LATEST NEWS

Miss a talk at Evolution 2019? Check out the more than 350 talks from Evolution 2019 that have been uploaded to the meeting YouTube channel.

This month on the blog, read recaps of the ASN Symposium on science communication, the SSE Diverse Careers workshop, and the SSB Spotlight Session on phylogenomic methods. Stay tuned for more recaps later this month!

In the New Faculty Profiles, we invite highlighted faculty to discuss their research, describe how SSE has impacted their career, and share any tips or stories they may have for other researchers. Find out how to submit a nomination here. This month we highlight Dr. Seema Sheth.

In the New Faculty Profiles, we invite highlighted faculty to discuss their research, describe how SSE has impacted their career, and share any tips or stories they may have for other researchers. Find out how to submit a nomination here. This month we highlight Dr. Yoav Ram.

The SSE Sponsorship Highlights present personal stories from individuals who have received SSE funding. This month we highlight the Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution (UDE) grants, which provide funding from SSE and the BEACON center for undergraduates to attend the annual Evolution meeting. Recipients are paired with mentors, attend a professional development workshop, and network with program alumni at a UDE social event. Continue reading to hear from Morgan Lloyd, one of this year’s recipients.

SSE is pleased to announce the Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, our new research grants for advanced PhD students. These grants are part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants award program. These awards are to assist students in the later stages of their Ph.D. programs. Funds can be used to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Awards will range from $2,000 - $3,500 and approximately ten awards will be made. This award is not limited to students in the United States. Proposals are due September 15. Submissions now open!

Each year, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) organizes an opportunity for scientists to inform the nation's science policy. The Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event enables scientists to meet with their federal or state elected officials in their home state--not in Washington, DC--and allows policymakers to learn first-hand about the science and research facilities in their district. Registration is free and closes July 10. Learn more here.

This month on the blog, hear from Evolution meeting organizer Mitch Cruzan on “How to throw a five-day party for 1,800 of your closest friends”, and from outgoing Evolution Editor-in-Chief Mohamed Noor for a behind-the-scenes look at the journal publication process.

Dr. Ferris is an assistant professor in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University studying the genetic, phenotypic, and environmental basis of adaptation and speciation in Mimulus. Read her full profile here.

Dr. Ogbunu is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University studying the complex interactions underlying disease phenomena across many scales. Read his full profile here.

The SSE Sponsorship Highlight presents personal stories from individuals who have received SSE funding. This month we highlight the recipients of the 2018 Graduate/Postdoc Travel Supplement, which provided a travel stipend to the Evolution 2018 meeting in Montpellier, France.

Congratulations to the 2019 Graduate Research Excellence Grant - R. C. Lewontin Early Award recipients! This award provides research funding for students in the early stages of their Ph.D. programs to collect preliminary data or to enhance the scope of their research beyond current funding limits.

Context statement: We received 157 GREG-R.C. Lewontin Early Award applications. The evaluation committee, Chaired by VP Tracey Chapman, selected 24 proposals for funding. Based on inferences from given names, 56.7% of Lewontin applicants and 62.5% of the winners are female. The evaluation committee consisted of 6 females and 3 males; 3 reviewers are GSAC members.  

Congratulations to the 15 finalists for the W. D. Hamilton Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Presentation! The finalists will present their research during the Hamilton Award Symposium at Evolution 2019 in Providence, RI, USA on Saturday, June 22 between 11:15 am and 5:30 pm. Don't miss this showcase of outstanding graduate research.

Context statement: We received 109 Hamilton Award applications. The evaluation committee, co-chaired by Katy Heath and Joel McGlothlin, selected 15 finalists. Based on inferences from given names, 62.5% of Hamilton Award applicants and 73.3% of the finalists are female. The evaluation committee consisted of 3 females and 4 males.

Beginning at Evolution 2019 in Providence, our meetings will include a group of vetted and trained attendees who will serve the community as Evo Allies. The role of an Evo Ally is to serve as a visible colleague who is available to offer support to Evolution Meeting participants who are targets of, or who witness, inappropriate behavior. The Evo Allies will be trained by our professional safety officer, Dr. Sherry Marts. Evo Allies do not participate in any aspect of investigating reports or sanctioning. Evo Allies commit to creating safe spaces at the meeting by serving as active bystanders.

This year’s Evo Allies are: Dean Adams, Cecile Ane, Rayna Bell, Dan Bolnick, Butch Brodie, Jeremy Brown, Kelsey Byers, Daren Card, Nancy Chen, Sam Church, Nancy Emery, Anahi Espindola, Gabby Guilhon, Tracy Heath, Emily Josephs, Laura Lagomarsino, Chris Moore, Corrie Moreau, Susan Perkins, Samantha Price, Leslie Rissler, Sharon Strauss, Josef Uyeda, Jodie Wiggins, and Melissa Wilson. Look for their Evo Ally badges at the meeting. Read more about Safe Evolution here.

This month on the blog, we hear from blog editor Sasha Mushegian about learning from scientific failures big and small (“Learning From Failure”), and from Érica M. S. Souza (pictured here) about overcoming myriad challenges while pursuing a career in biology in Brazil (“Building a Scientific Career in Brazil”). Contact Sasha to submit your story, perspective, or project to the blog.

Dr. Uyeda is an assistant professor of evolutionary biology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic and State University studying the drivers of phenotypic evolution at the macroevolutionary scale. Read his full profile here.

Dr. Germain is an assistant professor in the Department of Zoology & the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia studying the ecology and evolution of species coexistence in spatially-structured landscapes. Read her full profile here.

The W. D. Hamilton Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Presentation is given to a current or recent graduate student who presents an outstanding talk based on their graduate work at the annual meeting. Finalists present their papers during a day-long symposium of Hamilton Award candidate talks. Continue reading to hear from six of the 2018 finalists about their experiences at the II Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology in Montpellier, France.

The SSE Community Blog is looking for writers to report on the Evolution 2019 meeting in Providence, RI, USA. If you’re interested in informal scientific writing and reaching out to your colleagues who couldn’t make it to the meeting (and even those who were there and couldn’t be everywhere at once), please consider signing up! If you’d like to commit to writing a post, please contact blog editor Sasha Mushegian at blog@evolutionsociety.org and mention which conference events you plan to cover. Continue reading to learn more about what we’re looking.

If you are attending Evolution 2019 and would like to present a poster, you must submit your title and abstract by 10 PM Eastern time tonight. After logging in to the registration portal, click "Profile Home" to access the poster submission page. 

Beginning at Evolution 2019 in Providence, our meetings will include a group of vetted and trained attendees who will serve the community as Evo Allies. The role of an Evo Ally is to serve as a visible colleague who is available to offer support to Evolution Meeting participants who are targets of, or who witness, inappropriate behavior. The societies will sponsor training by our Safe Evolution officer (Dr. Sherry Marts) prior to the start of the meeting, and they will be designated with a special badge.

Evo Allies are there to listen, to help targets or witnesses deal with what has happened and to inform them of their options. The role of Evo Allies is to support individuals who have experienced or witnessed inappropriate behavior in making their own decision about whether or not to report it. Evo Allies do not participate in any aspect of investigating reports or sanctioning. Evo Allies also commit to creating safe spaces at the meeting by serving as active bystanders.

We currently have 26 Evo Allies from ASN, SSB and SSE who are in the process of vetting and training.

For more information about Safe Evolution, please check out the website: https://www.evolutionmeetings.org/safe-evolution.html

Congratulations to the Gould Prize awardee, Dr. Mohamed Noor! Dr. Noor will present the Gould Prize public outreach lecture at this year's Evolution meeting in Providence, RI, USA in June. Read more about Dr. Noor’s outstanding outreach efforts here.

Congratulations to the 2019 Dobzhansky Prize Winner, Dr. Matthew Pennell! Dr. Pennell will present the Dobzhansky Prize talk at this year’s Evolution meeting in Providence, RI, USA in June. Read more about Dr. Pennell’s research here.

The societies sponsoring the 2017 Evolution meeting in Portland and the 2018 Evolution Congress in Montpellier required all conference participants to agree to a meeting Code of Conduct. We have recently released a transparency report that serves to inform attendees and society members about reported incidents, general outcomes of those reports, and steps taken by the societies to further prevent inappropriate behavior at our meetings. You can read the full report here. Visit the Safe Evolution page to learn more about the tri-societies’ commitment to promoting a safe, inclusive, and professional work environment at the joint Evolution Meetings.

Dr. Li is an assistant professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute on the Cornell University campus studying the evolutionary processes at the gene, genome, and microbiome levels that shaped the plant diversity. Read his full profile here.