Office of the Executive Director
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-3043 USA
Tel 860-486-4057; E-mail: robin.chazdon@uconn.edu
August 27, 2014
Dear ATBC member,
Greetings! Our annual meeting in Cairns last July was a huge success, and filled us with enthusiasm and excitement about the important and far-reaching work that we are doing individually and collectively. As a member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation you are part of a unique international society of researchers, educators, and conservationists. We are united by a passion for understanding how tropical organisms, assemblages, and ecosystems evolve, function, persist, and interface with society.
This year we made a commitment to communicate more regularly with members. We also want you to become involved in creating a new ATBC that will increase our influence on science and conservation policy and build greater capacity for research, conservation, and communication across the globe. Please visit our website regularly to stay informed about who we are and what we are doing. In this, our first in a series of regular newsletters, we have some exciting news to share about ATBC and Biotropica.
- In July, the ATBC Council and invited participants embarked on a Strategic Planning Initiative that will culminate in the writing of a Strategic Plan for 2015-2020. Our incoming President, Jaboury Ghazoul, is the Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. We will be following up with a survey of members and meeting registrants to learn more about your vision for ATBC’s mission and activities and how you perceive the benefits of membership.
- In the coming year you will also see a new ATBC logo, a larger and energized Conservation Committee, emergence of the Young Scientists Chapter, fundraising efforts, and networking with other tropical biology societies around the world. We are on the move!
- The window for nominating Council Members and President is open until September 15, 2014. Elections will be held in November, 2014. The window for nominating Honorary Fellows is open until October 15, 2014. Nominations include the name of the proposed Fellow with a short one-to-two page justification (and curriculum vitae, if possible). Please submit your nominations for Council or Honorary Fellow to Lúcia Lohmann, the Chair of the Nominating Committee.
- Our recently created Student & Early Career Scientist Chapter (ATBC-SECSI) is gaining momentum and members and has big plans for the coming year. This chapter was created to encourage the involvement of students and early career scientists in the ATBC and at annual meetings, to organize activities that fit the interests of students and early career scientists working in tropical biology, and to provide opportunities for networking with all members of ATBC. To get involved, please join them on Facebook, where you can contact current Chapter President Erin Kuprewicz.
- Big news on the Biotropica front; beginning January 2015, Biotropica will become an “online-only” journal! This brings with it a number of advantages for our authors and readers, including free color printing of figures, the ability to read articles on- and off-line on Wiley’s soon-to-be released Biotropica app, and the reduction of ATBC’s environmental footprint from the reduced use of paper, inks, shipping, etc. Article Processing Charges – the online version of “page charges” – will continue to be waived for ATBC members. In addition, printed copies of Biotropica will continue to be available upon request for an additional fee if you still prefer to read Biotropica that way. For more details visit the Editor’s Blog, where you can also see the Editor’s Choice article from each issue, pictures from the field submitted by authors, and learn about what goes on behind-the-scenes at your society’s journal.
- Mark your calendars now for the 52nd Annual ATBC meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on 13-17 July!
Stay tuned for more news about ATBC and the upcoming elections.
Tropically yours,
Robin Chazdon, ATBC Executive Director
Emilio Bruna, Editor-in-Chief, Biotropica