SASB Conference News
SASB + ASBS + IBCC, Sydney, 2013
The Organizing Committee invite you to the Systematics without Borders Conference 2013, a combined conference of Invertebrate Biodiversity & Conservation, Society of Australian Systematic Biologists, and Australasian Systematic Botany Society. Full details on the conference website.
Conference And Taxonomic Workshops, Australian Museum, Sydney, 2013
In July and August 2013 the Australian Museum Sydney, will be hosting the 11th International Polychaete Conference and several associated taxonomic workshops which are likely to be of interest to members of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists.
The 11th International Polychaete Conference will take place on 4-9 August 2013 with program themes including ecology, evolutionary biology, phylogeny and reproduction of polychaete worms. Keynote speakers and their topics include Dr Jim Gehling (evidence for ancestors of modern protostomes among the Ediacara faua), Prof. Damhnait McHugh (current understanding of annelid evolutionary relationships), Dr Günther Purschke (a morphological perspective on annelid systematic and evolution) and Prof. Pei-Yuan Qian (molecular mechanisms of larval attachment and metamorphosis). The conference website is now open for registrations and submission of poster and oral presentations. Early registrations close 31 March 2013.
Three workshops will take place in the week preceding the conference and will be of broader interest. Registration for the workshops is not restricted to those attending the Polychaete Conference:
On Monday 29 July to Friday 2 August 2013 Dr Kirk Fitzhugh (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) will present a course on the Philosophy of Biological Systematics. This one week course offers a unique opportunity for participants to acquire an understanding of the philosophical and scientific foundations necessary for systematics practice, and will provide clear-cut guidelines for how to critically assess the worthiness of methods. Details of the topics to be covered are provided under the link “Pre-Conf Workshops” at the conference website. Course notes will be made available as pdf files with associated notes.
On 1-2 August 2013 Dr Pat Hutchings, Dr Elena Kupriyanova, doctoral student (polydorids) Lexie Walker, Dr Robin Wilson, and visiting specialists to the Polychaete Conference including Dr Rolando Bastida-Zavala, Dr Vasily Radashevsky, Dr Maria Capa will present a workshop on Identification of Invasive Polychaetes. This course is designed for environmental consultants, fisheries staff, quarantine officers and port authority officers and will have a particular focus on those polychaetes families which have been most often introduced to Australia: Sabellidae, Serpulidae and Spionidae. Each participant will receive a book with detailed pictorial keys to introduced species and closely related native species, as well as illustrated descriptions of each of the listed introduced species and those listed as potential invasives. Participants will be shown the techniques needed to examine the diagnostic characters and photograph the specimens for future reference.
On Saturday 3 August, Sue Lindsay of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit at the Australian Museum will present a Workshop on microscope photography and preparation of material for SEM. Equipment available includes: A Zeiss LS15 SEM, Olympus BX50 with Spot CCD and auto-montage software, Leica MZ16 with Spot CCD and auto-montage software and the Visionary Digital Microptics Microscope System. The Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit specialises in morphological interpretation and analysis with the production of images for both scientific publication and non-scientific uses and the course material will be tailored for these purposes and the needs of course participants.
Registration is now open. Further details of the above conference and workshops, including registration costs, key dates and information about accommodation options and other activities in Sydney can be found here.