Animal Behavior Society NEWSLETTER February 2014 Vol.59 No.1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Results ABS Elections
• Direction of Correspondence
• 2013-2014 ABS Officers
• ABS 2014 Conference, Princeton University
• 2014 Warder Clyde Allee Competition
• Genesis Award Poster Competition
• Workshop for Latin American Authors
• Student Funds for Annual Meetings
• Notice to Developing Nation Scientists Planning to Attend ABS 2014
• Showcasing Animal Behavior to the Public at the Annual Outreach Fair
• 2014 Outreach Fair, "Adventures in Animal Behavior"
• Career Awards
• Call for Symposia
• Call for Resolutions
• Attention Authors
• Book of Interest
• ABSnet
• Join an ABS Committee
• George W Barlow Award for Outstanding Student Research Proposal
• Opportunities
• Did You Know?
• Meetings
• Link Update for Registering with ScienceDirect

RESULTS ABS ELECTION

A total of 811 validated ballots were cast in the 2013 – 2014 election. This represents approximately 39% of the ABS membership, and a 1% increase over the proportion that voted last year. A big THANK YOU to those who voted, and to Shan Duncan and Lori Pierce for their help in the Central Office.

Congratulations to the new officers:
Second President-Elect: William Searcy
Secretary: Sue Bertram
Member-at-Large: Elizabeth Jakob

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DIRECTION OF CORRESPONDENCE

ABS Newsletter and general correspondence concerning the Society should be sent to Sue Margulis, [email protected]. Deadlines are the 15th of the month preceding each Newsletter. The next deadline is 15 April 2014. 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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2013-2014 ABS OFFICERS

President: Daniel Rubenstein, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA. Phone: (609) 258-5698 E-mail: [email protected]
First President-Elect: Regina H. Macedo, Universidade de Brasilia, Departamento de Zoologia - IB Campus Universitário - Asa Norte, Brasilia, DF 70910-900, Brazil. Phone: (+55-61) 3107-2915 E-mail:  [email protected]
Second President-Elect: Emilia P. Martins, Indiana University, Department of Biology, 1001 E Third St, 142 JH, Glenview, IL 60025 USA. Phone: (812) 856-5840 E-mail:  [email protected]
Past President: Robert Seyfarth, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6196, USA.  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, Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208, USA. Phone: (716) 888-2773. Email: [email protected]
Program Officer: Michael Beecher, University of Washington, Animal Behavior Program, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA. Phone: (206) 543-6545 E-mail: [email protected]
Program Officer-Elect: Mark E. Hauber, Department of Psychology, Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA. Phone: (212) 396-6442 E-mail: [email protected] 
Parliamentarian: Eileen A. Hebets, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 325 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.  E-mail:  [email protected]
Executive Editor: Michelle P. Scott, Department of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA. Phone: (415) 800-8988. E-mail: [email protected]

Members-at-Large:

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]
Alison Bell, Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois at Urbaba-Champaign, 439 Morrill Hall, 505 South Goodwin Ave. Urbaba, IL 61801, USA. Phone: (217) 265-5469 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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ABS 2014
Princeton University
9 August – 14 August
https://abs2014.princeton.edu

A message from ABS President and 2014 meeting host Dan Rubenstein
The 51st Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society will be held in Princeton, New Jersey from Saturday, August 9th to Thursday, August 14th, 2014.
As president of the Animal Behavior Society and host of the 2014 annual meeting at Princeton, I invite you to attend what we expect to be an exciting and novel gathering. Since our meeting will follow on the heels of the ISBE meeting (www.isbe2014.com) in New York City, we hope to encourage many behaviorists from around the world to travel from the big city to the bucolic surrounds and ivy-covered halls of Princeton University. To entice them to do so, we will be offering special discounted registration fees for foreign, non-ABS ISBE participants. We have also worked hard to keep costs low and thus are offering very reasonable registration rates for student and foreign ABS members.
While the Program Committee is putting the finishing touches on the program, we want to alert prospective ABS presenters that along with the traditional keynote and plenary addresses, symposia, the Allee Competition, contributed talks, poster presentations and a host of workshops both before and during the five-day gathering, some new features will be showcased. One will be short ‘Lightning Talks’. Each presentation will be only 5 minutes long, and the 10 allotted slides will be cued up every 30 seconds to keep the presentations moving along so the session stays on time. Another will be ‘Preview Talks’. In a fifteen-minute period immediately following the morning Keynote and Plenary talks, ‘Founder Poster Presenters’ will have an opportunity to creatively advertise their posters to all meeting participants. Using two slides, each poster presenter will have one minute to entice participants to their posters that will be displayed later that evening. As animal behaviorists we expect some very alluring and seductive short preview presentations!
Because there is a short gap between the ABS and ISBE meetings, we are planning a 2-day excursion through the wilds of New Jersey from the coast to the mountains. As surprising as it may seem, there is much more to New Jersey than the I-95 corridor and the NJ Turnpike! Natural and historical sites abound, and we will organize the behavioral safari so that you can enjoy them. In addition, we are organizing a day full of workshops and activities including the ‘Behavior Fair’ for registration day. So when making travel plans, try and arrive early to take advantage of these exciting events. Following the welcome reception the behavior film festival will take place in our own multiplex theaters, which will allow viewers to easily move among offerings.
Although the website is still a work in progress, it already contains important details on the overall shape of the program, the cost of registration, housing and travel options and meal plans, along with many of the pre-meeting and evening activities and suggestions for enjoying Princeton. Explore! We hope you like what you see and begin making plans to come to the 51st annual ABS meeting. We expect it to be one of the best ever, and with the two new presentation options we hope to provide more speaking opportunities than ever before. We look forward to seeing you in Princeton next August.

The following symposia, keynote speakers, and workshops are confirmed (more information, including additonal plenary speakers, will follow on the Conference website and in the May Newsletter):

Keynote Speaker:  Iain Couzin
Symposia:

• Warder Clyde Allee Session
• Animal Behavior & One Health
• Animal Behavior & Disease Ecology
• Why Signal Softly? Function & Evolution of Low‐Amplitude Communication Signals
•  Behavior & Conservation
• Presidential Symposium: How the Evolution of Sociality Shapes the Brain, Behavior, and Cognition

Workshops:

• Diversity Workshop
• Film Making Workshop: The Art of Science Storytelling:  Practical Skills in Portraying Animal Behavior in Film
• Workshop for Latin American Authors

• Abstract Submission opens 1 April 2014
• Abstract Submission Deadline is 30 April 2014

Registration:

*Developing country attendees are those currently enrolled or working at an institution in the developing world. This does NOT include persons currently working or enrolled in institutions in the USA, Canada or other developed countries, regardless of country of origin.

Special Rate for ISBE Registrants
Before May 1
$325 ISBE registrant from non-US institution
$125 Student ISBE registrant from non-US institution

After May 1
$425 ISBE registrant from non-US institution
$175 Student ISBE registrant from non-US institution
Must provide PayPal confirmation number from ISBE registration

Additional event fees
$20 Welcome Reception on Saturday, August 9, 2014
$65 Closing Banquet on Wednesday, August 13, 2014
$10 Filmmaker’s Workshop for Animal Behaviorists on Saturday, August 9, 2014
Details will be posted on the ABS 2014 Meeting website (http://abs2014.princeton.edu/) as they become available.

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2014 WARDER CLYDE ALLEE COMPETITION

The 2014 Warder Clyde Allee Session for Best Student Paper will be held during the annual meetings of the Animal Behavior Society from August 9 to 14 at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey. All eligible students are encouraged to participate.

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 must be first author and have principal responsibility for conceptualization and design of the research, collection and analysis of the data, and interpretation of the results. The entrant cannot have been awarded the Ph.D. degree before the preceding ABS annual meeting (for 2014, this date is Aug. 1, 2013). An individual can enter the session only once per lifetime.

To enter: Interested students must 1) check the appropriate box on the abstract submittal form for the annual meeting; 2) submit an electronic version of their paper as specified below; 3) sign and date a form indicating that they meet all eligibility requirements (to be supplied to entrants after receipt of their papers); 4) present a spoken version during the 2014 Annual Meeting; and 5) attend both the Allee welcoming dinner and the closing banquet during the Annual Meeting.

Applications for 2014, including the written paper, are due 1 April 2014. This enables the judges to evaluate the written papers and to determine which applicants will be invited to present their research during the Allee Symposium at the annual meetings, before the abstract submission deadline. Applications consist of a cover letter with addresses and phone numbers, and a manuscript in PDF format (see below for details). Applications should be sent via email to ABS 2nd President-Elect Emília P. Martins at [email protected]. Electronic submission is required. If you do not receive acknowledgement of receipt within 3 days, please send a follow-up query.
Manuscripts should consist 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. 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 Emília Martins, [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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WORKSHOP FOR LATIN AMERICAN AUTHORS

There will be a workshop aimed at Latin American authors organized by Regina Macedo, First President-Elect of ABS, and Michelle Scott, Executive Editor of Animal Behaviour. It will be held on Sunday August 10 from 7-9PM. We will be able to pay the registration fees for 20 participants who are traveling from Central and South America. If we have more than 20 applicants, priority will be given to junior people. Please send request to Michelle Scott ([email protected]) and we will supply a code to use when you register. Participants from Latin America are also eligible for a Latin American travel award if they are planning to give a presentation. Please see the instructions to apply for a Latin American Travel Award, in this newsletter.

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STUDENT FUNDS FOR ANNUAL MEETINGS

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 15 March 2014.

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, John Swaddle,[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; (5) indicate if you plan to attend the Latin American workshop.

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 15 March 2014. Applications should be submitted through our website at the Diversity Grant section (http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/grants-and-awards/meeting-related-awards/diversity-grant).  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. 
http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/grants-and-awards/meeting-related-awards/diversity-grant.

Charles H. Turner Award

The Animal Behavior Society has decided to continue to fund the Turner Award to bring undergraduates to the Annual Meeting. The ABS Diversity Committee is calling on the membership to identify applicants for the Charles H. Turner Award, and to encourage them to apply right away. This travel grant is geared toward addressing the Society’s goal of increasing diversity of our membership through supporting undergraduate student attendees of our annual meetings.
Look for the Charles H. Turner Program website http://www.indiana.edu/~animal/funding/turner.php to learn more about Charles H. Turner, or go directly to the online form on that site http://www.indiana.edu/~animal/funding/turner_app.php to apply for funding for the 2014 Annual Meeting in Princeton, NJ.
The deadline for applications is April 1, 2014, and this will be the absolute deadline for those wishing to bring a poster. Preliminary decisions for most of the awards will be made soon after the deadline. Interested students should apply as early as possible.

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NOTICE TO DEVELOPING NATION SCIENTISTS PLANNING TO ATTEND ABS 2014

The Latin American Affairs Committee and/or Diversity Committee can provide letters of invitation to help scientists (faculty or students) from developing countries obtain travel funding from their universities in order to attend the ABS meeting in 2014. If such a letter would be useful in helping you to obtain funding, please contact Zuleyma Tang-Martinez: [email protected] to request an invitation. Please provide your name and address, as well as the title or topic of the paper you will be presenting at the conference.

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Showcasing Animal Behavior to the Public at the Annual Outreach Fair

Submitted by Emilie Snell-Rood

It is hard to imagine a field better suited to outreach than animal behavior. People have innumerable questions about the behavior of their pets or squirrels in their backyard, techniques and experiments are easy to demonstrate, and applications range from agriculture and conservation to understanding our own behavior. Each year ABS members come together by the hundreds at the annual meeting, offering a great opportunity to reach out to the local community to excite them about behavior research and science more generally. For the last few years, over 30 labs (about 15/year) have participated in the ABS Outreach Fair, which, to date, has been hosted by local museums and natural history centers.

Students, postdocs, and PIs have been working to translate their research into engaging and informative activities for the public, from taking fake birds out of mistnets and tracking stuffed mice with radio collars, to watching butterflies get marked and released. Letting kids participate in such methodological demonstrations is often a great hook for telling them about what we can learn from animal behavior. Fair participants have also designed creative ways to communicate concepts from their work, such as the ease with which some animals can distinguish olfactory cues, whereas we are much more visually oriented or the importance of learning in behavior. Thanks to the generous efforts of local museums and the ABS participants, each of these fairs has attracted a diverse audience, generally 300-600 members of the public, from toddlers to teens to seniors. The kids are invariably excited to explore each and every display and have been overheard remarking “Look Mom, a girl scientist!”

While the outreach fair has proven a valuable event for the local community, it has emerged as equally exciting for the ABS participants. When else does one have an opportunity to see the famed “Patricelli Robogrouse” in action? And what better way to learn about possible systems for dissertation research than to see fish, spiders, termites, caterpillars and bees gathered together in one room with people that know how to work with them? Students have also remarked that having to explain their research to such a wide audience forced them to think about the broader importance of their work. And each year, the participants learn a lot about what activities work well for communicating their research (kids love prizes!) and which ones fall a little flat (people would rather do something than read something).

Are you interested in participating in this year’s fair? Help us bring the fun and excitement of behavior research to the broader Princeton community. The fair will be held from 1-5 pm on Saturday August 9th, 2014 (the day before the conference starts). Please contact Emilie Snell-Rood to volunteer ([email protected]). For more information on past fairs, check out some coverage at https://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=82257 (2011) or http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/not-bad-science/2013/08/09/meeting-the-locals-science-outreach-at-the-animal-behavior-society-conference/ (2013).

Saying hello to a Manduca caterpillar at the Papaj lab display (Image © Kate Webbink)

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2014 OUTREACH FAIR, "ADVENTURES IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR"

The fourth annual ABS outreach fair will be held the day prior to the 2014 meeting, Saturday August 9th, 1-5 pm on the Princeton campus. This event features interactive displays and activities related to the research of 20 labs from around the country and is meant to engage the public in the excitement of animal behavior, from the methods and techniques used to study behavior, to major concepts and ideas in the field, to various applications of the research. In the past, 300-600 people have passed through the event and students and professors alike have had great fun communicating their research to a wide audience. If your lab is interested in participating, please contact Emilie Snell-Rood ([email protected]).

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CAREER AWARDS

The Animal Behavior Society has a series of Career Awards which 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 the Penny Bernstein 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. The Call for Nominations will be published in the August Newsletter and the deadline for submission of material will be Nov. 30th, 2014. Further instructions will be forthcoming.
Recipients of the 2014 awards will receive their awards during the Awards Ceremony at the annual meeting in Princeton.

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CALL FOR SYMPOSIA

2015 ABS MEETING - Organizing Symposia and Paper Sessions

The 52nd meeting of the Animal Behavior Society will be held 14-18 June at University of Alaska, Anchorage.  Members interested in hosting a symposium, an invited paper session, or a workshop are encouraged to contact the Program officers to discuss preparation of a proposal. 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 2015 meeting are due before the annual meeting at Princeton University in 2014 and will be circulated to the Executive Committee - EC prior to the Annual Meeting and then discussed at the EC meeting.

Further information can be found on the ABS website or by contacting the ABS Program Officers: Michael Beecher, University of Washington, Animal Behavior Program, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA. Phone: (206) 543-6545, E-mail: [email protected], and Mark E. Hauber, Department of Psychology, Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA. Phone: (212) 396-6442 E-mail: [email protected]  

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CALL FOR RESOLUTIONS

Resolutions that deal with timely and substantive political or social issues that members wish to submit for the consideration of the ABS membership should be submitted by 30 April, 2014. Submitted resolutions should provide direction to the ABS President to facilitate prompt action and will be evaluated by the Public Affairs Committee for appropriateness. Resolutions will be voted on at the annual business meeting in Princeton. Approved resolutions reflect the views of the Animal Behavior Society membership and are sent to the appropriate external agencies, organizations, or to the general public.  Send resolution proposals to the Chair of the Public Affairs Committee Caitlin Gabor, Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA, or electronically to [email protected].

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ATTENTION AUTHORS

Are you an author or editor of a book related to animal behavior? If so, we would like to list it on the ABS Books by Members Web page (http://animalbehavior society.org/abs-media/abs-books/). Listing your book is quick and easy! And remember, if the book is still available, there is a direct link to Amazon.com from the web site for interested buyers (and ABS earns up to 5% from purchases made through this link). Send the following information to the Chair of Public Affairs Committee Caitlin Gabor, at [email protected]: Author name(s), book title, publication year, publisher, number of pages, ISBN number (specify whether for hardcover or paperback), and a *brief* abstract of the book.

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BOOK OF INTEREST

5m Publishing has just published Animal Cannibalism: the dark side of evolution by David Soulsby.  It is a study of the phenomenon of cannibalism in those animals known to prey upon and eat their own kind and is structured in accordance with conventional taxonomy and ranges from microbes to mammals. Where such information is available, the reasons for cannibalistic behaviour are presented for some 2000 species. The book is priced at $41.25 – for further details or to place an order visit: 
http://www.5mretail.com/detail/2519/animal-cannibalism-the-dark-side-of-evolution

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A B S n e t

ABSnet provides a fast electronic forum for animal behaviorists, and others interested in the study of animal behavior, in a digest or newsletter form. ABSnet provides job announcements, requests for information, computer related news (virus and bug alerts), appropriate software and hardware reviews, and new of Society activities and business. ABSnet is not an interactive, listserv-type of discussion group, but rather a moderated forum for exchange of information of general interest to animal behaviorists. The digest or newsletter does not replace the official Society newsletter sent to all Society members via email link or regular mail.

Note: ABSnet is moving to a new system. In the meanwhile, all announcements can go to ABSNews located at http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web click on the News and Announcements section.

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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 Daniel Rubenstein, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA. Phone: (609) 258-5698. E-mail: [email protected].

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GEORGE W. BARLOW AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING STUDENT RESEARCH PROPOSAL

An endowment fund has been established in memory of George W. Barlow for the purpose of encouraging excellence in graduate student research in the field of animal behavior. The Barlow Award will be awarded annually to one top-ranked proposal in the Student Research Grant cycle in accordance with the most recent ABS Student Research Grant competition rules. A cash award and a certificate will be given to the student selected. The amount of the Barlow Award will be the maximum amount allowed for a Student Grant Award as specified in the most recent ABS bylaws or policies.  

If you would like to make a US tax-deductible donation to this cause, please send your donation to: Animal Behavior Society, 2111 Chestnut Ave, Suite 145, Glenview, IL 60025-3828, USA (with appropriate notation for this fund). We will recognize major donors in a future issue of the newsletter. Thanks to Dr. Judy Stamps for arranging for ABS to manage this endowment and for her generous seed donation.

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OPPORTUNITIES

Assistant Professor, Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation, Canisius College

Canisius College invites applications for a full time, tenure track position in its Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation department beginning Fall-2014.  The ideal candidate will bring expertise in one or more of the following disciplines:  Conservation Education, Conservation Psychology, Conservation Behavior, and/or Human-Wildlife Conflict.  The position will involve offering introductory and upper-level courses in our undergraduate Animal Behavior program, and in our online Anthrozoology Masters of Science program.  We seek an individual committed to excellence in teaching, mentoring students, and the conduct of productive scholarship.  Applicants should hold a PhD or equivalent degree. 
Our undergraduate and graduate programs combine the rigorous scientific study of animals with a values-focused curriculum in the liberal arts tradition.  They produce graduates who are not only experts in the science of animal behavior and anthrozoology, but also strongly grounded in the ethical and moral considerations in these disciplines.  We serve students who want to understand the facts and theoretical underpinnings of science, but who also want to use that understanding to promote animal welfare and wildlife conservation. 
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 February 28, 2014. 
Canisius College is an independent university, rooted in the Catholic/Jesuit tradition.  Canisius College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Tenure-track Position in Animal Behavior, Memorial University

The Department of Psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland (www.mun.ca/psychology) invites applications for a tenure-track position in Animal Behaviour (broadly defined) at the rank of Assistant Professor (VPA-PSYC-2014-001). The appointment will begin on July 1st, 2014, subject to budgetary approval. The successful candidate will have a Ph.D. in Psychology (or a very closely related discipline), will be able to contribute to teaching courses both within the candidate’s area of specialty as well as lower level psychology courses, and is expected to contribute to the interdisciplinary Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology graduate programme. Preference will be given to applicants whose research has a strong marine and field component.
A complete application package consists of (1) a curriculum vitae; (2) a statement of research interests, including selected reprints; (3) a statement of teaching interests and evidence of effective teaching; and (4) the names and contact information of three referees. The application package should be sent via email to [email protected]. If electronic submission is not possible, the package should be sent to Head of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X9. The deadline for receipt of a complete application is March 25, 2014.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Memorial University is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from qualified women and men, visible minorities, aboriginal people and persons with disabilities. Informal inquiries are welcomed.
Memorial University is the largest university in Atlantic Canada. As the province's only University, Memorial plays an integral role in the education and cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador. Offering diverse undergraduate and graduate programmes to almost 18,000 students, Memorial provides a distinctive and stimulating environment for learning in St. John's, a very safe, friendly city with great historic charm, a vibrant cultural life, and easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities.
Memorial University is part of a lively and engaging scientific, arts, and engineering community which maintains an inventory of available positions for qualified partners. Partners of candidates for this position are invited to include their resume for possible matching with other job opportunities.

2014 Early Career Fellowships: Mountain Lake Biological Station

The University of Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) in the southern Appalachians is excited to offer a limited number of fellowships to support station and residency costs for researchers to explore new projects or collect preliminary data. This is a rare opportunity to make an extended stay of up to 2 months at one of North America’s premier field stations at no cost to the researcher.  Preference will be given to individuals and projects with the potential to develop into long-term research activities at the Station. We especially encourage applications from individuals in the postdoctoral or early faculty phases of their careers, but will not exclude other individuals from consideration.

Interested individuals should submit a single pdf file including CV and a 2-3 pp proposal outlining the proposed research to [email protected]. Review of proposals will begin February 20, 2014. For more information about the fellowship program, research opportunities or Mountain Lake Biological Station (mlbs.org), please contact the Director – Butch Brodie ([email protected]).

Postdoctoral Position
Department of Biology
Indiana University, Bloomington

A postdoctoral position is available in the Martins lab at Indiana University-Bloomington to conduct NSF-funded research on the behavioral evolution of wild zebrafish. 

Our larger project aims to determine how links between complex behavioral traits (i.e., syndromes) influence evolutionary response to anthropogenic habitat changes. The position combines lab experiments at Indiana University with fieldwork in India, both providing the successful applicant with considerable flexibility to develop their own collaborative research. In the lab, the postdoc will join a research team conducting experiments on the impact of genetics, habitat and sensory physiology on zebrafish social roles and network dynamics. In the field, the postdoc will coordinate field expeditions to conduct a population-level survey of the aquatic ecology, social behavior and genetics of zebrafish. 

Recent Ph.D. in Biology or related field required.  Experience with small fish, international fieldwork, freshwater ecology, sensory biology, behavioral syndromes, and/or social network research are especially desirable. The successful applicant will be part of the vibrant behavioral research group at Indiana University and will have opportunities to gain additional training in phylogenetic comparative methods, sensory physiology, and genomic techniques. 

Salary $39,000 to $42,000.  Indiana University has a fine program of fringe benefits which adds significantly to the value of the stated salary, see  http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/benefits. Initial appointment is for one year, with start date as early as July 2014 and the possibility of extension for one or two additional years contingent on performance. 

Please send any questions to Emilia Martins ([email protected]). To apply, please submit a CV, brief statement of research interests, and contact information for three references to https://Indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/722  or send to Dee Verostko, 1001 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN.   Applications submitted by March 1, 2014 will be given full consideration.  Women and minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply.  Indiana University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Consider helping the Animal Behavior Society earn up to 7.5% on your purchases by ordering your books and other qualifying products from Amazon.com (up to 5%) or Powell's Bookstore (up to 7.5%) using the links found here: http://new.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/abs-media/abs-books/.

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MEETINGS

MEETINGS

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SOCIETY
ANNUAL MEETINGS

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

2015: 14-18 June, Animal Behavior Society – 52nd Annual Meeting, Anchorage, Alaska

OTHER US MEETINGS

2014: 12-15 September, American Society of Primatologists- 37th Meeting, Decatur, Georgia.
2014: 3-4 October, Life Discovery-Doing Science, San Jose, California

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 Life Discovery Digital Library (which will house teaching resource collections from various societies including ABS).  Please help ABS spread the word about both efforts.
More information about the conference can be found at: http://www.esa.org/ldc/
Please contact Cynthia Wei at [email protected] for more information.

INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS

2014: 13-18 April, Animal Behavior Management Alliance Conference – Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas

2014: 30 July – 2 August, Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) – 26th Annual Meeting, Natal, Brazil.

2014: 31 July - 5 August, Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) - Annual Meeting, New York City, New York.

2015: 2-6 August, International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) – 27th Meeting, Montpelier, France

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LINK UPDATE FOR REGISTERING WITH SCIENCEDIRECT

ScienceDirect has changed the link where Animal Behaviour subscribers are to register with them to start gaining access to the online journal, Animal Behaviour. If you are already getting access, this does not apply to you.
The new link is now:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/anbehav/activate/absmembers.
The link to access the journal has not changed (http://www.sciencedirect.com/anbehav).

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