SICB Symposium: Frontiers of Integrative Biology: A Symposium Honoring George A. Bartholomew, January 5-9, 2004

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This symposium will be held at the January 2004 Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This symposium has broad support from many divisions of SICB, and was selected as one of only three SICB-wide symposia for this meeting. The symposium has three major goals: 1. Highlight exciting new directions in, and new applications of, integrative biology; 2. Feature outstanding integrative biologists who are still early to mid-career; and 3. Honor George A. Bartholomew, a founding figure in integrative biology. The primary speakers will be the first ten winners of the George A. Bartholomew Award. Since 1993, this award has been given annually to a Distinguished Young Investigator in Comparative Physiology, Comparative Biochemistry, or Related Fields of Functional Biology. All speakers are relatively young, but all have already amassed an extraordinary record of accomplishments (two of the 10 have won MacArthur Awards). In addition, William R. Dawson (Bartholomew's first student) will provide an historical introduction to George Bartholomew as a researcher and mentor. A special feature will be George A. Bartholomew, who will conclude the symposium and take on the topic of lessons gained from a career in integrative biology. The topics have been carefully selected to elucidate three important and active areas of contemporary research in integrative biology: 1. exploring the interplay among morphology, biomechanics, and neurobiology, 2. integrating comparative physiology, endocrinology, and behavioral ecology, and 3. integrating functional biology, ecology, and conservation. Thus the symposium will help encourage emerging research strengths in, and applications of integrative and functional biology. This symposium will be the centerpiece of the New Orleans meeting. It will add to the growing excitement over the power of integrative approaches to biology as well as new applications to areas such as conservation biology. By featuring young investigators, the organizers hope to inspire graduate students and postdocs to pursue careers in and expand the field of integrative biology. Moreover, it will give several new generations of biologists an opportunity to meet and talk with two seminal figures and mentors in integrative biology (Bartholomew and Dawson). Finally, all presentations in this symposium will be published in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology, and thus an international audience will have access to the proceedings.