Mark Hauber

Todd Freeberg

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2012-2013 ABS OFFICERS

President: Robert Seyfarth, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6196, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
First President-Elect: Dan Rubenstein, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ  08544, USA. Phone: (609) 258-5698. E-mail: [email protected]
Second President-Elect: Regina H. Macedo, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília 70910-900 - Brasília - DF-Brazil. Phone: +55-61-3307-2265. E-mail: [email protected]
Past President: Joan Strassmann, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1137, St. Louis MO 63130, USA. Phone: (314) 935-3528. E-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer: Molly Cummings, Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712 USA. Phone: (512) 471-5162 Email: [email protected]
Secretary: Sue Margulis, Departments of Biology and Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208, USA. Phone: (716) 888-2773. Email: [email protected]
Program Officer: Maydianne Andrade, Integrative Behaviour & Neuroscience Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
Program Officer-Elect: Michael D. Beecher, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Department Box 351525, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 USA. Phone: (206) 543-6545. E-mail: [email protected] 
 Parliamentarian: Peggy Hill, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Tulsa, 800 Tucker Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104 USA. Phone: (918) 631-2992. E-mail: [email protected]
Executive Editor: Michelle Pellissier Scott, Department of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA. Phone: (603) 862-4749. E-mail: [email protected]

Members-at-Large: 
Kevin McGraw, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501, USA. Email: [email protected]

Gail L. Patricelli, Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, One Shields Avenue 2320 Storer Hall, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Phone: (530) 754-8310. E-mail: [email protected] 

John Swaddle, Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795, USA. Phone: (757) 221-2231. E-mail: [email protected]

 

Historian: Lee Drickamer, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011-5640, USA. Phone: (520) 523-0388. E-mail: [email protected]

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DIRECTIONS FOR CORRESPONDENCE

ABS Newsletter: Send general correspondence concerning the Society to Sue Margulis, [email protected]. Deadlines for materials to be included in the Newsletter are the 15th of the month preceding each issue. The next deadline is 15 January, 2013. Articles submitted by members of the Society and judged by the Secretary to be appropriate are occasionally published in the ABS newsletter. The publication of such material does not imply ABS endorsement of the opinions expressed by contributors.

Animal Behavior Society Website:
The Animal Behavior Society's website has moved to a new domain located at:
http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web

Animal Behaviour, manuscripts and editorial matters:  Animal Behavior Society, 2111 Chestnut Ave, Suite 145., Glenview, IL 60025, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Phone (812) 856-5541, Fax    (812) 856-5542.

Change of address, missing or defective issues: Animal Behavior Society, 2111 Chestnut Ave, Suite 145., Glenview, IL 60025, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Phone (812) 856-5541, Fax (812) 856-5542.

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CHILDREN'S BOOK REVIEWS

2012 Book Award finalists teach and delight young readers

When did you first become interested in animal behavior? Likely, it was when you were a child. For the past 10 years, the Animal Behavior Society has sought out and recognized the best children’s books that highlight animal behavior and inspire young people to take a greater interest in our field.  We encourage you to take a look at our 2012 winner and finalists and help us promote these titles.  Maybe you know a budding scientist who would love to find a book under the tree this December?

We will soon be soliciting books for next year’s award. Interested publishers can contact Wendy Hein, the committee chair. The committee is also developing a sticker that can be placed on the finalist and winning books. These stickers will help promote our award and make these books even more attractive to buyers.

WINNER: Animal Eggs, by Dawn Cusick and Joanne O’Sullivan. Published by Early Light Books (2011)

Reviewed by Michelle Solensky, Jamestown College

Do you know what a mermaid’s purse is?  Have you heard of a male parent so dedicated that he holds his eggs in his mouth for more than a week to keep them safe?  Did you know that eggs can be blue, red, pink, yellow, green, white, black, or a variety of other colors?  Animal Eggs includes intriguing stories about these and other reproductive marvels.  This book is filled with fascinating information about egg size, shape and coloration, and about the behavior of the parents who care for the eggs, the young that hatch from them, and the predators that target them.  This catalog of cool egg trivia is organized into short, manageable pieces that are beautifully illustrated with vivid color photographs.  This organization makes it easy to read this book cover to cover, or just take in one section at a time.  The reader can learn about more than 100 egg-laying animals, including examples from a diverse array of animal groups- insects, fish, birds, and even two egg-laying mammals.   

This book has 48 pages, and includes a table of contents with 9 sections and an index that will help the reader relocate a particular animal example.  Readers from age 8 and beyond will find this an interesting and readable book.  Students in grades 3-5 from three countries gave this book high marks that resulted in Animal Eggs being selected as the 2012 Winner of the Animal Behavior Society Children’s Book Award.  Many of the elementary school student reviewers commented on the wonderful photographs and the cool animal information.  The vivid book cover will draw readers in, while the amazing photos and facts keep the pages turning!

FINALIST: Bug Shots, by Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel. Published by Holiday House (2011)

Review by Eduardo Bessa, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso

Like a good crime script, Bug Shots drags young readers into the deceitful world of insects, in which telling who are the enemies and who are good guys is not that easy. Bug Shots combines well-written and easy to understand text with striking photomicrographs. The authors’ proposal is to provide bugs their deserved fair trial, check the evidence, examine these animals’ ecological roles, and then judge them friend or foe.

Bug Shots demonstrates not only how important insects are, but also explores their morphology and how it helps them play so many roles in nature. Insect diversity and their differences from correlated groups like the mites are also important topics here. My only concern is that sometimes the authors’ discussion on why an insect should be considered innocent or guilty is too anthropomorphic.

The images that illustrate the book are artificially-colored scanning electron microscope (SEM) photomicrographs, presented in various details. The authors were careful enough to make sure every picture was accompanied by its scale and to state that the original images are not colored but color was added to help differentiate structures.

Both the main text and the micrograph captions complement each other and are rich in precise and quality information. Although the text is mostly clear, at the end of the book there is a glossary. There is also a list of further readings so that children can keep learning.

Bug Shots reminds us of how important insects are. But mostly it reminds us how much fun learning can be.

FINALIST: Seabird in the Forest: the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet, written and illustrated by Joan Dunning. Published by Boyds Mills Press (2011)

Reviewed by Abby Schwarz, Dandelion Environmental Consulting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), smallest relative of the common murre, is a seabird classed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Canadian Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). One of the most important discoveries about the marbled murrelet was made within the last 20 years: it prefers to nest in old-growth coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest.  Joan Dunning describes some of the life history of this secretive bird in poetic prose matched by lovely illustrations. Text and illustrations are accompanied by inserts containing more facts about the forests, canopy life, how the murrelets conceals themselves and their chick from predators such as ravens and Steller’s jays, and how many of these discoveries were made (by using cameras put in place before nesting begins). 

The story begins with a pair of murrelets leaving their feeding grounds in coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean and flying into the forest to their nest site. (The birds exhibit nest-site fidelity, suggesting that they are monogamous.)  The female lays a single large egg and for a month she and her partner take turns incubating it. The incubating bird stays motionless and relies on camouflage to avoid discovery by a predator.  When the chick hatches, the parents take turns feeding and brooding it until it can keep itself warm. Then for another month the chick stays alone and quiet, as Dunning puts it, “a living secret”, while the parents come and go, bringing it fish. One day the chick pulls out as much of its own down as it can reach, stands on the edge of the nest, flaps its wings, and with no experience to guide it, flies strong and straight to the ocean and begins catching its own food. 

One of the book’s strengths is Dunning’s interweaving of natural history with the importance of preserving the murrelet’s preferred habitat. For example, clear cutting increases the distance the parents must fly to find and then deliver fish to their single offspring, thus increasing their energy costs. This and their nest site fidelity is one of several factors causing a decline in their populations.

Rather than posing specific questions, Dunning presents the story and its context simply and directly.  This too is one of the book’s strengths, as it subtly encourages the reader to ask questions. I spoke to a number of children after they had read and evaluated the book. Some wondered how the chick knew how to catch its food once it got to the ocean; others how it could fly without lessons, knew where to go, and how it knew that staying still when left alone was the best anti-predator strategy.  These and other questions are left unanswered in this beautiful book.  Highly recommended for young readers, even though most children wanted more facts.

FINALIST: Leaps and Creeps: How Animals Move to Survive.  Published by Marshall Cavendish/ Benchmark (2011)

Review by Wendy Hein, Oregon State University Extension Service

Let’s face it-if animals just sat there, they would not be nearly so interesting. It’s fascinating to watch them jump, run, climb, fly, glide, dig, swim and even dance. Young readers will find a new form of locomotion described on every page of Leaps and Creeps.

Illustrations in this book are predominately photographs of the animals described in the accompanying text. Examples come from throughout the animal kingdom. Readers learn about sidewinding snakes, gliding Wallace’s tree frogs, shoaling fish, and the multi-talented mudskipper. The descriptions of each movement are vivid so that children and non-scientists can easily create a mental image of the movement. The book introduces less than a dozen really sophisticated words, like “brachiation” (swinging by the arms from branch to branch), which are highlighted and defined in the glossary. There are a few book and web resources for interested readers who want to learn more.

This book is one of five in the Amazing Animal Skills series, written by prolific children’s book author Robin Koontz. It was the only book of the series submitted by the publisher, but the other titles in the series sound intriguing: Movers and Makers, Screams and Songs, Sniffs and Stinks, and Spits and Squirts. This book is available in a sturdy library binding or as an eBook.

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JUST PUBLISHED

ALL Royal Society journal content is currently freely available to access online until 29th November 2012 and the following recently published issues may be of particular interest to ABS members:

The social network and communicative complexity in animals, organized and edited by Todd M Freeberg, Robin IM Dunbar and Terry J Ord (order code TB1597). See-http://bit.ly/tcciGa for further details including a FREE video podcast in which guest editor Robin Dunbar talks about some of the themes covered in the issue, or you can go straight to the issue contents at  http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1597.toc

Pattern perception and computational complexity, compiled and edited by W Tecumseh Fitch, Angela D Friederici and Peter Hagoort (order code TB 1598).  See-http://bit.ly/tjzYxC for further details or you can go straight to the issue contents at
 http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1598.toc. 

New thinking: the evolution of human cognition, compiled and edited by Cecilia Heyes and Uta Frith (order code TB 1599).  See-http://bit.ly/HGcWn9 for further details or you can go straight to the issue contents at
 http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1599.toc

Sexual selection, social conflict and the female perspective, compiled and edited by Dustin R Rubenstein, Richard Prum and Michael Levandowsky (order code TB 1600). See-http://bit.ly/sKKww5 for further details or you can go straight to the issue contents at
 http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1600.toc

Animal minds: from computation to evolution, organized and edited by Uri Grodzinski, Nicola S Clayton and Alex Thornton (order code TB 1603).  See - http://bit.ly/tQn58B for further details or you can go straight to the issue contents at http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1603.toc

The print issues are all available at the special price of £35.00 (usual price £59.50). You can order online via the above web pages (enter the relevant order code listed above when prompted) or, alternatively, you can contact [email protected]

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Nominate your hero, your mentor, or your colleague for that well-deserved award

Submitted by Joan Strassmann, ABS Past-President. Excerpted from: http://sociobiology.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/nominate-your-hero-your-mentor-or-your-colleague-for-that-well-deserved-award/

Do you sometimes wonder how the people that get prizes are chosen? Can you think of someone who had a big influence on you that should get a prize? Identify the prizes given by your scientific societies and nominate the best for them! Many awards are based on nominations followed by voting. Without a nomination, there will be no award. So take the time to nominate your heroes. They could be people close to you who have written you countless letters of recommendation. They could be people you hardly know, but whose outstanding papers and innovative ideas have changed your career and have helped you discover.

You may think that these prizes serve no particular purpose, or that they only inflate already large egos. I have been surprised at the modesty at the very top, finding the largest egos lower down. Anyway, I think prizes are important. The main reason is that it is often the case that people in our field are competing with people from other fields for positions of various sorts. How do people far from our field recognize excellence? One way is by seeing that a candidate has won a prize. So I think we should have lots of prizes and nominate vigorously for them so the whole field prospers.

It is a sad truth that for many awards there are very few nominations. How can we reward the very best if no one even takes the time to nominate them? It is true that nominations take a bit of work. You are likely to have to write a nominating letter. You may even have to gather several such letters. You will have to think hard about the person’s career and summarize some of the excitement in a few paragraphs. You may feel so in awe of the person that you don’t want to do it. But if you don’t, then who will? Once you get going, it is fun to nominate.

Make nominating others for awards, memberships, or fellowships a normal part of the service side of your career. It will make you feel good. It will give you insight into the ebb and swell of an outstanding career, something you might learn from. I nominate five to ten people a year for something or another. Mostly, you don’t tell them you are nominating them. Sometimes nothing comes of the nomination, but other times they snag the award and it is delightful.

Awards is an area where women and under-represented minorities and under-represented fields and creatures are often ignored. Think about how you can address this with some of your nominations.

I know you are busy, but it is time to start nominating. As past president, I am in charge of the Career Awards for the Animal Behavior Society. They also have a Facebook page. Send me some nominations, please!

Guidelines for submitting nominations follow this plea. So, do it today!

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR 2013

CAREER AWARDS

The Animal Behavior Society has a series of Career Awards that include the following: Distinguished Animal Behaviorist - outstanding lifetime achievement in animal behavior; Exemplar Award - major long-term contribution to animal behavior; Outstanding New Investigator - outstanding contribution by a new investigator; Quest Award - outstanding seminal contribution; Exceptional Service Award - sustained service contributions to the Animal Behavior Society; and Distinguished Teaching Award - distinguished contributions in teaching animal behavior to undergraduates.

All members of the society are encouraged to prepare and submit nominations for these awards. To aid the Selection Committee and to help codify the procedures involved, the following items must be submitted for a nomination: (1) a letter of nomination indicating the award for which the nominee is being proposed. It should provide details on the reasons the nominee should be considered for that award; (2) a curriculum vitae of the nominee; and (3) additional supporting letters from colleagues solicited by the nominator. These materials (except for the Distinguished Teaching Award; see below) should be sent to ABS Past President Joan Strassmann, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1137, St. Louis MO 63130, USA. Phone: (314) 935-3528. E-mail: [email protected]

Deadline this year is November 30, 2012.

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DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD

The recipient of this award receives recognition, a plaque from the Society, and the opportunity to organize an education-related event at the following annual meeting. It is easy to know about our colleagues’ research by reading publications; it is much more difficult to know about their teaching excellence. We rely on nominations.

PLEASE NOMINATE QUALIFIED COLLEAGUES FOR THIS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD.

Selection of the award recipient will be made by the Animal Behavior Society Education Committee and approved by the Executive Committee. The award recipient will be announced at the annual meeting of the Society.
Deadline: Nominating letters should be submitted by November 30, 2012, to: Stan Braude, Biology Dept. Box 1137, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, or [email protected].

Criteria and Procedures

1. Nominees must be current members of the Animal Behavior Society. (Note: current officers and committee chairs are not eligible for nomination.)
2. Nominees must have demonstrated highly effective and innovative teaching in the classroom or in an informal education setting (e.g., zoos, aquaria, museums, 4-H programs, research labs and field stations, and environment centers). They should have a reputation among peers and students for excellence in educating people about animal behavior.
3. Persons wishing to nominate an individual for the award should submit a one-page nomination letter providing evidence to support the nomination. The letter should also include names of at least two additional peer reviewers, and two current or former students or program participants.  If students are under 18 years old, the student/participant references should be accompanied by, or attached to, a letter from the appropriate teacher or youth program coordinator.  (Note: Department chairs, directors, supervisors, or colleagues may be helpful sources for this information if you are not at the same institution as the person you are nominating.)
4. The Education Committee will solicit appropriate supporting materials, including those indicated in nominating letters (e.g., documentation of other teaching awards, peer and student evaluations, additional references, evidence of innovation in curriculum development, development of educational tools, programs, or multimedia products, or other appropriate indicators of superior educating).
5. If you would like to re-nominate an individual for the award, please submit a letter indicating that you are doing so and provide any additional information you feel might be helpful to the committee. Please also include the date of the original nomination. Names of additional peer or student reviewers may also be provided.

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ABS STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS

DEADLINE 11 JANUARY 2013
(must contact ABS Central Office by 8 January 2013)

JOINT APPLICATION PROCESS
 
Applicants for the following grants may apply via a single application process:

ABS Student Research Grant; E. O. Wilson Conservation Award; George W. Barlow Award; Amy R. Samuels Cetacean Behavior & Conservation Award; Developing Nations Research Grant.
Application materials should be submitted through the ABS website: http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web. This grant site is now open and will close on Friday, 11 January 2013 (midnight, Eastern Standard Time). Submissions will not be accepted after the closing date. Students who have paid their society dues in full prior to Tuesday, 8 January 2013 and have contacted the ABS Central Office by 8 January 2013 will be eligible to submit a grant application. You must contact the Central Office by this date (1/8/2013) so we can verify and then activate your account on the grants submission site or you will not be able to log in and submit their materials. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST WEEK if at all possible!! Activity might be heavy and uploading could run into problems due to server and or network congestions. ABS will not be responsible if you miss the deadline due to network and/or server problems. SO SUBMIT EARY!
All applicants must arrange to provide a letter of support from an advisor or other scientist. All applications will be reviewed by members of the ABS Student Research Grant Committee, and decisions will be announced in April /May 2013.
If you have any questions about your membership, problems with the grant site or the submission process, contact the ABS Central Office ([email protected]) prior to Tuesday, 8 January 2013. For questions regarding application content or the grant review process, potential applicants for these grants may contact ABS Senior Member-at-Large Kevin McGraw, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501, USA. Email: [email protected].

Note: Applicants may receive only one of the following grants in a lifetime: ABS Student Research Grant; E. O. Wilson Conservation Award; George W. Barlow; Amy R. Samuels Cetacean Behavior & Conservation Award).

ABS Student Research Grant

ABS Student Research Grants for graduate student research are awarded at a level of US$500 to $2000 each, depending on referee evaluations.

E. O. Wilson Conservation Award

The Edward O. Wilson Conservation Award seeks to encourage graduate students of animal behavior to participate in meaningful conservation-related research. This single grant of up to US$2000 supports a proposal considered meritorious for its integration of behavior and conservation. The award is named for Dr. E. O. Wilson, professor at Harvard University, one of the world's preeminent scientists and pioneers in biodiversity conservation. Dr. Wilson received the ABS Distinguished Animal Behaviorist Award in 2002.

George W. Barlow Award

The George W. Barlow Award's purpose is to encourage excellence in graduate student research in the field of animal behavior. This grant will be given annually to one top-ranked proposal in the Student Research Grant cycle in accordance with the most recent ABS Student Research Grant competition rules.

Amy R. Samuels Cetacean Behavior & Conservation Award

The purpose of the Amy R. Samuels Cetacean Behavior & Conservation Award is to provide financial support for graduate students studying cetacean behavior and/or cetacean conservation in natural environments. The goal of this grant is to encourage original and significant research that focuses on endangered populations or species, or on critically important problems in cetacean behavioral biology. A grant of up to US $2000 will be made to a successful applicant. The grant must be used for field research; it cannot be used for laboratory research. This grant will be awarded only if there are proposals deemed worthy by the committee in any given year. Thus, there may be years in which no award is made. Eligible applicants must: (1) be enrolled in a Masters or Doctoral Program in a University accredited by a regional college association,  (2) be members in good standing of one of the following professional societies: Animal Behavior Society or Association of the Study of Animal Behaviour. ASAB members planning to apply for this grant must contact the Central Office ([email protected]) prior to Tuesday, 8 January 2013 to be able to submit an application through the ABS web site.

Animal Behavior Society Developing Nations Research Grant

ABS announces the annual Developing Nations Research Grant Competition. The funds are intended to provide financial support for scientific studies of animal behavior conducted by current Animal Behavior Society student members, as well as more established researchers, who are residents of a developing nation and are conducting research at an institution in a developing nation. (Please note that developing nation student members of ABS are also eligible to apply for the annual Student Research Grants Competition, and are eligible to receive both a Developing Nations Research grant and a Student Research Grant, but not in the same year.)

The following nations shall not be considered developing nations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Grants are awarded for research to be conducted within a 1-year period from the date of receipt of this grant.

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CALL FOR ABS MEETING INVITATIONS

ABS is seeking proposals for future meeting venues. Sites can be a resort or hotel, university campus or a mixture of the two. Contact ABS Past President, Joan Strassmann, Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1137, St. Louis MO 63130, USA. Phone: (314) 935-3528. E-mail: [email protected].

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Latin American Travel Award

The Latin American Travel Awards are intended to encourage greater participation of Latin American researchers in ABS meetings, by helping to defray the costs of international travel, housing, and/or meals at meetings. These awards are restricted to Latin American graduate students enrolled in programs in Latin American institutions, who will be presenting a talk/poster at the ABS meeting.  Priority will be given to Ph.D. students who are attending an ABS meeting for the first time and who have not received a Latin American Travel Award in previous years.  Award values vary according to funds available. The deadline for applying is 1 APRIL 2013.

You may apply for a Latin American Travel Award once you have successfully submitted an abstract for a talk or poster, via the 2013 meeting web page.  To apply for a Latin American Travel Award, please submit by email a single electronic file (.pdf is preferred) that contains the following materials, to Member at Large, Gail L. Patricelli, [email protected]:  (1) a copy of the abstract of your talk or poster; (2) a short CV (two pages maximum); (3) a brief statement (one page maximum) explaining how the meeting will enhance the applicant's career development; and (4) an itemized budget estimating travel costs, the amount of funds available or requested from other sources, and the amount requested from ABS.

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Diversity Fund Student Registration Fee Award

The Diversity Fund Student Registration Fee Awards are intended to encourage participation and defray costs of attending the annual Animal Behavior Meetings by covering registration fees for graduate students and, in some cases (see below), established professionals, of under-represented minorities. Awards will be made by lottery of all valid applications received before the deadline, which is 1 APRIL 2013. Applications should be emailed to ABS Treasurer, Molly Cummings (mcummings@ mail.utexas.edu). Please include in the subject line "ABS Diversity" followed by your name.  Preference is given to individuals presenting research results.

Eligibility: Applicants from North America must be enrolled in a graduate program at the time of application and must be members of under-represented minorities who are of African, Asian, or Latin American descent or of Native American heritage. Citizens (graduate students or established professionals) of Latin American countries and non-white citizens of African countries are also encouraged to apply.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

50th Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society-
July 28-August 1, 2013

The 50th Annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society will be held in Boulder, Colorado from July 28th to August 1st 2013. Please check the ABS website and look for a special email announcement to members in the near future with details about our historic 50th meeting.

CALL FOR PAPERS.
Each ABS member may present or sponsor one contributed paper at an Annual Meeting.  Any topic related to the field of Animal Behavior is welcome, including all aspects of the behavior of animals for field, laboratory or theoretical studies.  Abstracts submitted by non-members must include the name of an ABS member willing to sponsor the presentation. ABS members may also show one film, participate in invited paper sessions or present plenary lectures in addition to giving or sponsoring their single contributed paper. The research reported at an Annual Meeting must comply with the ABS guidelines and all applicable laws concerning animal care and welfare.  More details on abstract submission guidelines and abstract submission deadlines will soon be available on the conference website, linked to the ABS meeting site here: http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/absmeetings/.

Registrants may submit abstracts for Talks or Posters. Talks will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, as per ABS policy.  Registrants are encouraged to consider giving a poster presentation. Posters will be presented in well-attended evening receptions and provide the opportunity for extensive interaction and discussion.

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The 2013 Warder Clyde Allee Competition for Best Student Paper will take place July 28 to August 1 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. All eligible students are encouraged to participate. The following rules govern the Allee Award for best student paper presented in the Warder Clyde Allee session at the annual meeting:

Eligibility requirements: Any independent graduate student research (including, but not limited to, the doctoral dissertation) is eligible. The work presented may be part of a larger collaborative effort, but the student should be first author and have the principal responsibility for the conceptualization and design of the research, the collection and analysis of the data, and the interpretation of the results. The entrant cannot have been awarded the Ph.D. degree before the preceding ABS annual meeting (for the 2013 competition, this date is June 10, 2012). An individual can enter the session only once per lifetime.

To enter: Students must indicate their desire to be considered for the competition by checking the appropriate box on the abstract submittal form for the annual meeting; submit an electronic version of their paper, which includes their addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses; fill out a signed and dated form indicating that they meet all eligibility requirements (to be supplied to entrants after receipt of their papers); present a spoken version during the 2013 Annual Meeting; attend both the Allee welcoming dinner on the evening before the competition day and the banquet during the Annual Meeting. The spoken portion of the competition is limited by the number of papers that can be presented on the day assigned for the competition. Applications for the 2013 competition, including the written paper, will be due exactly one month before the meeting abstract submission date (this date will be posted on the ABS website soon). This will enable the Allee judges to evaluate the written papers and determine further eligibility.  Applicants will be informed of status prior to the abstract submission due date for the meeting. The manuscript must be submitted in electronic PDF format, of no more than seven double-spaced, line-numbered, text pages, and no more than a total of four tables and/or figures (this limit does not include abstract, references, or acknowledgments), and must be received by ABS 2nd President-Elect Regina H. Macedo, Departamento de Zoologia-IB, Universidade de Brasilia, 70910-900 Brasilia, DF, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected] Electronic submission is required.  If you do not receive acknowledgement of receipt within 7 days, please send a follow-up query. Papers MUST be formatted using the instruction for authors for a research paper in the journal Animal Behaviour to insure eligibility.

Check instructions at the site:
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622782/authorinstructions. If significant new results arise after submission, students may submit a one-page addendum to their papers up to 30 days before the first day of the Annual Meeting. Questions should be addressed to Regina Macedo, [email protected].

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GENESIS AWARD POSTER COMPETITION

Undergraduates who submit posters for presentation at the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society are automatically entered in the Genesis Award poster competition unless they indicate they do not want to be included in the competition when they submit their abstract. Judging criteria include significance of the research topic, research methods, research results, and presentation. Presentation encompasses the student's oral discussion with the judges and the poster itself, including clear statements of the questions and results, demonstration that there has been appropriate literature review, good organization and visual appeal. Students should be prepared to demonstrate a mastery of their subject material. Information about this award is available at the ABS website link: http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/grants-and-awards/ meeting-related-awards/genesis-award-for-undergraduate-research. Further information, if needed, can be obtained from the Education Committee Chair, Susan Foster, [email protected].

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Join an ABS Committee!

Would you like to volunteer for one of the society's active committees? This is an important and rewarding way to participate in the business of the society, and we need your help!  Committees include Membership, Policy, Public Affairs, Education, Latin American Affairs, Conservation, Animal Care, Film and others. 

Contact ABS President Robert Seyfarth, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6196, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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2014 ABS MEETING - Organizing Symposia and Paper Sessions

The 51st meeting of the Animal Behavior Society will be held August 9-14 at Princeton University, hosted by Dan Rubenstein (who will also be president of the Society during this meeting). To organize a symposium, an invited paper session, or a workshop for the ABS Annual Meeting, members are encouraged to contact the Program Officers to discuss your ideas. We will first make sure that there are no potential conflicts with the topic that you are considering.  Then we will ask you to prepare a pre-proposal and submit it to the Program Officer Elect. Organizers often find that consultations with the Program Officers are helpful when drafting the pre-proposal. The pre-proposal should be a page or two summarizing your intent for the session, and suggesting potential participants.
A symposium should be a profound and stimulating review of an important subject area that currently is a major focus of research. It should be a thorough treatment of past work and current research advances, and should be of general interest to the majority of ABS members.

An invited paper session is a special grouping of papers that focus upon empirical results relating to a particular topic.  Usually there is no all-encompassing historical-theoretical perspective, although the organizer(s) may wish to summarize the individual papers or arrange them according to some theme.

Pre-proposals for the 2014 meeting are due before the annual meeting at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2013 and will be circulated to the Executive Committee - EC prior to the Annual Meeting and then discussed at the EC meeting.

The 2013 meeting is scheduled for 28 July-1 August 2013. The Program Officer Elect encourages potential organizers for 2014 symposia to begin discussions about proposals for prior to the 2013 conference. Further information can be found on the ABS website or by contacting the ABS Program Officers: Maydianne Andrade, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4. Phone (416) 287-7425, E-mail: [email protected] and Michael Beecher, University of Washington, Animal Behavior Program, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA. Phone: (206) 543-6545, E-mail: [email protected]

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MEETINGS

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SOCIETY

 

ANNUAL MEETINGS:

2013: 28 July-1 August, Animal Behavior Society-50th Annual Meeting, Boulder, Colorado.

2014: 9-14 August, Animal Behavior Society-51st  Annual Meeting, Princeton, New Jersey.

OTHER US MEETINGS:

2013: 3-7 January, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) - Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.

2013: 14-18 February, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

2013: 15-16 March, Life Discovery-Doing Science, St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

 

 

If you are interested in promoting teaching and learning in organismal and environmental biology, please consider attending this unique event.

This conference is one of two major efforts being developed by a partnership of societies and spearheaded by the Ecological Society of America.  The Animal Behavior Society is a conference collaborator, and we are joining the partnership in their second major effort: the development of the LifeDiscovery Digital Library (which will house teaching resource collections from various societies including ABS).  Please help ABS spread the word about both efforts.

Deadlines for the conference are:

• Hands-on Workshop Proposals: July 31, 2012
• Presentation Proposals: August 31, 2012
• Share-Fair Proposals: September 30, 2012
• Early-bird Conference Registration:

December 15, 2012
More information about the conference can be found at: http://www.esa.org/ldc/

Please contact Cynthia Wei at CynthiaAWei@ gmail.com for more information.

2013: 21-23 March, “Living with Animals,” Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky.

CALL FOR PAPERS:

“Living with Animals,” including the subthemes, “Teaching with Animals” and “Living with Horses.” This conference has special relevance to the venue. Eastern Kentucky University, located in Richmond just south of Lexington, ‘The Horse Capital of the World’, began offering the first undergraduate degree in Animal Studies in 2010.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Margo DeMello/Francine Dolins/Ken Shapiro/Kari Weil
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS:
Dr. Robert Mitchell and Julia Schlosser
[email protected]
[email protected]

ABSTRACTS:
Please send 200-300 word abstracts and CV to Dr. Robert Mitchell, either by email: [email protected]; or mail (Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, 40475, USA) by December 15th, 2012.
Selected speakers will be notified via email by January 7, 2013.
CONFERENCE WEBPAGE:
Very soon, we will have a link for the conference that you can access from: http://www.eku.edu/academicspotlight/animal-studies-program
You can also email Julia Schlosser with questions: [email protected]
2013: 18-22 June, American Society of Primatologists- 36th Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2013: 17-20 July, Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES)-25th Annual Meeting, Miami Beach, Florida.

INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
2013: 15-19 April, Animal Behavior Management Alliance Conference-Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada
2013: 16-19 May, International “Stress and Behavior” Neuroscience and Biopsychiatry Conference 19th Annual Meeting, St. Petersburg, Russia.2013: 22-25 May, Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) - Annual Meeting, Ghent, Belgium.
2013: 21-25 July, Annual Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB)-26th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland
2014: 31 July-5 August, International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE)- Annual Meeting, New York City, New York.

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NOTICE!

ABS Financial statement is available to all ABS members upon request. Please contact the ABS Central Office ([email protected]).

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The National Science Foundation’s Division of Integrative Organismal Systems has issued an updated solicitation for the core programs (NSF 13-506) along with a revised set of IOS Frequently Asked Questions (NSF 13-09) which are now available on the IOS home page at: http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=IOS

The core programs covered under this solicitation in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) support research aimed at understanding why organisms are structured the way they are and function as they do.  Areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to, developmental biology and the evolution of developmental processes, nervous system development, structure, and function, physiological processes, functional morphology, symbioses, interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic environments, and animal behavior.

The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) will also host a Webinar to discuss the outcomes of the new preliminary proposal system thus far and answer questions about the updated solicitation on Monday, December 10th. Information about how to sign up for the webinar will follow shortly and be posted to the IOS home page.

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OPPORTUNITIES

CANISIUS COLLEGE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR ANIMAL COGNITION/ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Canisius College invites applications for a full time, tenure track position in its Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation department beginning fall 2013.  The position will involve offering animal cognition courses in our undergraduate Animal Behavior program, and in our online Anthrozoology Master’s of Science program.  We seek an individual committed to excellence in teaching, mentoring students, and the conduct of productive scholarship that involves students.  In addition to expertise in animal cognition, the ideal candidate will also be able to teach courses that address ways in which scientific knowledge is used in either wildlife conservation or animal welfare.  Applicants should hold a PhD (or equivalent degree).  

To apply please submit a letter of application, statement of teaching philosophy, research plan, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references as a single PDF document to: Michael Noonan, PhD, Chair of Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation at [email protected], by December 3, 2012 (please put ABEC in the subject line of your email).

HEAD-DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (http://eeb.bio.utk.edu) at the flagship campus of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville is seeking a senior colleague for the position of Professor and Head. We are interested in a visionary individual able to lead a department that is already rich in potential to become one of the top EEB departments in the world. Candidates should evidence effective leadership and have a record of excellence in teaching and research in any area of ecology and evolutionary biology or related field.  
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is dynamic with ambitious plans for future growth in all aspects of our scholarship. There is already much collaboration both among the 27 current faculty and 60 graduate students and with nearby scientists and mathematicians associated with the National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Oak Ridge
National Lab, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The University of Tennessee is a faculty-friendly campus (http://provost.utk.edu/faculty-friendly/) and supports dual-career couples. 
Applicants should currently hold or be eligible for promotion to the rank of Professor. The successful applicant will be expected to have achieved an internationally renowned research program, as well as to possess real insights into undergraduate and graduate teaching, administering a department and interacting with other university units.  The Knoxville campus of
the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University.
To apply, please send the following in a single pdf-formatted document to [email protected]:
(1) a cover letter that includes a vision statement for the head’s leadership role in the growth of an EEB department, a statement of teaching philosophy/experience and current research interests, and the names and contact information for three referees; (2) a CV; and (3) copies of three publications. Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2012 and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated starting date is August of 2013. 

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP

We seek a Ph.D. student with an interest in animal orientation and behavior to join a NSF funded team developing automated robotic tracking technologies. The student will develop an understanding of the large-scale movement patterns of invasive carp and their relationship to identified pheromones and other odors across lakes using radio-telemetry. Specific hypotheses about home range utilization, spawning, and partial migration can be addressed.  This research will be conducted under the umbrella of a new interdisciplinary aquatic invasive species research center.  Salary is $20,000 year and includes full tuition and health benefits.  Please contact Peter Sorensen at the University of Minnesota (St. Paul) for more information ([email protected]). See http://sorensenlab.cfans.umn.edu/ and http://www.cbs.umn.edu/eeb/graduate/future-eeb-graduate-students.

GRADUATE POSITIONS IN INTEGRATIVE ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, BEHAVIOR, AND ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY

The Integrative Organismal Biology (IOB) group at Virginia Tech is a diverse group of scientists studying the behavior, ecology, evolution, and physiology of animals. IOB faculty are currently seeking talented and highly motivated graduate students to join the Ph.D. program in Biological Sciences beginning in Fall 2013.

IOB is part of the growing Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior group in Virginia Tech’s Department of Biological Sciences. Members of IOB also interact frequently with scientists studying biology and related disciplines in other departments across campus, including Engineering Science, Entomology, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and Statistics.

Faculty Research Interests:
Lisa Belden (Community ecology: http://www.faculty.biol.vt.edu/belden/)
Dana Hawley (Animal disease ecology: http://www.biol.vt.edu/faculty/hawley/)
Joel McGlothlin (Evolutionary genetics, ecology, and physiology: http://www.faculty.biol.vt.edu/mcglothlin/)
Ignacio Moore (Mechanisms of behavior in free-living vertebrates: http://www.faculty.biol.vt.edu/moore/)
John Phillips (Sensory ecology and the neural basis of behavior: http://www.faculty.biol.vt.edu/phillips/behavlab2/phillipsmain.html)
Kendra Sewall (Animal behavior and neurobiology: http://www.biol.vt.edu/faculty/sewall/index.html)
Jeff Walters (Behavioral ecology and conservation biology of birds: http://www.faculty.biol.vt.edu/walters/)

Applications for fall admission should be received by December 31, 2012 for full consideration. Applicants will be considered for financial aid in the form of graduate teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships. We strongly encourage prospective students to contact a faculty member as soon as possible to discuss their specific research interests.
Graduate program information: http://www.biol.vt.edu/graduates/index.html
Graduate application: http://www.biology.vt.edu/graduates/how_to_apply/grad_application_information.html
Biological Sciences at VT: http://www.biol.vt.edu/research/index.html
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at VT: http://www.biol.vt.edu/research/index.html

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS - SABBATICAL SCHOLARS, WORKING GROUPS AND CATALYSIS MEETINGS

Proposals for Sabbaticals, 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 are accepted twice a year, with deadlines on July 10 and December 1. Proposals for Sabbaticals may be for up to a full year. We also accept proposals for short-term visits (2 weeks to 3 months; 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.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR FIELD COURSE

The study of animal behavior is by nature interdisciplinary - crossing the boundaries between Biology, Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology. An understanding of the behavior of diverse species contributes both to our appreciation of human evolution, and to our ability to preserve biological diversity through conservation.
This 10-day Animal Behavior Field Course is being offered at the Southwestern Research Station located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The dates are July 6 - 16, 2013
The course will include daily multimedia lectures. Although most of the course will be devoted to class and small-group projects, we also participate in research being conducted by scientists at the Research Station. In addition, we attend evening seminars given by Station scientists. Indeed, it is the presence of so many scientists (and their students) from around the world that makes this field course so unique! 
The course is limited to 15 participants. At the end of the course, the Southwestern Research Station will issue a Certificate of Completion.

Participants: The Animal Behavior Course is designed for: undergraduate and graduate students; teachers; professors; museum and zoo docents, environmental professionals, or anyone who enjoys observing and understanding the behavior of animals in their natural habitat.

 

Instructor: Dr. Howard Topoff, Professor Emeritus of Biopsychology at the City University of New York. Dr. Topoff has been conducting field research on insect social behavior at the Southwestern Research Station for over 40 years.

Cost: $1,020 per person for 10 nights. This includes course tuition ($350) as well as room and 3 meals each day at the Research Station ($670).

For additional information about the course including a biography of the instructor, please see the course web site at: http://www.animalbehaviorcourse.com

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CANDIDATES FOR THE 2013 ELECTION OF ABS OFFICERS

The order in which candidates are listed may influence voting. Please avoid this bias in making your choice. This year the candidates are listed in reverse alphabetical order by last name.

Second President-Elect:   

Emília P. Martins

Education:  B.A. Zoology and Psychology, 1987, University of California, Berkeley; M.S. Biometry, 1991, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Ph.D. Zoology, 1992, University of Wisconsin, Madison; post-doc in evolutionary genetics 1992-94, University of Washington, Seattle and University of Oregon, Eugene.

Current Position: Professor of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Research Interests: Communication and social behavior of lizards and fish; behavioral evolution; phylogenetic comparative method; statistics and informatics in behavior

ABS and Related Activities: Current: ABS Fellow (elected 2011), ABS Diversity Committee (2001-now), Co-Director ABS Turner Program (2002-now), Director or Co-Director of IU’s REU summer program in animal behavior (2004-now); Local Host: Behavior 2011 (joint conference of ABS and IEC) and 2002 ABS annual meeting; Executive Councils: International Council of Ethologists (member: 2010-now), EthoSource (co-Director: 2002-2006); ABS (Program Officer: 1998-2001), Society for the Study of Evolution (councilor: 2001-2003); Editorial Boards: Animal Behaviour (2005-2008), Proc Roy Soc Lond-B (2006-2008), American Naturalist (2006-2009), Systematic Biology (1996-2001); Other ABS service: Allee Award Judge (1996), Assistant Program Officer (1994-1997), Member ABS Professional Ethics Committee (1990-1997); Service on 18 NSF grant review and advisory panels.

Jennifer Fewell

Education: B.A. Cornell University, Neurobiology and Behavior, 1979; M.A. University of Colorado, Boulder, Environmental Population and Organismal Biology, 1985; Ph.D. University of Colorado, Boulder: Dept. Environmental Population and Organismal Biology, 1988.

Current Position: President’s Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University; Associate Dean of Faculty, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University.

Research Interests: Social evolution and the organization of social groups; social insect behavioral ecology; self-organization and network analysis of social organization and division of labor.

ABS and Related Activities: ABS: Senior Program Officer, 2005-2007; Junior Program Officer, 2003-2005; ABS Executive Committee 2004-2007; Member, Ethological Congress Committee, 1999-2000; Chair, membership committee, 1996-1998; Meeting Judge: Allee competition, 2011, 1999; Founder’s Award competition, 1998; International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI): Host and co-organizer, 2004 meeting of North American Section; Delegate and Symposium organizer, XIV International Congress, 2002; Executive committee, North American Section 1999-2002; President, North American Section 1998-1999; NSF panels: Animal Behavior 2011, 2010, 2001; Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants, 2006; Biocomplexity initiative, 2000; Postdoctoral Fellowships in Integrative Biology, 1998; USDA panels: CSREES Entomology, 2002, 2004; CSREES CAP panel, 2008-2011.

Parliamentarian:

Eileen Hebets

Education: B.A. Biology 1994, Albion College; M.S. Biology 1996, University of Cincinnati; Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2002, University of Arizona; NIH Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Neurobiology and Behavior 2002 - 2004, Cornell University.
Current Position: Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska.

Research Interests: Evolution of communication; multimodal signaling; sensory ecology; variable female mate choice; sexual selection; speciation; navigation
ABS and Related Activities: ABS member almost continuous since 1994; Associate Editor, Animal Behaviour 2010-present; Editorial Board, Behavioral Ecology 2009-present; Guest Editor, Current Zoology special issue on ‘Complex Signaling’- 2011; Guest Editor, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology special issue on ‘Multimodal Signaling’ (current); Reviewer for Animal Behavior Society student grants (spring 2012); NSF DDIG panelist (2009); NESCent working group member on Sexual Selection and Speciation (2009-2011); NSF IOS panelist Behavioral Systems Cluster (2008); Abstract Reviewer for International Society for Behavioral Ecology (2008); recipient of ABS Outstanding New Investigator Award (2008).

Rex Crocroft

Education: B.M., Music, 1983, Catholic University; M.A., Zoology, University of Texas-Austin, 1990; Ph. D., Neurobiology and Behavior, 1998, Cornell University; Postdoctoral Fellow, 1999-2000, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Current Position: Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri.

Research Interests: evolution of communication; substrate vibration as a communication modality; collective behavior and communication in group-living insects; insect-plant interactions; speciation.

ABS and Related Activities: first joined ABS in 1997; NSF DDIG panelist (2004), NSF Animal Behavior panelist (2008, 2009); regular reviewer of NSF Animal Behavior grant proposals; reviewer for Animal Behaviour and numerous other journals; Editorial Board member for Systematic Biology (2002-2006); Associate Editor, Behaviour (2005-2010) and Evolution (2011-).

Member-at-Large:

Caitlin Gabor

Education: B.A. with honors, 1990, Aquatic Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara; M.S., 1993, Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette; Ph.D., 1997, Environmental and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, 1997- 1999, University of Texas, Austin; Lecturer, 1999- 2000, University of Texas, Austin.

Current Position: Professor, Department of Biology, Texas State University.

Research Interests: Predator-prey dynamics and the effects of introduced predators on fish and salamanders; proximate and ultimate mechanisms of species recognition in a unisexual-bisexual species complex of fish.

ABS and Related Activities: ABS member since 1992; NSF panelist (2005, 2010); NSF Graduate Research Panel (2010, 2011); Associate Editor for Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2005-present) and Amphibia-Reptilia (2009-present); Judge for Warder Clyde Allee award (2011); Chair ABS Public Affairs Committee (2009- present); Mentor for ABS Turner Awardees (2003, 2010, 2011); Organizer for ABS 5K Fun Run (2010-present).

Alison Bell

Education: B.S. 1996, History, Philosophy, Social Studies of Science and Medicine, University of Chicago; Ph.D. 2003, Population Biology, University of California, Davis; NSF Postdoctoral Fellow 2003-5, University of Glasgow, UK; AAUW Postdoctoral Fellow 2005-6, University of California, Davis

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology; Affiliate, Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Program in Neuroscience, Program in Neuroscience, Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: Intraspecific behavioral variation; parental effects; evolution and development of behavior; behavioral genomics

ABS and Related Activities: ABS member since 1997; Lead organizer of Behavioral Syndromes Symposium at the Animal Behavior Society meeting August 2006; Editorial Board Member Journal of Evolutionary Biology (2007-12); NSF Behavioral Systems Cluster panelist 2009; reviewer for ABS student research grants 2009, 2012; Editor Behavioral Ecology (2012-present); Young Investigator Award from the Animal Behavior Society 2012; reviewer for Animal Behaviour and NSF Behavioral Systems Cluster

Program Officer-Elect:

Mark E. Hauber

Education:   B.S. summa cum laude in Organismal Biology, 1996, Yale University; M. Sc. Psychology,

2011, Victoria University of Wellington; Ph. D. Neurobiology and Behavior, 2002, Cornell University,
D.Sc. Biological Sciences, 2010, University of Auckland.

Current Position: Professor, Department of Psychology, Hunter College, and Head of Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Website: http://www.cowbird.org.nz

Research Interests: Development and function of species recognition systems; avian brood parasitism; seabird breeding and foraging ecology; neuroethology of birdsong.

ABS and Related Activities: attended ABS, ASSAB, ISBE, and Ethology/Behavior/combined conferences since graduate school, Local Host: ISBE conference, 2014;  Editor, Ethology, 2011-Present;  Behavioral Ecology, 2005-2010; Peer reviewer for Animal Behaviour and other behavioral journals, NSF graduate fellowships, and grant applications; Elective Member, American Ornithologists' Union (2003).

Todd Freeberg

Education:  B.S. in Ecology, Ethology, & Evolution from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;    Ph.D. in Biology from Indiana University at Bloomington

Current Position: Associate Professor Department of Psychology (and Adjunct in Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) at University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Research Interests: Social influences on communication; social learning; geographic variation in behavior

ABS and Related Activities:  ABS Animal Care Committee member 2001-present (Chair 2004-2009);    ABS Film Committee member 1998-2010 (Chair 2003-2006);  ABS Graduate Student Research Award Judge 2003, 2008; ABS Allee Dissertation Award Judge 2002

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!

PLEASE USE THE ELECTRONIC SURVEY MONEY BALLOT.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO DO SO, PLEASE MAIL YOUR BALLOT. ALL BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 31 JANUARY, 2013.

 

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO VOTE VIA THE SURVEY MONKEY EMAIL, PLEASE MAIL BALLOTS IN AN ENVELOPE BEARING YOUR NAME TO: SUE MARGULIS, ABS SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, ECOLOGY, AND CONSERVATION, CANISIUS COLLEGE, 2001 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO NY 14208 USA

ABS OFFICERS ELECTION

BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER 31 JANUARY 2013, CANNOT BE COUNTED

You may cast write-in votes. We are electing four officers (terms begin at the end of the annual meeting). All ABS members (regular members, student members, emeritus members, and active fellows) may vote. Results will be announced in the February newsletter. All ballots will be destroyed after they are verified and counted.

ABS OFFICERS

Vote for one candidate for each office by placing an X in the blank following your choice. The candidate with the most votes will win the election. In case of a tie, a run-off election will be held.

Download or print this form from our pdf newsletter found here.

 

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Distinguished Teaching Award

Call For Nominations Form

Download or print this form from our pdf newsletter found here.

To nominate a colleague for the ABS Distinguished Teaching Award (one of the career awards), answer as many of these questions as you can. Use the back if you need more space, and feel free to attach additional pages as required. Department chairs, directors, supervisors, or colleagues may be helpful sources for some of this information if you are not at the same institution as the person you are nominating. Please submit by 30 November 2012 Stan Braude, Biology Dept. Box 1137, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, or [email protected]. Questions can also be directed to Susan Foster, [email protected]. 

The Education Committee will solicit supporting materials, including those indicated in nominating letters (e.g., a teaching CV, documentation of other teaching awards, peer and student evaluations, additional references, evidence of innovation in curriculum development, development of educational tools, programs, or multimedia products, or other appropriate indicators of superior educating).
Name of Nominee:  ______________________________________________________

Do you know that the nominee is a current member of ABS? (NOTE: Nominees must be current members of ABS, and current officers and committee chairs are not eligible; we can check if you are unsure).
-Yes
-No
Nominees must have demonstrated a sustained record of highly effective and innovative teaching in the classroom or in an informal education setting (e.g., zoos, aquaria, museums, 4-H programs, research labs and field stations, and environment centers).
In what setting does the nominee teach animal behavior, and what evidence can you provide that this teaching is highly effective and/or innovative?

Nominees should have a reputation among peers and students for sustained excellence in educating people about animal behavior. What evidence can you provide that this nominee has such a reputation?

If possible, please provide names of at least two additional peer reviewers:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

If possible, please provide names of at least two current or former students or program participants.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

If this is a re-nomination, what was the date of the original nomination?
Please also include any new information you feel might be helpful to the committee.

Name of Nominator: _________________________________________________
Signature of Nominator: _______________ Date: _____________