Call for Nominations for Councilors & President-Elect Who would you like to see representing you on the ATBC Council, or perhaps as President of the ATBC? Now is your chance to propose nominations for election to the ATBC Council and the President-Elect position. We welcome nominations from any ATBC member. Please submit nominations for councilors to the Past President, Jaboury Ghazoul, head of the nomination committee, by 14 October 2016. Current and former officers of ATBC are indicated here.
What does the Council do? The council members work together to advance the goals of the ATBC, as set out in the Strategic Plan. Discussion, debate, and decisions about ATBC activities and organization are the order of the day. Council members work with a group of like-minded people from around the world to steer the direction of the most important society in the world. All nominees must be willing to serve actively for three years if elected, by attending the council meetings and being involved in committees and task forces. It is a lot of fun (mostly), and the cookies and company are excellent.
Who can stand for election to Council? Well, anyone who is an ATBC member, and who has the enthusiasm and motivation to actively contribute to the development of the ATBC. We are looking for a diverse pool of potential nominations, including a diversity of career stages, nationalities, and interests. Enthusiasm and motivation are key, not experience and recognition.
What is the process?The election of four new council members and President-Elect will be held in November by online ballot. We invite all ATBC members to make suggestions for potential nominees. All nominated candidates will first be asked to confirm their agreement to stand for election. Those that agree will provide a short description of themselves, and their motivation for joining council. The collected names and abstracts will be added to the ballot papers for election by ATBC members. The election will be closed in December, and the winning candidates will be announced in early January.
Not sure what is involved and want more information or keen to be nominated yourself?? No problem… get in touch with Jaboury.
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 Applications solicited for Navjot Sodhi Award
We will solicit applications for Navjot Sodhi Award in remembrance of late Dr. Navjot Sodhi who inspired many students and colleagues to work for conservation of tropical biodiversity. Please submit applications from 15 November to 15 December 2016 to Kaoru Kitajima, ATBC President. A cash award of 500 USD will be given to a student in support of expenses related to conservation-oriented research activities. Please visit the ATBC web page for further information about the eligibility and application materials. The selection committee will be chaired by the current ATBC President, Kaoru Kitajima. |
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Announcing the 54th Annual Meeting of ATBC in Mérida, Yucatán , México
Submissions are now OPEN for symposia for the 2017 Annual Meeting on 9-14 July! The meeting brochure is available for download here. Symposium submissions will be open until November 30th, 2016. We encourage proposals for interdisciplinary symposia that address the meeting theme of “Ecological and social dimensions of tropical biodiversity conservation.” Subjects of broad interest to tropical biology and conservation will also be considered for symposia. Please review the symposia guidelines before submission. The call for submission of oral, poster and video contributions will be open from 1 September 2016until 28 February 2017. Please, review the abstract guidelines before your submission. Proposals of oral presentations, posters and videos are encouraged to address the meeting theme. Subjects of broad interest to tropical biology and conservation will also be considered for sessions. Workshops and other activities: We invite proposals for workshops, networking and working group sessions, book presentations and other special sessions, for the 54th annual meeting of the ATBC. These sessions are not appropriate for the presentation of formal research talks and do not include presentation abstracts. Please click here for further information regarding workshops and other activities.
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ATBC’s new logo Our new logo made its premier at the 53rd Annual Meeting in Montpellier. The new image of ATBC is colorful and dynamic, composed of a bird’s eye view of the growing leaflets of Albizia saman, the iconic tree that has been the symbol of ATBC since 1968. This tree is known across the tropical world, although the species originated in the Neotropics. It is known as the “rain tree” in India. The leaves represent the energetic and ever-growing qualities of ATBC, as we adapt to new challenges in tropical biology and conservation. The color palette reflects variations in temperature, light, and humidity across tropics and the rainbow colors reflect global human diversity. The logo was designed by Gaby Hernandez and her students at the Graphic Design Research Initiative of the University of Houston, with active consultation with the ATBC Executive Team. Gaby also designed the logo for ATBC’s 2013 Annual Meeting in San José, Costa Rica. We hope you like it!
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 Welcome, ATBC Africa Chapter! The ATBC Africa Chapter was approved by the council and launched during the annual meeting in Montpellier. Almost 60 people met multiple times to discuss the key missions and priorities for this new chapter. A major challenge for this chapter is that Africa covers a big region containing high biological and cultural diversity. In many countries, academic communication is conducted in French, rather than in English. Hence, as the first step, the group identified four regions: East Africa and Madagascar, Central Africa, West Africa, and South Africa, and selected a regional coordinator to foster the communication for each region. A new Africa Chapter page is being added to the official ATBC web page, where you can find the notes from discussion, link to the sign-up form to be affiliated with the chapter, and further updates. In addition to these official communications, there is also a Facebook group ATBC Africa Chapter.
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 Biotropica Editor’s blogPlease keep up to the date with the latest exciting papers published in Biotropica and news about the journal, data-archiving, the Biotropica app, and photos on the Editor’s Blog, hosted by Emilio Bruna.
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53rd Annual Meeting in Montpellier The 53rd Annual Meeting was held in Montpellier, France from 19-23 June, 2016, focusing on “Tropical ecology and society: Reconciling conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.” For four days Le Corum was abuzz with presentations, posters, and side discussions. The meeting hosted 780 participants from 54 countries. A total of 72 symposia, 585 talks, 9 keynote talks, and 140 posters were presented. We are proud to say that we achieved full gender parity among delegates! Over 12,000 € was allocated to travel grants. The Conservation Committee worked nonstop to finalize the Montpellier Declaration, “Europe’s central role in advancing sustainable palm oil.” Many thanks to the organizing committee Plinio Sist, Pierre-Michel Forget, Stéphanie Carrière, and Pia Parolin, the Scientific Committee, and many sponsors for pulling off such a successful and exciting meeting in a wonderful place with world-class wine. Congratulations to Gentry Award winners Mar Cartro-Sabate, Adriane Esquivel Muelbert and William Farfan-Rios and and Bacardi Award winner Oliver Weam.
 The ATBC Council at the end of our June 19 meeting in Le Corum.
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Conservation Asia 2016 in Singapore
Just a few days after Montpellier, came Singapore, where a joint meeting on “Sustainable landscapes for people, business, and biodiversity” was held with the ATBC Asia-Pacific Chapter and the Society for Conservation Biology Asia Section at the National University of Singapore from 29 June-2 July.
Edward Webb was the Organizing Chair of the meeting, and David Bickford was the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee. The meeting was a huge success with 600 participants from 40 countries and more than 100 travel scholarships awarded to students and early career scientists and conservationists. The Singapore Declaration, “Responsible Business in Asia” was released at the end of the meeting. Closing ceremony of the Conservation Asia 2016 meeting.
Photo credit: NUS |
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Send your news!
Send your news and we will post it on our regularly updated website, Tropical Biology and Conservation Forum Facebook page, and ATBC Twitter Feed! Let us know if you got a paper published, a grant, an award, or if you are teaching a new course in Tropical Ecology and Conservation field.
Join the ATBC family!
We are a global organization devoted to the scientific understanding and conservation of tropical ecosystems. We welcome you! Click here for membership information.
!! New ATBC rates will be announced on October 1, 2016 !!
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