Society of Systematic Biologists

The Department of Biology of the University of Vermont seeks applications for a tenure- track Assistant Professor position in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology of arthropods, especially insects. The position will be open in the fall of 2012. The successful candidate will have expertise in classical and molecular systematics, including analysis of complex data sets. Candidates pursuing phylogenomics and innovative methods in bioinformatics in combination with taxonomy are especially encouraged to apply. Department information at: http://www.uvm.edu/~biology.
All applicants are expected to: 1) hold a Ph.D. degree in relevant disciplines and have two or more years of postdoctoral experience; 2) develop a competitively funded research program; 3) teach undergraduate courses (chosen from among general biology, evolution, systematic entomology, and others in the candidate�s expertise); 4) teach, mentor and advise undergraduate and graduate students; and 5) oversee a natural history collection of historic significance. Candidates must apply online at http://www.uvmjobs.com. Search for the position using department name (Biology) only. Attach a cover letter with a statement of research focus and teaching interests (one document), a curriculum vitae, representative publications, and the contact information of three references.

The Society of Systematic Biologists invites proposals for symposia at the 2012 Evolution meeting to be held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from 6-10 July 2012.

Deadline: for full consideration, please submit proposals by Sept 15, 2011.

Proposals should include (1) a descriptive title, (2) one or two paragraphs explaining the purpose of the symposium and its relevance to systematics, (3) a list of presentations including proposed speakers, their institutions or affiliations, and their presentation titles, and (4) an indication of whether the speakers have been invited and whether they have agreed to participate.

Two NSF-funded PhD positions are available to work on a systematic revision of North American water mites in the family Torrenticolidae with Dr. Ashley Dowling at the University of Arkansas in the Department of Entomology. The project starts in January 2012 and is in collaboration with Dr. Andrea Radwell (Univ. of Arkansas) and Dr. Ian Smith (Canadian National Collection).
Water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidiae) are among the most numerous, diverse, ecologically important â�" and unknown â�" groups of arthropods in freshwater ecosystems, however, there are very few water mite experts worldwide, and even fewer trained in modern systematics. The objective of this PEET project is to revise, monograph, and disseminate data on a North American water mite family, Torrenticolidae, while training two PhD students in water mite systematics using modern taxonomic and phylogenetic methods.
Research will include 1) field collection in the North American Rocky Mountains, Yukon and Alaska, the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and Appalachian Mountain drainages in Georgia and Florida; 2) species descriptions focusing on a digital workflow and cybertaxonomic methods to speed up the time from discovery to dissemination of data; and 3) a full phylogenetic revision of Torrenticolidae based upon molecular and morphological data.
Previous experience with mites is not required for work on this project. We are primarily looking for students with a good background in biology and a strong interest in systematics and natural history. Students should be self motivated and possess a desire to become an expert in a group very few know much about.
For more information about the project or the graduate assistantships, please contact Ashley Dowling at 479-575-2482 or adowling@uark.edu. Information about the University of Arkansas can be obtained at http://www.uark.edu/ and the Department of Entomology at http://entomology.uark.edu/. The PhD positions are fully funded and include student stipend, healthcare and tuition at the University of Arkansas.

The Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST), originally funded by the EC in the framework of the EDIT project, has launched the Modern Taxonomy course programme 2011-2012 to provide future professionals with fundamental expert knowledge on basic taxonomy.

The course programme targets topics such as: nomenclature; describing, writing and illustrating biodiversity; collection conservation.

More info at: http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/modern-taxonomy-course-programme-2011-2012

A National Science Foundation funded graduate student position is available to work on systematics, evolution and conservation of Hawaiian land snails in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Cowie and Dr. Ken Hayes at the University of Hawaii.

For full details and application instructions please go to http://www.hawaii.edu/cowielab/HLS_GA_notice.htm

Zander, R. H. 2010 [2011]. Structuralism in Phylogenetic Systematics. Biological Theory 5: 383-394. [Abstract:] Systematics based solely on structuralist principles is nonscience because it is derived from first principles that are inconsistent in dealing with both synchronic and diachronic aspects of evolution, and its evolutionary models involve hidden causes, and unnamable and unobservable entities. Structuralist phylogenetics emulates axiomatic mathematics through emphasis on deduction, and "hypotheses" and "mapped trait changes" that are actually lemmas and theorems. Sister-group only evolutionary trees have no caulistic element of scientific realism. This results in a degenerate systematics based on patterns of fact or evidence being treated as so fundamental that all other data may be mapped to the cladogram, resulting in an apparently well-supported classification that is devoid of evolutionary theory. Structuralism in systematics is based on a non-ultrametric analysis of sister-group informative data that cannot detect or model a named taxon giving rise to a named taxon, resulting in classifications that do not reflect macroevolutionary changes unless they are sister lineages. Conservation efforts are negatively affected through epistemological extinction of scientific names. Evolutionary systematics is a viable alternative, involving both deduction and induction, hypothesis and theory, developing trees with both synchronic and diachronic dimensions often inferring nameable ancestral taxa, and resulting in classifications that advance evolutionary theory and explanations for particular groups.

Registration and abstract submission for the ââ?¬Å?Deep Metazoan Phylogeny 2011 ââ?¬" new data, newchallenges" conference, to be held from October 11-14, 2011 at the University of Munich (Germany) closes on July 1, 2011, midnightCEST (UTC + 2)!* (about 14 days from now!)

Full list of confirmed keynote speakers can be found at
http://www.palmuc.de/dmp2011, and you can register and submit your abstract directly at: https://www.conftool.com/dmp2011/

Starting the Fall semester of 2011, teaching and research assistantships will be available at the School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University (http://sols.asu.edu/), for graduate students (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) who are interested in insect systematics. A desire to work with weevils would be great but other taxon interests will receive full consideration. ASU-SoLS offers a wide range of learning and research opportunities (e.g. http://sols.asu.edu/grad/index.php; http://species.asu.edu/; http://sustainability.asu.edu/index.php), and is close to fascinating insect habitats. Interested candidates should send a statement of interest and CV to Nico Franz nico.franz@yahoo.com.

Bioinformatics Center of Kyoto University Application Deadline: May 31, 2011

http://academy.nescent.org/wiki/Computational_phyloinformatics

Computational Phyloinformatics is a 11-day international course (August 1-11, 2011) co-organized by the Computational Biology Research Center (CBRC/AIST), the Bioinformatics Center of Kyoto University, the Database Center for Life Science (DBCLS/JST), and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent). This course, which will take place at Kyoto University directly following the SMBE Meeting, aims to give participants practical knowledge and hands-on skills in phyloinformatics.