Society of Systematic Biologists - Home of Systematic Biology

The Society of Systematic Biologists Sponsors Webinar to Help Scientists Engage in Public Policy

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:12:36 -0600

A new online presentation sponsored by SSB aims to inform biologists about proposed federal funding for science and how individual scientists can help secure increased funding for competitive, peer-reviewed grant programs. The webinar, presented as part of the 2nd Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event, features information on the federal budget process, pending Congressional appropriations bills that would fund biological research in fiscal year 2011, and tips to help scientists prepare for meetings with lawmakers.

The webinar was presented by policy staff from the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) to participants of the 2nd Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event. SSB is a sponsor of the event, which will take place throughout the month of August 2010. This nationwide event was developed to encourage scientists to meet with their members of Congress in their home state in order to showcase the people, equipment, and facilities that are required to support and conduct scientific research.

As a sponsor of this event, SSB is able to offer our members access to a recording of this webinar program until August 31, 2010. The webinar can be viewed for free at http://www.aibs.org/public-policy/congressional_visits_recording.html.

Ernst Mayr and Graduate Student Award Winners 2010

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:07:42 -0600

The Ernst Mayr Award is given to the presenter of the outstanding student talk in the field of systematics at the annual meetings of the Society of Systematic Biologists. The award consists of $US 1000 and a 2-year free subscription to Systematic Biology. This year's competition at the Portland meetings was very stiff and we congratulate all of the participants. We split the award this year between two awardees: David Winter, Otago University, for his talk, Mayr’s hydra grows another head: could Rarotonga’s Lamprocystis radiation have arisen by sympatric speciation?, and Jeremy Brown, University of California, Berkeley, for his talk, Detecting inadequate Bayesian phylogenetic estimates.

Assistant Professor at California State University

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:25:31 -0600

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) seeks an evolutionary biologist for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biology, starting August 2011. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience. The successful candidate shall develop a vigorous research program involving undergraduate and M.S. students, seek extramural research funding, and demonstrate teaching excellence. A research focus on patterns or processes of diversification among species or populations is preferred. Teaching options include a course on the diversity of a group of terrestrial organisms, molecular systematics, evolution, and introductory biology. Applicants shall also be screened on how well they complement existing strengths in the department.

Systematics Association Lecture "Species for Macroevolution"

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 06:31:06 -0600

The Systematics Association Sir Julian Huxley lecture for 2010 will be "Species for Macroevolution" by Prof. Andy Purvis, Imperial College, London. The lecture will be held at The Linnean Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, Wednesday 7th July 2010, 6 pm. The meeting is open to visitors. Wine will be served after the lecture to members and guests.

Abstract: Species are fundamental units for evolutionary biology. Alone among the levels of classifications into which we place individuals, the species level has the potential to have an objective reality: when we count them, we think we are counting something meaningful. If we compare number of species in different taxa, regions, or times, we are led to try to understand why the numbers are different or similar. Incomplete knowledge may lead us to use higher taxa, such as genera or families, instead, but we do so in the hope and expectation that they will reflect what good species-level data would show. I will argue: 1. That this hope is misplaced – analysing higher taxa conflates processes that should be kept separate; 2. That analysing temporal patterns in numbers of higher taxa might be particularly problematic when using large, multi-author databases; 3. That even species cannot be used uncritically in macroevolutionary analyses – even with good data (a complete phylogeny of present-day species, or a complete record of fossil species) – but that 4. The best fossil records can let us come close to the ideal species for macroevolution, letting us tackle questions that cannot be addressed any other way.

Graduate Assistantship: Systematics of New World apple snails (Ampullariidae)

Mon, 03 May 2010 03:12:52 -0600

A NSF-funded graduate student position is available to work on a systematic revision of the New World Ampullariidae in the laboratory of Dr. Robert H. Cowie in collaboration with Dr. Ken Hayes, Dr. Ellen E. Strong (Smithsonian Institution), and Dr. Silvana C. Thiengo (Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil). For more details visit http://www.hawaii.edu/cowielab/GA_notice.htm.

Initial informal inquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr. Hayes, but all applicants will be required to submit a formal application consisting of: (1) cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae, (3) statement of research experience that explains your background, specific interest in the project, and experience/interests in the topic areas mentioned above, and (4) the names and contact information for at least three academic/scientific references.

Postdoc in coevolution with @mikecharleston at University of Sydney

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:36:21 -0600

Applications must be made online
Closing date: 16 May 2010

Understanding coevolution at the macroscopic level is the key to understanding the “big picture” of how parasites and pathogens coevolve with, and switch between, their hosts. The central aim of this project is to develop and extend the statistical framework of coevolution at the species level and above, to fill this gap in our knowledge.

Sabbatical Scholars And Collaborative Working Groups @nescent

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:23:54 -0600

Proposals for Sabbaticals and for collaborative working groups (Working Groups and Catalysis Meetings) are now being accepted at The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent). We are looking to support innovative approaches to outstanding problems in evolutionary biology. In particular, proposals that have a clear interdisciplinary focus, or involve evolutionary concepts in non-traditional disciplines, are strongly encouraged, as are proposals that demonstrate international participation and a mix of senior and emerging researchers, including graduate students.

Postdoctoral Positions at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:16:54 -0600

Two positions available June 1, 2010 to work on a grant-funded project studying the biological, systematic, and computational challenges presented by phylogenetic reconstruction of host-pathogen systems. The project will involve the development of analytical approaches and their implementation in POY [using C and OCAML], see POY and Supramap.

Applicants should have experience in systematics, biogeography, host-pathogen systems, and/or computational biology. Ph.D. required in biology, computer science, or related fields.

SSB: Call for Symposia for the 2011 Annual Meeting

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:17:42 -0600

The Society of Systematic Biologists invites proposals for symposia at the 2011 Evolution meeting to be held in Norman, Oklahoma, from 17-21 June 2011. The meeting will be held jointly with the American Society of Naturalists and the Society for the Study of Evolution, and our host is University of Oklahoma.

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.

TreeBASE II released, hosted @NESCent

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:49:32 -0600

The TreeBASE team are pleased to release a new version of TreeBASE -- a database of phylogenetic knowledge: http://www.treebase.org. TreeBASE is designed to serve as a digital archive of phylogenetic data reported in peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Improvements include:

Richer annotation of metadata (journal DOIs, specimen georeferences, Genbank accession numbers, etc)
A mapping between taxon labels and taxonomic names in uBio and NCBI for improved normalization of names
The ability to visualize and edit trees using Phylowidget - The ability to search on tree topology
Data are delivered in several serializations, including NEXUS and NeXML
A special URL gives journal editors and reviewers anonymous advanced access to data - Programmatic access to the data using the PhyloWS API.

Phyloinformatics Summer of Code 2010 @NESCent

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:44:11 -0600

The Phyloinformatics Summer of Code program provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate, masters, and PhD students to obtain hands-on experience writing and extending open-source software for evolutionary informatics under the mentorship of experienced developers from around the world. The program is the participation of the US National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) as a mentoring organization in the Google Summer of Code™.

Curator, Invertebrate Zoology, Royal British Columbia Museum

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:02:20 -0600

The Royal British Columbia Museum is advertising for a full time Curator of Invertebrate Zoology. Details of the job are available from http://employment.gov.bc.ca/index.php?view_posting=046576. The deadline for applications is 9 April 2010 (via TAXACOM).

NSF announces Dimensions of Biodiversity Program with $US 20M budget

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:10:34 -0600

The NSF has announced Dimensions of Biodiversity:

The Dimensions of Biodiversity initiative seeks to characterize biodiversity on Earth by using integrative, innovative approaches to fill rapidly the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. This campaign will take a broad view of biodiversity, and in its initial phase will focus on the integration of genetic, taxonomic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals should integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions and feedbacks among them. While this focus complements several core NSF programs, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in innovative or novel ways, to understand the roles of biodiversity in critical ecological and evolutionary processes.
The program has an anticipated budget of $US 20 million, with individual projects being limited to $US 3M. More details are available on the program website.

iEvoBio Call for Abstracts

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:22:39 -0700

iEvoBio is being held jointly with the Evolution Meetings as a satellite conference, for the first time in 2010 in Portland, Oregon.

Among the different events are a visualisation challenge, keynote presentations, full and lightning talks. Registration opened February 12th, and the Call for Abstracts for full talks is now open (with a deadline of April 8). For more details visit the iEvoBio site http://ievobio.org/.

Insect phylogenomics teaching/research assistantship at the University of Memphis

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:08:00 -0700

A teaching/research assistantship is available for a M.S. or Ph.D. student in the Department of Biology at the University of Memphis (TN) under the supervision of Dr. Duane McKenna, beginning Fall 2010. Students interested in insect (especially beetle) molecular phylogenetics/phylogenomics and the evolutionary ecology of insect-plant interactions are encouraged to apply. Candidates must have prior laboratory and field experience.

Interested students may inquire by contacting dmckenna@memphis.edu. Further information about the Department of Biology and Graduate Program can be found at http://www.memphis.edu/biology/graduate.htm.