Society of Systematic Biologists

Daniel Caetano (University of Idaho) and Anita Aisenberg (Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable) are conducting a short survey about the role of museum collections in the biological sciences research programs. The survey http://museums-collections.questionpro.com consists of eight multiple choice questions and it will take less than 5 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The survey answers will contribute with an undergoing scientific project.

The iEvoBio 2012 Challenge has been announced, and the topic is synthesizing phylogenies. The task:

Somewhere, buried in large sets of trees, lies a stunning new revelation, a baffling discovery, the answer to a longstanding controversy, or simply something not obvious to the naked eye. The mission of the 2012 iEvoBio challenge is to find those revelations, discoveries and answers within your own data and/or within one of the datasets provided by the challenge. What new scientifically interesting results can you pull from these trees, using any combination of techniques at your disposal?

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. Proposals for Working Groups and Catalysis Meetings are accepted twice a year, with deadlines on July 10 and December 1.

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.

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.

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.

The Society congratulates the winners of the following student awards.

Ernst Mayr Award
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 $1000 and a set of available back issues of Systematic Biology. This year's competition at the Idaho meetings included an extraordinary set of talks and we congratulate all of the participants. We actually split the award this year between two awardees:

T. Ryan Gregory has created Evolver Zone, a resource for students, teachers, and researchers with an interest in evolution. The site contains links to multimedia (including a a beginner�s guide to making a phylogenetic tree), software, databases, professional societies, journals, and books, and is supported by sales from it's EZ Store.

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) is now accepting proposals for sabbatical scholars, working groups and catalysis meetings.

• Proposals for postdoctoral fellowships are accepted at the December 1 deadline only.
• Proposals for sabbatical scholars, working groups and catalysis meetings are accepted twice a year, with June 15 and December 1 deadlines.
• Proposals for short-term visitors are considered four times a year, with deadlines on January 1, April 1, July 1 and September 1.

For more information, please see our website at https://www.nescent.org/science/proposals.php.

The Evolution Directory (EvolDir) is a well-known mailing list run by Brian Golding. Now you can follow EvolDir on Twitter to get regular "tweets" about conferences, jobs, software, and other events or developments of interest.

I've also created an RSS feed for EvolDir, so the last three posting will appear on the right hand side of this website (see the heading "EVOLDIR").