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AIBS News July/August 2009

  • BESC/CoFARM Visit Capitol Hill

    More than 30 scientists and graduate students were in Washington, DC, in April to participate in the annual congressional visits event cosponsored by the Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) and the Coalition on Funding Agricultural Research Missions (CoFARM). The scientists met with members of Congress to discuss the importance of a predictable, sustained federal investment in biological, agricultural, and environmental science.

    The two-day event began with a briefing by senior members of the science policy community. Following the briefing, event participants attended a BESC/CoFARM Capitol Hill reception to recognize Senator Dick Durbin (D–IL) and Representative Maurice Hinchey (D–NY) for their support of biological and agricultural research. Senator Durbin, the Senate Majority Whip, was recognized for his leadership on behalf of agricultural and environmental research. Representative Hinchey has long supported investments in biological, environmental, and agricultural research from his position on the House Appropriations Committee.

    "Through their actions, Senator Durbin and Representative Hinchey have demonstrated that they understand the best investment for the nation is one that funds all fields of scientific research," said Robert Gropp, cochair of BESC and AIBS director of public policy. "Answering the grand scientific questions and global challenges we must address in the coming decades requires a comprehensive approach—no one discipline will inform our actions."

    Participating in this year's congressional visits were the winners of the 2009 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leader Award, Adam Roddy, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Anna Stewart, of the State University of New York College of Enviromental Science and Forestry. The Organization of Biological Field Stations—an AIBS member organization and participant-level contributor to the Public Policy Office—sent six participants. The Association of Ecosystem Research Centers and Long Term Ecological Research Network also had scientists participating in this year's event.

  • AIBS to Cosponsor 6th Annual Evolution Symposium: "Evolution in Extreme Environments"

    AIBS and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) are cosponsoring the sixth annual evolution symposium on 13 November 2009 at the National Association of Biology Teachers professional development conference in Denver, Colorado.

    This year's symposium, "Evolution in Extreme Environments," will feature four speakers: Cynthia Beall, of Case Western Reserve University; William R. Jeffery, of the University of Maryland; Jody W. Deming, of the University of Washington; and Steven Haddock, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. These scientists will give updates on research in high altitudes, caves, Arctic ice, and the deep sea. They will provide insights into how evolutionary processes differ in these environments and how their discoveries connect to a greater understanding of evolutionary processes.

    In addition to the symposium, NESCent is organizing an education workshop that will take place on the same afternoon to provide instructors with tools to teach about evolution in extreme environments.

    NABT conference registration is required to attend the symposium and workshop. To register, visit the NABT Web site at www.nabt2009.org. For details about the symposium and workshop schedule, visit the AIBS Web site at www.aibs.org/special-symposia.

  • Recent Education Reports Online at www.aibs.org

  • Recent Articles Online at www.actionbioscience.org

    • "Tackling Climate Change Issues in the Classroom," by Michael J. Dougherty, Director of Education at the American Society of Human Genetics

    "Technology: An Educational Issue?" blog posts

    • Ocean gazing

    • Science images

    Spanish translation of a previously posted article

    • "Microbios en la Corte: El Campo Emergente de la Medicina Forense Microbiana" [Microbes in Court: The Emerging Field of Microbial Forensics], by Abigail A. Salyers, professor of microbiology in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    • "Conejos Pigmeos en Peligro en Los Estados Unidos" [Pygmy Rabbits in Peril in the U.S.A.], by Lisa Shipley, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University

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