SICB Annual Meeting
January 3-7, 2007
Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix Hyatt Hotel

Events and Orientation

Opening Plenary Session
Wednesday, January 3 – Mimi Koehl of the University of California, Berkeley will give the Plenary Lecture entitled “Putting the organism in its environment: ecological biomechanics“.

Sessions-Symposia-Social Events
The 2007 Annual Meeting for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is an educational and research forum for investigations of biology on a broad comparative scale. The meeting will include many symposia and special programs in addition to hundreds of contributed papers in divisional and topical sessions. Watch the SICB Web site for Schedule of Events updates and the posting of abstracts in late October, 2006.

Evolution Town Meeting: A Year After the Dover Decision
Kitzmiller v. Dover struck a blow for the teaching of evolution, and against creationism, in the the US public schools. How did this case affect the ongoing battle between creationists and scientists over what is taught in schools? What has happened in the year since, and what is on the horizon? How do lawyers argue such cases, and what do we, as scientists, need to know to help them? Join us on January 5th, 2007 from 12:00 – 1:30 pm, for the fifth Town Meeting on Evolution. Our panel will feature Kevin Padian (University of California at Berkeley), Patricia Princehouse (Case Western Reserve University), and Stephen Harvey (Pepper Hamilton LLC law firm). The speakers will give short presentations, followed by what is sure to be lively discussion from the audience.

 

Media Workshop: Hey, Wanna Read My Blog?
Blogs are online “diaries” that are growing in popularity.�Popular political and social commentary blogs are making the news, but is there more out there than�chatty gossip and collections of links? How about some science? Can this trendy technology be useful for scientists? Come to the Media Workshop and find out! Experienced science bloggers P.Z. Myers (Pharyngula; http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/), Grrl Scientist (Living the Scientific Life; http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/), and John Lynch (Stranger Fruit; http://scienceblogs.com/strangerfruit/) answer your questions about how blogging works, setting one up, finding things to write about, and using the medium for your classes, for research, or for educating the public.

Phylogenetics for Dummies: Tree-based Statistics
Friday, January 5, 6-8 pm
Phylogenetics for Dummies is a continuing program of the Division of Systematics and Evolutionary Biology. The purpose of this program is to present a systematist’s perspective on current topics in comparative biology, along with introductions to relevant phylogenetic methods. This year, Ted Garland (U. California, Riverside: evolutionary physiology of mammals and squamates, with emphasis on locomotion) will provide an overview of some phylogenetically based statistical methods for the analysis of continuous-valued traits. Both practical and theoretical (phylogenetic and statistical) issues will be considered, and some programs will be demonstrated. Participants may wish to bring a laptop computer pre-loaded with Mesquite and PDAP (please download the programs just a few days before the meetings as several updates are in progress):
http://mesquiteproject.org/mesquite/download/download.html
http://mesquiteproject.org/pdap_mesquite/index.html

Special Events

• Following tradition, there will be a Bartholomew Award/Lecture and a Howard Bern Lecture. The Bartholomew Awardee is Dr. Douglas Altshuler of University of California Riverside. He will talk about “The Aerodynamic and Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Animal Flight through the Lens of Evolution“. The Bern lecture will feature Professor Nancy Sherwood of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, with “The endocrine system just before the backbone: genomics of the spineless”.
• NSF will participate in the 2007 meeting. Their exact program is TBD at this time.

Grad Student/Post Docs Welcome and Meeting Orientation
Wednesday, January 3, 2007, 5:30 pm. “How to get the most
out of your SICB meeting.”

• How to find relevant talks/posters during the meetings
• How to find everyone at the meetings
• How to approach a “big guy or gal”
• How to enter or leave a room/move between rooms
• How to plan your meeting
• How to get involved in SICB or attend business meetings and the importance of attending the meetings (exposure, recognition).

This will be followed by a lightning round of first timers’ questions.

Welcome to Phoenix Reception
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology welcomes you to Phoenix with a reception on Wednesday, January 3. The Welcome Reception will follow the Plenary lecture and will be held at and sponsored by the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. For this reception, each attendee will be given one free drink ticket after which a cash bar will be available. Light snacks will also be provided.

Vogel Social a.k.a. “Vogelfest”
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology holds a social in honour of Steve Vogel and at the same time celebrates the new Division of Comparative Biomechanics. Friday, January 5, from 7:30-10:00 pm, Phoenix Ballroom in the Hyatt Hotel.

Companion Orientation/Continental Breakfast
All registered guests are welcome to join an informal gathering on Thursday, January 4, from 9:00-10:00 am. A knowledgeable local person will be on hand to let you know about some of the many fascinating facts and sightseeing opportunities in Phoenix.

American Microscopical Society
AMS members are invited to meet for their yearly luncheon. This year’s Past Presidential lecture will be given by Vicki Pearse.

Call for Exceptional Photomicrographs

Do you have a photomicrograph of exceptional interest and quality? If so, the American Microscopical Society invites and encourages you to enter it into the annual Ralph and Mildred Buchsbaum Excellence in Photomicrography Contest. The contest will take place at the SICB meeting in Phoenix, January 4-7, 2007.

Micrographs will be displayed at the AMS booth where SICB meeting attendees may evaluate them and vote for the best image in both black and white and color categories.

Winning micrographers in each category will receive a cash award, a photomicrography book and a luncheon ticket to the AMS banquet at the next SICB meeting. The images will be also be featured on the AMS website.

The contest is open to SICB meeting participants; up to 3 entries each. AMS membership is welcomed but not required. Submissions must be prints, with maximum dimensions of 8 X 10 inches, unlabeled, unsigned, and mounted on poster board or foam-core mounting board. A single line of information identifying the subject (e.g., “Mouthparts of a mite”) and stating the microscopical technique used (e.g., “SEM”) should be below the photograph.

Entries will be accepted on the morning of the first full day of the meetings (Thursday, January 4, 2007) at the AMS booth in the exhibit hall. The deadline for submitting entries is before the exhibits close for lunch that day.

Voting begins on the afternoon of the first meeting day and ends before exhibits close at the end of the second full day (Friday, January 5, 2007). All meeting participants who visit the AMS exhibit are allowed one ballot for each contest category.

SICB Business Meeting
The SICB Business Meeting will take place Saturday, January 6, from 5:15 – 6:15 pm.

SICB Society-Wide Evening Social in Honor of Students and Postdocs

Join your fellow SICB members for a Society-Wide Social on Saturday, January 6, from 8:00-9:30 pm. Coffee, desserts and fruit will be served and a cash bar will be available.

Graduate Student Workshops
Workshop: “What Editors Want” – Saturday, January 6, 6:00-7:00 pm Have you ever wondered what editors look for when combing through the barrage of manuscript submissions? Just how do you get your manuscript to the top of the pile? In this workshop, participants will learn what editors look for when deciding which articles get considered for publication, how to avoid common mistakes, how to prepare illustrations, and will receive some hints and tips about things like copy- right permissions, citations, and more. In addition, presenters will cover the article types and requirements for the different SICB journals, and the details about how to use the online submission system. Speakers will be editors and staff from journals specific to (and often published by) the divisions of SICB. The session is aimed at students, postdocs, and early- career researchers, but attendance is open to all.