Minutes

Annual Meeting of the Fungus Division

Society for Invertebrate Pathology

Aug. 8, 2005

 

 

Meeting was called to order by the chair, Jørgen Eilenberg at 7:15 pm. It was delayed somewhat due to the late ending for many of the symposia. Rosalind James served as Secretary/Treasurer.

 

The minutes for the last meeting were approved by unanimous vote.

 

The Chair announced that the Division supported the following activities at this meeting:

 

• A symposium ‘Emerging Genomics of Fngal Entomopathogens’, organized by Nemat O. Keyhani and Paresh Shah

 

• A cross-divisional symposium ‘Transmission of Invertebrate Pathogens’, organized by Rosalind James. One of the speakers, Philip Agnew, was funded by the division

 

• A workshop ‘Systematics and Ecology of the Entomothorales: Results from a European Collaboration’, organized by Siegfried Keller and Jørgen Eilenberg.

 

• A student travel award to Drauzio Rangel, which will be presented on Thursday. His oral presentation is titled “Metarhizium anisopliae conidia produced under environmental and nutritional stresses exhibit increased virulence and tolerance to UV-B radiation and heat.” Seven students applied for the award.

 

The treasurer gave a report, showing the following status of funds:

 

Finances for April 30, 2004 to April 30, 2005
Starting balance	1,610.00
Income
Meeting Speakers Transfer	2,000.00
Member Dues	196.00
Member Donations	87.00
Total Income	2,283.00
Sub-balance	3,893.00
Expenses
Awards	3,247.00
Ending Balance	646.00

 

Paresh Shah then gave a report on the Division’s web page, which he has been working to develop. He showed some sample pages, and the members appeared to approve his choices. There was some discussion as to whether or not the web page should be accessible to the general public or only to the Division Members. It was also suggested that we needed to have a mission statement on the web page. The mission of the Divisions is given in the Society by-laws. It was suggested that only members should have access to the photo-gallery.

 

Charlotte Nielsen presented her efforts to collect photos from members for the photo-gallery on the web page. She said that an email went out to all members in mid-June, but only four people responded. She got a positive response from others, but no photos. Jørgen Eilenberg suggested that she organize the photos (once she receives more) into folders based on fungi genera. Later, perhaps, they can be tagged so that they can be sorted by host. 

 

A considerable discussion followed regarding copyrights. In the end it was suggested that each person needed to deal with their own copyright concerns since the Division is so international, and the members belong to many organizations, and that perhaps people should only submit photos that have no copyright, and that they are willing to freely share. In this way, the Society will not be responsible for infringing on any copyrights.

 

The Chair announced that Stephan Jaronski’s position as Member-at-Large was ending and that we needed to elect a new Member-at-Large. The Chair then announced that there were two nominations, Anna Gabriela Osuna and Ming Guang Feng.

 

Anna Gabriela Osuna was not present, so John Vandenberg provided information about her background. Ming Guang Fengt was also not present, so Jørgen Eilenberg provided information on his background.

 

The Chair called for a vote, and Ming Guang Fengt won the majority.

 

The Chair announced that David Onstad was updating the Glossary of Insect Pathology. He had earlier sent out an email to all members asking for suggestions for members to assist in editing the glossary, and two were suggested: Richard Humber and Vladimir Goula. The Chair appointed, with the support from the division, these two people as editors for the Fungus Division.

 

The Chair asked for a volunteer to serve as a member of a Society council that is being formed to facilitate scientists and students from Developing countries participating in the Society. Paresh Shah volunteered, and he was appointed by the Chair.

 

Todd Ugine announced that the Student Affairs Committee was now two years old, and needs new members. Todd requested that supervisors recommend to their students that they participate in this committee. Any interested students can email Todd. He also announced that there will be a student/faculty mixer at lunch on Wed.

 

The Chair thanked the members, who have shown willingness to actively support to the division’s activities. He further expressed that SIP and the Fungus Division is heavily dependent on people who volunteer to assist and take responsibilities in the above mentioned duties.

 

The Chair then opened the floor for discussion about possible symposia for next year’s meeting which will be held in Wuhan, China. The Chair provided a list of symposia suggested at last year’s meeting and recorded in the 2004 minutes. Paresh Shah suggested that we should include something about fungus microbial control projects in China. Richard Humber suggested a Cordyceps symposium. The Chair said that he will send out an email announcement later making a formal call for symposia.

 

Rosalind James announced that the Journal for Invertebrate Pathology plans to put out a special issue each year that will include papers from 2-3 symposia presented at the Annual meeting. Currently, the symposia are selected by the Journal editor, Brian Federici.

 

Richard Humber announced that the journal Mycological Research can also publish symposia or clusters of related papers. This journal plans to become entirely “on-line” in 2006.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.

 

Minutes recorded by Rosalind James