fairly spectacular discrepancies, and a lot of relatively small scale displacements of records. Does this matter? The answer to this question will depend on what people want to do with the data. You may regard the discrepancies as serious (certainly it's interesting that there are so many differences between the two data sets), or minor given the geographic scale. But visualising them at least makes it possible to form a judgement.

Invasions, interactions and global change Two postdoctoral positions are available at the University of California, Berkeley, to conduct bridging research connecting the themes of invasion biology, species interactions and global change, focused on the San Francisco Bay Area. On-going projects include studies of interactions of plants with their symbionts and diseases, insect herbivores and their natural enemies, as well as associated economic impacts. Ecosystems under study include those associated with legumes, grapes, and olives, but also natural systems and the urban/natural interface. Research in other relevant areas and systems is also encouraged, including quantitative analyses of community structure in space and time and novel approaches for the study of invasions, including citizen science. This project is part of the Berkeley Initiative for Global Change Biology (BiGCB). It is one of seven integrated research projects focused on global change forecasting for California ecosystems. Project leaders include Ellen Simms, George Roderick, Wayne Sousa, Rodrigo Almeida, Nick Mills, and David Zilberman. Associated departments include Integrative Biology, Environmental Science Policy and Management, and Agricultural and Resource Economics. Details: - Each postdoc will be for 1 year, but renewable for up to 2 years. - Expectations for the position include relevant research and coordinating a graduate seminar. - Connections with on-going projects is encouraged. Please contact individual project leaders using website links above. - The scholars will also be required to participate in and collaborate with other projects associated with the Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology (BiGCB). - Salary is commensurate with experience as set by UC policies (see http://vspa.berkeley.edu/postdocs). - Start date: 1 July 2013, or negotiable. Requirements: - Ph.D. in relevant field. Successful candidates must start appointment before accruing more than three years of research experience since receipt of Ph.D. - Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in both writing and speaking, through publications and contributed talks. - Expertise in area relevant to project. To apply: Send the following as attachments to an email with the header "Invasion Postdoc" to globalchange[at]berkeley.edu. Applications will be accepted starting today (1 May). 1. Statement of research interests (no more than 3 pages), including summary of Ph.D. project. 2. CV including education, publications, contributed papers. 3. Names and email addresses of 3 people who have agreed to provide letters of recommendation if asked. Deadline: The First Review Date of applications is 22 April 2013.

Due to a large number of "I was about to submit" messages, the deadline for abstracts has been extended to May 15th. _______________________________________________________________ The Evolutionary Demography Society (EvoDemoS) invites submission of abstracts for our first meeting, October 6-10 at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark. The overarching goal of this meeting is to establish EvoDemoS as a cohesive community of researchers. For this purpose we will emphasize introducing the members of EvoDemoS to each other's work and providing opportunities for discussion and interaction. We therefore welcome talks and posters in all aspects of evolutionary demography, life history evolution, and evolutionary aspects of the population ecology of all taxa. We hope you will join us. Details, including abstract submission and registration, can be found here: http://www.sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/MaxO/EvoDemoS=0A=0A_______________________________________________________________ Daniel Levitis Assistant Professor Max-Plank Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging Institute of Biology University of Southern Denmark levitis[at]biology.sdu.dk ---------- This mail has been sent through the MPI for Demographic Research. Should you receive a mail that is apparently from a MPI user without this text displayed, then the address has most likely been faked. If you are uncertain about the validity of this message, please check the mail header or ask your system administrator for assistance.