Fall Newsletter September 2015
Dear ATBC family,
The Annual ATBC Meeting in Honolulu filled us all with enthusiasm and excitement about moving forward. Congratulations to the new Honorary Fellows: Dieter Mueller-Dombois and J. Jack Ewel; Gentry Award Winners: Gaku Amada, Anat Belasen, and Sarah Jane Wilson; Baccardi Award Winner Haldre Rogers; and Carolyn Delevich, who received the New Phytologist Best Poster Prize in Plant Biology. Read more here.
Planning has begun for the 2016 Annual Meeting, 19-23 June in Montpellier and the call for symposia is open until 1 November. The theme of the meeting is: Tropical Ecology and Society: Reconciling Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity.
We are accepting nominations for President-elect and four new Councilors until 15 October. If you are interested in serving on Council or would like to nominate another candidate (with their permission), please email Nominations Committee Chair Susan Laurance Your email should include the name of the person you are nominating plus their complete contact information.
Julieta Benitez-Malvido has begun her term as Secretary. You will soon be receiving membership renewals for 2016 from Wiley. Please renew early!
If you have problems with renewing your membership, please contact Julieta for assistance.
We have adopted a new Strategic Plan for 2015-2020 with five strategic foci:
- Support the development of tropical biology and related interdisciplinary scientific approaches.
- Communicate tropical biological science among the scientific and conservation community.
- Foster the application of science in conservation policy and management action.
- Grow the society by serving the needs and interests of the tropical biology research community.
- Build organizational capacity and financial stability.
These points will guide future activities and fund-raising efforts.
Here are some other exciting developments:
- We established a new Finance Committee to implement a more environmental and social sound investment portfolio for ATBC, establish an Endowment Fund, and coordinate with ATBC’s Fundraising committee
- The Africa-Indian Ocean Chapter is getting off the ground! Orou Gaoue will be the Chair, and Onja Razafindratsima will serve as a secretary
- We are developing a new membership structure in consultation with Wiley that breaks down economic barriers for membership and will create a more inclusive and engaged professional society
- We are searching for a new webmaster. If you are interested, please contact search committee chair Norbert Cordeiro
- The Conservation Committee released a new resolution in support of effective biodiversity security measures in the state of Hawai’i
- A new data archiving policy is being developed for Biotropica.
Stay tuned and check the ATBC Website frequently for updates!
Tropically yours,
Robin Chazdon
Executive Director
(Download PDF: Fall 2015 ATBC Newsletter)