Symposia and Special Addresses
American Society of Naturalists
ASN Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigators Award Symposium
The Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigators Award was established in 1984 to recognize
outstanding and promising work by investigators who received their doctorates in the three years
preceding the application deadline or who are in their final year of graduate school. Jasper
Loftus-Hills (1946-1974) was an Australian biologist of exceptional promise, who had published
16 articles in the three years after receiving his degree. He was killed by a hit-and-run driver
while tape-recording frog calls along a Texas highway. After his death, a frog was named in his
honor, Eleutherodactylus jasperi. The award includes presentation of a research paper at the
annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, an award of $500, a travel allowance of
$700, the cost of registration at the meetings, and a supplement of $500 in case of
intercontinental travel.
ASN Vice Presidential Symposium: Temperate Assumptions (Organizer: Marlene Zuk)
How have our ideas about ecology, evolution and behavior have been shaped, and perhaps
biased, by the places many scientists have tended to work, namely the temperate regions of the
world, particularly Europe and North America? Speakers in the symposium will re-examine the
assumptions and the examples that have used as model systems for general principles about
topics ranging from sexual selection to the role of competition in communities. Drawing from
research on both plant and animal taxa, the participants will discuss whether our ideas and theory
would be altered through a consideration of non-temperate zone systems.
ASN Solicited Symposium: Contributions from Naturalists to the Fight Against Dengue in
Brazil and Beyond (Organizers: Alex Perkins and Louis Lambrechts)
Dengue is caused by mosquito-borne RNA viruses that are estimated to infect 390 million people
each year and pose a risk to approximately half the world’s population. The goal of this
symposium is to draw attention from evolutionary biologists and other naturalists to the global
health problem that dengue poses and the spectrum of scientific effort that is ongoing to
understand the evolution and ecology of dengue viruses. In addition to applied interest, the
symposium will showcase research that is breaking new ground conceptually and
methodologically and will therefore be of general interest to a broad scientific audience. Time at
the end of the symposium will be allotted for a capstone discussion about how naturalists have
contributed to our understanding of dengue and our ability to control it, and what contributions
naturalists and other scientists could make in the future.
ASN Presidential Address: Lizards, Speciation, and Species Delimitation – A Personal Narrative
(Jack Sites)
Lizards have been used as model organisms for many kinds of studies in behavior, ecology, and
evolutionary biology, and these studies have yielded insights of broad general interest in
organismal biology. Lizards have been the focus of speciation studies ranging from the origins
of unisexual species (via parthenogenesis or spontaneous origins), to contributions of
chromosomal changes, niche shifts, and rock-sissors-paper dynamics to population divergence,
and more recently lizards have figured prominently in species delimitation and integrative
taxonomic studies. I will summarize some of the “high points” of this history as it has developed
over the past four decades.
Society for Systematic Biologists
SSB Symposium: Frontiers in Parametric Biogeography (Organizers: James Albert and
Alexandre Antonelli)
A major challenge to the fields of Systematic Biology and Evolution in the 21st Century is to
explain distributional patterns of species and whole biotas at large spatial scales. This
symposium will bring together leaders in the emerging area of parametric biogeography, with the
goal of designing new tools for the study biological diversification at large (continental and
oceanic) spatial scales. Parametric biogeography describes a strategy at the interface of
Macroevolution and Historical Biogeography, that seeks to model the history of geographic
range evolution within explicitly phylogenetic and spatial contexts. Parametric biogeography
allows us to quantify the contributions of biotic and Earth history process in the diversification of
clades and biotas. The goals of this symposium are to coordinate research efforts among software
developers, theoreticians, and empirical-oriented biodiversity investigators, to evaluate strengths
and shortcomings of existing methodological approaches, and to develop new conceptual
strategies for the next generation of models in parametric biogeography. The challenge is to
develop quantitative methods for studying and explaining organismal diversification at
continental or oceanic scales in a spatially explicit context.
SSB Symposium: Breaking Barriers: Empirical, Theoretical, and Gender Issues in
Phylogenetics (Organizers: Corrie S. Moreau, Brian C. O’Meara, Susan L. Perkins, and Tracy
A. Heath)
Phylogenetics has revolutionized the study of evolution and provided a framework to develop
theoretical and empirical research programs for scientists around the world. Empirical studies
have provided the lens through which theoretical studies have sought to find more realistic ways
to explain observed data, while theoretical studies have guided data gathering in empirical
studies to evaluate theoretical predictions. Although empirical and theoretical studies have
informed each other, symposia on these topics are not usually presented together. By
integrating/pairing theoretical and empirical talks around three timely and diverse themes
(macroevolution, gene tree/species tree, and phylogenetic methods) we hope to highlight the
connections between empirical and theoretical research.
SSB Symposium: Prokaryote comparative genomics, phylogenetics, and evolution
(Organizers: José S. L. Patané and João Carlos Setubal)
Unveiling evolutionary aspects in Archaea and Bacteria has many implications in our everyday
life. Many bacterial lineages are important pathogens in humans, crops and cattle worldwide, and
by understanding their biochemical arsenal and the way it evolves, such information can be used
for the development of new forms of disease control. Archaeal lineages are widespread in oceans
and other environments, potentially playing important roles in the carbon and nitrogen cycles,
and helping in digestion in animal lineages, among other roles. Furthermore, important insights
regarding evolutionary processes in general can be achieved from the study of Prokaryotes:
differential codon usage biases, the amount of lateral gene transfer in different lineages, rates of
mutation and recombination, and levels of selection across different parts of the genome and
across lineages, to name a few. Finally, by understanding prokaryote evolution, we can infer
important parameters associated with the origin and diversification of the Tree of Life itself. `
and how did Eukaryotes evolve? Who is their sister group? How frequent is (and was) horizontal
transmission among prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and how is that related with the evolution in
both groups? Although many questions are still unanswered, progress due to next-generation
sequencing has uncovered many processes and patterns in this widespread, and evolutionary
relevant, group of organisms. The aim of this symposium is to spread the state-of-the-art
knowledge concerning prokaryote evolution, and the best available methods to infer its
associated parameters, to a broader scientific audience.
SSB Ernst Mayr Symposium
The Ernst Mayr Award is given to the presenter of the outstanding student talk in the field of
systematics at the annual meetings of the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB). This is SSB’s
premier award, and is judged by the quality and creativity of the research completed over the
course of the student’s Ph.D. program. The award consists of $1000, a certificate of distinction,
and a two-year subscription to the journal Systematic Biology. Shortlisted candidates will
present their research at the Ernst Mayr Award Symposium.
SSB Presidential Address: Lizards, Speciation, and Species Delimitation – A Personal Narrative
(Jack Sites)
Lizards have been used as model organisms for many kinds of studies in behavior, ecology, and
evolutionary biology, and these studies have yielded insights of broad general interest in
organismal biology. Lizards have been the focus of speciation studies ranging from the origins
of unisexual species (via parthenogenesis or spontaneous origins), to contributions of
chromosomal changes, niche shifts, and rock-sissors-paper dynamics to population divergence,
and more recently lizards have figured prominently in species delimitation and integrative
taxonomic studies. I will summarize some of the “high points” of this history as it has developed
over the past four decades.
Society for the Study of Evolution
Stephen Jay Gould Award Lecture
The Stephen Jay Gould Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution to
recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public
understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday
life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould.
Dobzhansky Prize Address
The Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize is awarded annually by the Society for the Study of Evolution
to recognize the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary
biologist. The prize was established in memory of Professor Dobzhansky by his friends and
colleagues, and reflects his lifelong commitment to fostering the research careers of young
scientists.
SSE Education Symposium: Assessing Undergraduate Student Understanding of
Evolutionary Biology (Organizers: Louise Mead and Robert Pennock)
Assessing student understanding of learning is a key component of teaching. Identifying useful
instruments, and evaluating how to use them in the classroom, is not always clear. The recent
publication of new instruments focused on measuring student understanding of evolutionary
concepts along with research on contextual competency, literacy, and evolution acceptance,
provide a timely opportunity to learn about these new instruments and how to use these types of
instruments in evaluating instruction.
SSE Symposium: Epigenetics and Evolutionary Processes (Organizers: Joshua Banta and
Christina Richards)
Scientists have abundant information on sequences for a variety of organisms, but have made
little progress in understanding how the genome actually functions in creating complex traits that
are adaptive in complex environments. One area that may contribute to this understanding is
ecological and evolutionary epigenetics, which focuses the relationships between epigenetic
variation and the axes of phenotypic variation that fuel evolutionary change. Epigenetic
mechanisms can alter gene expression and organismal function without any alterations in DNA
sequences, leading to variation in diverse phenotypes. Furthermore, epigenetic modifications can
vary among individuals and populations. Epigenetic modifications can even be heritable and the
phenotypic consequences of epigenetic changes have been observed in diverse taxa. Thus,
epigenetic mechanisms are a potentially important mechanism of phenotypic change. The study
of epigenetic variation is already providing insights at both ecological and evolutionary time
scales. Recent experimental screening for changes in methylation patterns has shown that
epimutations can be induced by environmental stress, affect phenotype, and occur more rapidly
than DNA sequence mutations. For this reason epigenetic effects could offer an alternative to
genetic variation for rapid response to environmental challenges, but so far few studies have
begun to explore this possibility. While most of the work in ecological epigenetics to date has
been done in plants, there are an increasing number of animal studies. This symposium
highlights different approaches across systems that are making progress to understand the
importance of epigenetics in evolutionary processes.
SSE Symposium: The multiple dimensions of biodiversity science (Organizers: Ana Carnaval
and Christopher Dick)
Understanding and predicting spatial patterns of biodiversity and turnover in space and time has
been a central topic in ecology and evolutionary biology over the past decade. Exciting recent
advances in the fields of biodiversity genomics, tied to an increased ability to monitor and
document present and past environmental shifts, make this just the right time to merge fields of
geology, atmospheric sciences, evolution and ecology and advance biodiversity prediction,
discovery, and protection. The next generation of biodiversity scientists will undoubtedly be
highly integrative. Building on funding opportunities in the US and partner biodiverse countries
such as Brazil and China, we gather a team of evolutionary biologists working on the multiple
dimensions of biodiversity to present and discuss how cross‐disciplinary work is advancing what
we know about biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales. Capitalizing on their
experiences, we use this opportunity to brainstorm and discuss the very best strategies to educate
and train the next generation of cross‐disciplinary, international scientists: our own students. This
symposium hence seeks to identify and broadcast new ways to overcome the challenge of
effectively uniting the fields of earth sciences, evolution and ecology. In the face of the new and
exciting advances in these fields, and the appeal of broadly integrative research programs, what
is our vision of biodiversity science and biodiversity science education for the five to ten years to
come?
SSE Symposium: When Gene Flow Really Matters: Gene Flow and Applied Plant
Evolutionary Biology (Organizers: Norman C. Ellstrand)
Gene flow in plants is known to be highly variable and frequently evolutionarily significant. In
addition, gene flow has become an important consideration in applied evolutionary biology. The
magnitude and variation of gene flow in plants has led to the re-evaluation of the importance of
gene flow in applied evolutionary biology. Gene flow is a concern in a remarkable variety of
applied situations. Crop breeders have had their selection progress frustrated by pollen
contamination from conspecifics and congeners growing within cross-pollination distance. Gene
flow from common species has put rare species at increased risk of extinction by genetic
swamping and/or by outcrossing depression. Both intra- and interspecific introgression are also
known to have led to the evolution of novel weeds and invasives. Intentional anthropogenic gene
flow is an integral part of genetic rescue, restoration and sometimes assisted migration. A
symposium on the topic is due, and the field is ripe for synthesis. The roster of speakers for the
symposium presents the breadth of the field, including descriptive, experimental, and theoretical
approaches. Two talks involve research on the evolutionary dynamics of transgenes; the rest
address applied gene flow topics from the paleo to the current. Both single-locus dynamics are
reported as well as genome-wide analysis.
SSE Presidential Address. On the Shoulders of Giants: Seven decades of the SSE and
Evolution
(Daphne J. Fairbairn)
The Society for the Study of Evolution was founded in March 1946. The objective of the
fledgling society was “the promotion of the study of organic evolution and integration of the
various fields of science concerned with evolution.” To that end, the Society published the first
volume of its journal Evolution, International Journal of Organic Evolution in 1947. The
Information for Contributors of that first volume invites papers “in the fields of genetics,
cytology, plant and animal taxonomy, paleontology, ecology, anthropology, bacteriology, or any
other field of biology, provided that the facts and conclusions are of primary interest to the
student of evolution.” The subtitle of the journal and the breadth of subject areas listed indicate a
strong commitment to integrate across all fields of evolutionary biology and across international
boundaries. Now, almost seven decades after those seminal events, I look back on the SSE and
its journal to see how well it has fulfilled the lofty mission of its founders. I examine temporal
trends in the numbers and types of papers published, the national affiliations of the authors and
the topics emphasized. I also review the changing structure and composition of the Society
leadership (the Officers and Councilors) and of the editorial board, with particular attention to
gender and national affiliation. My own history as a researcher is woven into this grander story
and serves to illustrate how the questions we ask and the techniques we use have changed as the
field of evolutionary biology has itself evolved. The data will show that the SSE and Evolution
have also changed over the seven decades, building substantially on the legacy of the 1946
founders and reflecting the astounding breadth and diversity of modern research in evolutionary
biology.
Other Awards
The W. D. Hamilton Award
The Hamilton Award will be given to a student who has presented an outstanding talk at the
annual meeting, as judged by a committee of SSE members. Applicants will present their papers
during regular sessions of the meeting, appropriate for their topic. The most competitive talks
will be those that can convey a complete story. Such talks are most likely to be given by students
who are close to completing their dissertations or by former students who wish to present results
from a dissertation defended within the past year. The winner of the award will receive $1,000
and a one year membership to the Society for the Study of Evolution, which includes a one year
subscription to the journal Evolution. Up to two Honorable Mentions will each receive a oneyear membership to the Society for the Study of Evolution, including a subscription to Evolution.
The Ruth Patrick Student Poster Award
The Ruth Patrick Student Poster Award was established in 2012 to recognize a student who has
presented an outstanding poster at the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists.
Ruth Patrick was a renowned limnologist, past president of the American Society of Naturalists
(1975), and Lifetime Honorary Member of the ASN.
The winner of the award receives $1,000 and a one year membership to the ASN, which includes
a one year subscription to the American Naturalist. The senior author and presenter of the poster
must be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at the time of the annual meeting or
have received her or his degree within twelve months and must be a member of the ASN.