SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page

E XPERIENCES — H IGH F IVES A LL INSIDE THIS ISSUE: M OLGULA T ALES A ROUND San Francisco Program 2 by Billie Swalla by Ken Sebens, SICB President Child Care in SF 2 President-Elect, SICB 2011-2013 n late September, the SICB Exec- News Stories by Student 3 I utive Officers gathered in San Journalists "Above all, perhaps, I am indebted Francisco to check out the meeting Catch it on Video 3 to a decidedly vegetative, often site for January, and to deal with ac- cumulated SICB business in one of Society Finances 4 beautiful, and generally obscure group of marine animals, both for our rare non-virtual (i.e. face-to- Symposium Highlights 5 their intrinsic interest, and for the face) meetings. The good news is that our 2013 meeting in San Fran- DIZ Auction 5 enjoyment that I have had searching for them.” cisco is apt to be a really good one, Broadening Participation 6 in a great location, and at a relative- N. J. Berrill. 1955. Preface to ly low cost because we grabbed a Major Gifts & Planned 7 "The Origin of the Verte- great hotel rate when the economy Giving brates" was bad. According to Brett Burk, Educational Council 7 did not really understand this the room rate at the Hilton in 2013 quote of N. J. Berrill’s until I trav- Citizen Science 8 I is comparable to what it was back in elled to Roscoff, France for the first 1988, the last time we were there. I Student/Postdoctoral 12 time. The year was 1988, I had two guess there are some benefits to Affairs small children, but we decided to economic downturns after all. Our travel to Roscoff and see if we could meetings have been very well at- tended in recent years, and the trend continues for 2013. Based on early returns, we project attendance

(Continued on page 13) Animal Behavior

Comparative Biomechanics G RAND C HALLENGES — I MPLEMENTATION Comparative Endocrinology he Grand Challenges within SICB Comparative Physiology & was rallied last year with a set of Biochemistry T implementation papers suggesting Evolutionary Developmental that groups blend together disparate Biology research fields to address the Grand Figure 1. Laboratoire Lacaze-Duthiers at Challenge questions. The question Ecology & Evolution the Station Biologique de Roscoff. that seemed to resonate amongst the papers was “How Organisms Invertebrate Zoology find the tailless Molgula that had Walk the Tightrope between Stability been reported there. Traveling is al- Neurobiology and Change.” We developed a work- ways more complicated with chil- ing group to implement potential co- Phylogenetics & Comparative dren, if they sleep, then all is peace- alitions to address this broad ques- Biology ful but if they don’t…… The long tion by forming a workshop to devel- journey ended with my family sitting Vertebrate Morphology op Research Coordination Networks

(Continued on page 9) (Continued on page 12)

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 2

SICB Executive Officers San Francisco Here We Come! Jon Harrison Of course, the beauty and popu- Ken Sebens [email protected] larity of San Francisco comes with President 2011-13 ou are going to love the ameni- some costs. As an example, coffee U. of Washington Y ties of the SICB meeting in San at the sessions is costing SICB > Francisco; the pleasant entry $100/gallon, so we aren’t providing Rich Satterlie lounge of the Hilton for all you can eat buffets or Past President 2011-13 finding friends, almost "I love this city. If I'm lots of free booze. I rec- U. of NC Wilmington everyone in a single ommend the BART to the hotel (priced less than elected, I will move Hilton from the airports if Billie Swalla half the normal cost), you are willing to walk a the conveniently clus- few blocks and if you President-Elect 2011-13 the White House to tered meeting rooms, have a smaller bag that U. of Washington the dramatic views you don’t mind carrying San Francisco. " from the top-floor City- up some stairs. It’s cheap Bob Roer Scape for socials, the and fast. Our deadlines Treasurer 2010-13 incredible diversity of ~Robert Kennedy for student support to U. of NC Wilmington restaurants, coffee attend the meeting have shops and bars within easy walking passed, but as always SICB is very Karen Martin distance! Even better is the quality good to its students. There are lots Treasurer-Elect 2012-2013 of the scientific presentations. We of little grocery stores within walk- Pepperdine University have major lectures by Richard Sat- ing distance of the hotel if you want terlie, Alison Sweeney, Ellen Ketter- to make yourself healthy, inexpen- Lou Burnett son and Susan Moore Singer. Elev- sive salads for lunches or dinners. Secretary 2012-15 en truly outstanding symposia Book your hotel room and plane College of Charleston (selected from 30 proposals), work- soon to get the best deals, and shops on citizen don’t miss the Jon Harrison science, introduc- early registra- Program Officer 2012-14 tory biology, ge- tion deadline Arizona State Univ. nomic tools, phy- (Dec. 3)!!! As logenetics, effec- you plan your Brian Tsukimura tive presenta- trip, be sure Past Prog. Officer 2012-13 tions, and negoti- to stay for the ating your first last day. In Cal State U. Fresno job, and over addition to

1640 contributed three sympo- Brett Burk talks and posters. sia, we have Executive Director I recommend you the Moore lec- McClean, VA clone yourself or ture and a hire five people fabulous end to take notes for of meeting you so you can “attend” all the ses- party in the Grand Ballroom, where sions you’ll want to see. Years from we will be dancing and grooving to now, you’ll remember and be glad D.J. Ignacio Moore’s vibes. you made it to this SICB meeting.

Child Care at SICB If you are interested in child care Child care is being offered at the at the meeting, please go online and SICB annual meeting in San Francis- fill out the child care survey (in the co. The SICB business office is online registration site). Once de- checking references and making sure tails are finalized we will contact you that the provider chosen will be car- to give you the options and payment ing, responsible and competent. information.

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 3

SICB News Stories by Student Journalists: Student Journalism Internship Program

he Public Affairs Committee San Francisco. Each student will T would like to remind members identify a talk or poster of their that the Student Journalism Intern- choice, conduct interviews, and write ship Program will be running again an original popular science piece that this year at the annual conference will be posted on the SICB web site. and will run in the future. This pro- Between four and six students are gram provides students who are chosen. The Science Journalism In- The Science interested in science writing with a ternship is a part of the Charlotte real-world science-writing experi- Mangum Student Support Program, Journalism ence at the SICB annual meeting in and students must apply to both. Internship is a part Stories by Student Journalists from the 2012 Meeting in Charleston Sponge 'sneezes' point to mechano- of the sensory system, Fighting off infection: some of Darwin's minus the neurons. finches pack a By Desmond Charlotte Mangum punch. By Julie Ramirez, Depart- Charbonnier, De- ment of Ecology, Student Support partment of Biology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, Univer- Virginia Common- sity of California, Santa Barbara Program wealth University A Stealthy Warning: The Black Widow's Fish species snake their way on land. Covert Color Com- By John Whiteman, munication. By Kara Department of Zool- Feilich, Museum of ogy & Physiology, Comparative Zoolo- University of Wyo- gy, Harvard Univer- ming sity

Half a century of seabirds and weath- Out in the Cold: Birds of a Feather Re- er. By Emily Elder- sponding to Weath- brock, Department er. By Karen Word, of Biological Scienc- Department of Neu- es, University of robiology, Physiolo- Memphis gy, and Behavior,

M ISSED A M AJOR L ECTURE AT SICB? C ATCH IT ON V IDEO he SICB Executive Committee T decided to do an experiment! In an age of social media and internet videos some of the major talks at the 2012 Charleston meeting were recorded. David Drupa of Burk & As- sociates, Inc., SICB’s management company, set out to document some of the major talks. You can view these through the SICB web site. Look for them under the Publications Fun Facts: San Francisco should be tab. Let us know what you think. in the upper right! Way to go SICB!

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 4

S OCIETY ’ S F INANCES R EMAIN S TRONG — T REASURER ’ S R EPORT , B OB R OER

Annual Meeting net revenue of $282,519, up from With the greatest number of ab- $278,423 in FY 2010. The revenue stracts submitted for a meeting to from the journal continues to be date, the 2012 meeting in Charles- the largest single revenue source ton was a fiscal as well as scientific for the Society. success. Effective Endowments last fiscal year, I The restricted endowment funds requested that benefited from the increase in the Burk and Associ- value of our investment portfolio. ates begin to That was fortunate since donations move the portion to almost all funds were far below of their manage- last year’s levels. Because the year- ment fee that is ly distribution from each of the en- dedicated to our dowment funds is tied to the five- annual meeting year running average of their value, from the general the current year distributions will ledger to a meet- meet the award needs for most of ing expense. This these. has provided a However, a number of the funds much more real- remain substantially below the req- istic picture of uisite $25K needed to be self- the bottom line sustaining. These include the Davis, for our annual meetings. For com- Moore, Wenner, Skinner, and Bern parative purposes, I went back to funds and they need our support in the 2007 through 2010 annual order for them to provide awards in meetings and adjusted the net in- the current and future years. Re- come or loss from the annual meet- member, one option that allows a ings by deducting the meeting fund to make an award, when its Support your management fees. The Charleston yield is insufficient, is for donors to favorite SICB fund. meeting had the greatest net in- specify that part or all of their con- come ($38,793) after the 2009 tributions can be used in the cur- Click on the meeting in Boston. rent year with any surplus going The Journal into the corpus of the endowment. “donations” button Proceeds from the publication of Please consider making a donation Integrative and Comparative Biolo- to the fund of your choice and see on the home page. gy exceeded the budgeted amount the article on Major Gifts and by over $22.5K for FY 2011, with Planned Giving in this newsletter.

Endowment Fund FY 2012 Do- Current Balance nations Carl Gans Award $125 $34,556 George Bartholomew Fund $585 $124,469 Libbie H. Hyman Fund $1,655 $29,292 Dwight D. Davis Fund $745 $9,374 John A. Moore Lectureship Fund $25 $3,638 Adrian M. Wenner Fund $0 $9,337 Dorothy M. Skinner Fund $140 $10,230 Symposium Enhancement Fund $155 $125,072 Charlotte Mangum Fund $515 $280,712 Grants-In-Aid-of-Research Fund $410 $193,226 Howard Bern Lecture Fund $1,455 $8,719 C. Ladd Prosser Symposium Fund $50 $29,056

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 5

S YMPOSIUM H IGHLIGHTS — S AN F RANCISCO

Symposia. More details at: Todgham and Jonathon Stillman (http://www.sicb.org/  Understanding First Order Phe- meetings/2013/symposia/index.php) notypes: Transcriptomics for Society-Wide “SICB Endowments Emerging Model Systems.  When Predators Attack: Sens- DEDB, DAB, DCE, DIZ - Organizer: make our programs ing and Motion in Predator- Suzy Renn, Antónia Monteiro, Prey Interactions. Organizers: Arkhat Abzhanov possible. Matt McHenry and Stacy Combes  Integrating genomics with  Vertebrate Land Invasions: comparative vision research of Please consider a Past, Present, and Future. Or- the invertebrates. DIZ, DNB - ganizers: Alice Gibb, Miriam Ashley Organizers: Jeanne Serb and Todd donation, however -Ross, Richard Blob, Tonia Hsieh Oakley small, to your favorite  Phenotypic plasticity and the  Hormone-mediated sex ratio evolution of gender roles. Or- adjustment in vertebrates. DCE, endowment. ganizer: Janet Leonard DCPB, DAB - Organizer: Kristen Divisional Navara Click  Ecological Epigenetics. DEDB,  Coping with uncertainty: Inte- DEE, DCE - Organizers: Cristina grating physiology, behavior Donate to SICB Ledon-Rettig, Andrea Liebl, Christi- and evolutionary ecology in a na Richards, Aaron Schrey, Armin changing world. DAB, DCE, DEE, on the SICB Home Moczek DCPB - Organizers: Zoltan Page”  Keeping time during animal Nemeth, Frances Bonier and Scott evolution: conservation and in- MacDougall-Shackleton novation of the circadian clock.  Assembling the Poriferan Tree DCPB, DEE, DNB, DIZ - Organiz- of Life. DIZ - Organizer: Robert ers: Adam Reitzel and Ann Tarrant Thacker and Allen Collins  Physiological Responses to Simultaneous Shifts in Multiple **Special Sessions honoring Environmental Stressors: Rele- Howard Bern, Bruce Sidell and vance in a Changing World. Ken Nagy. More information at: DCPB, DEE, DIZ - Organizer: Anne http://www.sicb.org/

Monterey, lots of amazing knitted DIZ Auction invertebrates, larval sculptures, ne of the exciting DIZ- fused glass items, a two-foot- O sponsored events at this year's diameter steel crab art piece, a full meeting will be the Libbie Hyman set of Libbie Hyman's The Inverte- auction. Come, and b r a t e s , a n d bring your friends from (amazingly) a signed, other Divisions, as the framed Christmas card auction items are at- that Gunnar Thorson tractive to all--and we sent to Alister Hardy in would love to get as 1957. We thought it much money as possi- would be a good idea ble for the student to highlight some of scholarships. There will the amazing inverte- be a wide array of brate-themed "loot" amazing items on the auction block, that will be available for bidding, so from big to small pieces, something check out this link for everyone! Some of the items we (http://sicb.org/meetings/2013/hym know about so far include: a week- anauction.php), Sunday, Jan 6, end get-away at the Pearse home in 7:30 p.m.

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 6

B ROADENING P ARTICIPATION IN SICB

Cheryl Wilga, Chair tremendous investment in your ca- [email protected] reer. In this workshop we will dis- irst, we would like to welcome cuss several topics including: Sala- F our new committee members ry range, lab space, start-up funds, Rita Mehta and Susan Williams who office space, leave time, teaching started this January. We would also requirements, and service assign- like to thank Brian Tsukimura, Nish ments. Having done your Nishiguchi, and Ken Sebens for “homework” about the position “SICB is their past work on the committee, it ahead of time can help you to ne- is very much appreciated. gotiate an agreeable contract with The Broadening Participation the department chair. Your goal is committed to Committee sponsors two workshops make sure you give yourself all of at each annual SICB meeting, the resources you need to be suc- broadening based on suggestions from previous cessful. Hosted by Gregory Florant years Broadening Participation and Billie Swalla. participation in Travel Award Fellows. The work- Travel Awards. The Broadening shops that the BPC will be sponsor- Participation Travel Award call for SICB and the life ing at the 2013 annual meeting applications has gone out and we are: “Effective Presentation Skills” have many applications that are sciences.” hosted by Andrew Clark, and “How currently in review. We will have to Negotiate your First Job” hosted decisions on awards before Nov. by Gregory Florant. 9th. Travel Awards will be presented Workshop on “Effective Presen- to recipients at the Broadening tation Skills.” The purpose of this Participation Social during the workshop is to present students/ annual meeting. So, be sure to postdocs/faculty with various strat- come to the social and enjoy the egies for effectively preparing and refreshments while you chat with delivering scientific presentations. your SICB colleagues. We welcome The workshop will consist of two the participation of all SICB mem- parts. During the first half of the bers and look forward to hearing workshop, there will be a demon- your comments and suggestions for stration of software. Then for the broadening participation in our so- remaining time, professional speak- ciety. ers will talk about tips for healthy preparation habits and handling Broadening Participation Events Q&A. Professional speakers include 2013 Meeting in San Francisco: Manny Azzizi, Patricia Hernandez,  Mentor-Mentee meeting orga- and Andrew Clark. nized by Cheryl Wilga. Thursday, Workshop on “How to Negotiate Jan 3, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Your First Job.” Finding your first  Broadening Participation Com- faculty position can be difficult, par- mittee meeting, Friday, Jan 4, 7- ticularly in this economic climate. a.m. But once you have applied and re-  Workshop - “Effective Presenta- ceived an interview, you can be as- tion Skills” organized by Andrew sured that you are doing very well. Clark, Friday, Jan. 4th, Noon - If you are offered a faculty position 1:00 p.m. you need to negotiate the best pos-  Workshop - “How to Negotiate sible deal that will help you achieve your First Job” hosted by Grego- success. It is at this point in time ry Florant, Sunday, Jan. 6th, that YOU are in a position of Noon – 1:00 p.m. strength—they have decided that  Diversity Social hosted by the they want YOU in their department. BPC, Sunday, Jan. 6th, 8 – 10 And they are now willing to make a p.m.

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 7

M AJOR G IFTS AND P LANNED G IVING

e’d like to tell you about two the age of 59. Charlotte was also a The Ladd Prosser W individuals each of whom has long-time member of ASZ and SICB made a very significant impact on and a President of the Society in Fund and the our Society. In 2010, Dr. Len 1994. Prior to her untimely death, Kirschner, Professor Emeritus in she generously made SICB the sole Charlotte Mangum the School of Biological Sciences at beneficiary of her life insurance pol- Washington State University and a icy. This planned gift endowed a Student Support long-time member of ASZ and fund that, with growth and continu- SICB, made a decision to honor the ing donations by members, now sits Fund resulted from memory of Professor C. Ladd at $280,712. The Charlotte Prosser and to provide a lasting Mangum Student Support Fund major gifts to legacy to SICB. Len made a major has provided support for many, gift of $25,000 to endow the C. many students to attend SICB SICB. Ladd Prosser Symposium Fund, meetings. What a remarkable re- which now helps to support sympo- source for our society and its stu- sia that embody the interests of dents! Ladd Prosser in comparative physi- Most of us don’t possess the abil- ology. With accrued growth and ity to make sizeable charitable gifts subsequent contributions by mem- in our lifetimes, but we can make bers, the current value of this en- an impact by including SICB in es- dowment is $29,056, and it has tate planning. Please consider doing helped to support a number of SICB so. Update your SICB symposia. Contact: In February 1998, Dr. Charlotte  [email protected] or Member Record. Mangum, then Chancellor Profes-  [email protected] sor of Biology at the College of Wil- They will be happy to discuss op- Go to “Directory” liam and Mary, died from cancer at tions with you. on the home page, E DUCATIONAL C OUNCIL N EWS enter your name Bob Podolsky, Chair We have initiated a new section of and SICB ID #. [email protected] the SICB Digital Library on he SICB Educational Council is “Invertebrate Biology.” Initial Click “Update your T excited about several opportuni- content for the section, provided by ties at the San Francisco meeting Bob Podolsky, Jan Pechenik, and Jon record…” and on the SICB website for advanc- Allen comprises a set of student- ing the educational agenda of the generated “Research Focus Boxes” Include teaching Society. (1) Our 2013 Moore Lec- similar to those in Pechenik’s inver- ture will be by Dr. Susan Singer of tebrates textbook. We hope that information! Carleton College, a leader in the more SICB members will help to field of reformulating STEM educa- grow this section and other potential tion. The lecture once again will pre- areas of the DL. (4) We are planning cede the end of meeting reception. once again to host an arrival day (2) The Educational Council will host display of undergraduate post- the first of its annual “Teaching and ers. (5) Please add your teaching Learning-X” (TAL-X) roundtable dis- information to your SICB member cussion series at noon on Jan 7 in profile! We have had low participa- San Francisco. Our topic this year, tion so far in the creation of this da- “Vision and Change in Introduc- tabase, which will be useful in a tory Biology,” is being organized number of ways to the Educational by Dr. Bram Lutton of Endicott Col- Council and to SICB membership. To lege and will involve luminaries of update: http://sicb.org > Directory the field, including Dr. Singer. (3) > Login > “Update your record”.

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 8

BEYOND PUBLIC O UTREACH- C ITIZEN SCIENCE

News from the Public Affairs Biological Sciences) has launched a Committee new letter writing campaign to en- A panel of experts will Jake Socha, Chair courage members of Congress and the President to prevent the nation describe their work [email protected] nterested in involving the public from falling off the 'fiscal cliff.' Un- with citizen scientists. I while doing serious science? der current law, this January dis- Worldwide, scientists are increas- cretionary programs will be hit with Noon ingly teaming up with volunteers to 7.8 percent across the board budg- tackle tough and complicated ques- et cuts and defense programs will January 5, 2013 tions. These collaborations provide be hit with a 10 percent cut. For scientists with access to larger da- details, see: http://www.aibs.org/ tasets and different types of data p u b l i c - policy/news/ compared to traditional research alert_sequestration.html#032430. methods, while at the same time The AIBS has also prepared a providing a valuable educational short report that summarizes some experience to participants. Citizen of the implications of budget se- scientists monitor bird migrations, questration, available athttp:// test for contaminants in water- www.aibs.org/public-policy/news/ sheds, or even play online games alert_sequestration.html#032430. that predict how proteins fold! At The AIBS has also received an the 2013 annual meeting in San NSF grant to convene a workshop Francisco, SICB's Public Affairs this September to develop an im- Committee will bring together a plementation plan for the Strategic panel of experts to describe their Plan for a Network Integrated Bio- work with citizen scientists and to collections Alliance. In preparation answer your questions about the for the workshop, they are now Students may design and funding of effective, gathering comments and sugges- meaningful, and rigorous citizen tions. Information about this re- receive support science projects. Set your calen- quest for information can be found dar for noon, Jan. 5, and we hope at: from SICB to http://www.aibs.org/public- to see you there! poli- cy/news/aibs_seeks_input_on_the_network_ attend the annual Science policy news from AIBS integrat- The AIBS (American Institute of ed_biocollections_alliance.html#032427. meeting for up to

3 years. Researchers Database. This is a contribution by SICB Member Ste- ve Huskey in the Division of Ecolo- gy and Evolution. Read more about his work which focuses on the link between functional design and real- ized utility in vertebrates. Submit your work to SICB’s Re- searchers Database. Send a title, a short paragraph, and a photo rep- resenting your work to your divi- sional secretary. This is a great way to recruit students into your labora- tory.

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 9

M OLGULA T ALES - B ILLIE S WALLA

(Continued from page 1) on the steps of the Station Bi- gy Course at MBL, Woods Hole, ologique de Roscoff, staring out Massachusetts to see these embry- over the tidal plains to Ile de Batz, os for myself. a magical island just off shore. My However, as beautiful as ascidian younger sister Patty, brought as a embryos are, after seeing them in nanny to the boys, sat beside me person and learning about them in as we looked at the azure skies, Embryology 1983, I was reading N. sea gulls circling, and the old fort, J. Berrill (1931) in the MBL library which has been converted to re- “Experiences—Part 13 search labs. “Did you know that it in a series would be like this?” she asked. “No, of articles about the not really,” I answered truthfully: research experiences “This is what it was like in my of members of SICB. dreams.” Then I pinched myself, and felt it. I had arrived at Roscoff, France, in my search for the tailless “SICB members Molgula occulta. like a good story about So began my lifelong adventure an expedition, with the tailless molgulid ascidians. a field experience, Ascidian embryos first caught my a lab experiment fancy when I took Developmental Biology at the University of Iowa as or another an undergraduate student in 1979. researcher.” I was a senior, an Ecology and Evo- lution major, and was convinced at the time that any biological phe- nomenon could be resolved with an elegant mathematical equation. Then one evening, as I read about cytoplasmic determinants, I saw the photo in a textbook that would Figure 2. Photo of the tailed Molgula ocula- change my life. It was a live Styela ta hatched ascidian on top, the tailless Mol- clava embryo, with a yellow cres- gula occulta larva on the bottom, and the cent in the cytoplasm. This cyto- hybrid that developed from an M. occulta plasm would enter the muscle cells egg and an M. oculata sperm. This figure and eventually carry a determinant first appeared in Swalla and Jeffery, 1996. into the nuclei to make the cell Used with permission. muscle (the determinant was later identified as a transcription factor, when I ran across an amazing macho-1; Nishida and Sawada, claim. Berrill described a tailless 2001). I usually read the textbook species Molgula occulta that he had fast and lightly, then reviewed my discovered at Station Biolgique de notes and moved on to something Roscoff that had a closely related else. That night I looked at the tailed species. I looked at his draw- photo for a long time. Naturally col- ings, as he did much of this work ored ascidian eggs? What if you before photography was generally could isolate that cytoplasm? Figure available and I was intrigued and out whether it contained special excited. What did these tailless spe- RNAs and proteins? Fuse it with an- cies do? Did they swim? Could we other egg? I decided then and there still find them? I had never been to that I needed to take the Embryolo- (Continued on page 10)

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 10

M OLGULA T ALES - B ILLIE S WALLA

(Continued from page 9) cross the two Molgula species, Mol- France, but studied 3 years of gula oculata and Molgula occulta French and always thought it would (Swalla and Jeffery, 1990), and they made a hybrid with a tiny tail! We wrote to N.J. Berrill, then 92, to tell him how excited we were about his work and he replied with a charming letter, admitting that it had never occurred to him to try the cross between the species, but that he was very pleased that we had. Altogether, I’ve published over thirty manuscripts on the molgulid ascidians (Swalla and Jeffery, 1996) and I still cherish the long handwritten letter that I received from Berrill, discussing the fascina- tion that we shared about the tail- less Molgulas. Nine years later, I would make a fateful phone call from France and learn that my sister Patty was diag- nosed with cancer, and return to the USA to lose my sister to signet cell cancer at the age of 29. She loved the time that she spent in France and we had many secret words that described special places Figure 3. From left to right, Summer 2012, Elijah Lowe (Michigan in Roscoff. I never see a sunset State University); Lionel Christiaen (New York University); Billie there that doesn’t remind me of Swalla (University of Washington); Claudia Racioppi (Stazione Zoo- her, as we used to watch them and lologica Anton Dorhn, Naples. This photo was taken after a day in rate them every evening. She had the intertidal, collecting ascidians. Elijah Lowe, photo credit. an amazing sense of humor and love of life that were contagious be awesome to go there. Would I, and I still miss her. could I, make it to France and see As genomes began to be se- these ascidians? What if I could quenced in the 1990’s, we lobbied cross the two species? Would they heavily for the Molgula species to make a viable offspring? be sequenced first, but Ciona intes- All of this flitted though my mind tinalis and Ciona savignyi were the the day that Patty and I sat on the first tunicates sequenced instead curb for the first time in Roscoff (Dehal et al. 2002). The entire tuni- and watched my children, Tony and cate community rushed to study David, play in the sun while we fig- this model system, as Ciona embry- ured out where we were living and os are great experimental systems what lab we would occupy for the to study developmental gene net- summer. Three of my sisters would works (Lemaire et al. 2008). I’ve come with our family there in the always been interested in the origin next twelve years and fall in love of chordates, and continued study- with Bretagne and France, as they ing ascidians, even when it became watched the boys grow up and clear to me that they are highly de- helped us hunt for Molgula. We did (Continued on page 11)

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 11

M OLGULA T ALES - B ILLIE S WALLA

(Continued from page 10) in San Francisco, California and rived chordates. In the mid 1990’s I again at the 2014 SICB meetings in began to study hemichordates be- Austin, Texas, and then in the cause it was clear to me that they years beyond. were key animals to understand the References evolution of chordates (Brown et al. Berrill, N. J. (1931) Studies in tuni- 2008). Many years passed quickly, cate development. Part II. Abbrevi- my children grew up, and genomes ation of development in the Molgu- became cheaper and cheaper to lidae. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. sequence…. 219:281–346. In the past three years, I was giv- Brown, F.D., Prendergast, A. and en the chance to continue my long- Swalla, B.J. (2008) Man is but a term research on molgulid tailless worm: Chordate Origins. Genesis body plans through “Evolution in 46: 605-613. Action” by BEACON, a Science Dehal P. et al. (2002) The draft ge- Technology Center at MSU. My col- nome of Ciona intestinalis: Insights laborator is the brilliant Dr. C. Titus Integrative & into chordate and vertebrate ori- Brown from Michigan State Univer- gins. Science 298: 2157-2167. sity. Titus and his lab, including a Comparative Lemaire, P., Smith, W. C., and talented graduate student Elijah Nishida H. (2008) “Ascidians and Biology is Lowe agreed to assemble the tran- the Plasticity of the Chordate De- scriptomes for these molgulid spe- velopmental Program” Current Biol- published by cies and we all travelled to Roscoff ogy 18, R620–R631. to watch the hybrids develop again. Nishida, H. & Sawada, K. (2001) Oxford University This year, we teamed up with Dr. macho-1 encodes a localized mRNA Lionel Christiaen, from New York in ascidian eggs that specifies mus- Press. University, and Claudia Racioppi cle fate during embryogenesis. Na- from Naples, to collect samples and ture 409: 724-729. Thank you Oxford sequence the genomes of these two Swalla, B. J. and Jeffery, W.R. species. This has revived the excit- (1990) Interspecific hybridization for donating books ing research into molgulid body between an anural and urodele as- plans in my lab and the answers cidian: Differential expression of as prizes during are just as complicated as any truly urodele features suggests multiple natural system. mechanisms control anural devel- the SICB Business Sequencing the genomes on Mol- opment. Develop. Biol. 142: 319- gula occulta and Molgula oculata 334. Meeting in will allow us to dissect the evolution Swalla, B. J. and Jeffery, W. R. of gene networks in closely related Charleston!!! (1996) Requirement of the manx species with very different larval gene for expression of chordate phenotypes. The knowledge of gene features in a tailless ascidian larva. networks that has been already Science 274: 1205-1209. worked out in the in distantly relat-

ed model system Ciona intestinalis Figure 1 Note. Photo taken in Au- and Ciona savignyi will facilitate gust, 2012 by Elijah Lowe (MSU) of this research. It is an amazing time Laboratoire Lacaze-Duthiers at the to be a scientist, with this Station Biologique de Roscoff. Pro- knowledge and the skills to coordi- fessor Lacaze-Duthiers used his nate detailed analyses of gene ex- family money and donations by pression and morphological evolu- other wealthy French nobility to tion. Please stay tuned, as we’ll be fund three marine labs in France. presenting results of our recent studies at the 2013 SICB meetings (Continued on page 12)

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 12

M OLGULA T ALES S TUDENT /POSTDOC A FFAIRS C OMMITTEE (Continued from page 11) Station Biologique de Roscoff was funded because Lacaze-Duthiers Peggy Biga, Chair had discovered several molgulid [email protected] species there. He bought an old fort ICB, 2013 in San Francisco is that was not being occupied and going to be a great meeting for fitted it for running sea water ta- S SPDAC! We have BIG plans for in- bles. volvement with the entire society! Billie Swalla But we need your help! In San Francisco, SPDAC will oper- ate a booth in the Exhibitors Hall I MPLEMENTATION OF that will bring students, postdocs, G RAND C HALLENGES and scientists alike together at one table to discuss various different top-

(Continued from page 1) ics of importance to our next genera- (RCNs) funded by NSF. A proposal tion of scientists. Show your sup- was developed over last spring, and port of our next generation by put forth by Dianna Padilla (former donating 30 minutes of your time Chair of DIZ), Billie Swalla at SICB 2013 to sit at the SPDAC (President-Elect), booth! We are looking for full mem- and Brian Tsuki- bers that can share their experiences mura (Past Pro- and expertise in the trials and tribu- gram Officer). This lations that students and postdocs workshop has face when ‘climbing the ladder’ in been funded by science. The booth will operate from the National Sci- 1-4 pm on the 3 days of exhibition. ence Foundation; There will be a sign in on the website the first organiza- soon. So show that you support our tional meeting of future scientists!!! This is a great op- 11 steering com- portunity to meet the amazing stu- mittee members dents and postdocs that attend SICB will be held in ear- every year. Who knows, you might ly November at meet a future graduate student or Cold Spring Har- postdoc for your own lab! Or, even a bor to discuss the future colleague. Questions? Please feasibility of devel- ask me ([email protected]). oping RCN’s to ad- In addition to the Exhibitors Booth, dress “How Organisms Walk the SPDAC will be hosting a workshop on Tightrope between Stability and elevator talks. We need help from Change,” discussing other alterna- you on this also! We need full mem- tives and developing a list of the ber participation to aid in training the members for the full workshop, art of the elevator science talk. If which is to be held sometime after you are interested in participating as the San Francisco meeting of SICB. a ‘trainer,’ please let me know We are also developing a workshop ([email protected])!! for the San Francisco SICB meeting It is gong to be a great meeting in 2013 and we hope to see you there! to update and discuss the directions We also hope you will participate in of the Grand Challenges. We hope our events to continue the tradition you will be able to attend this work- of SICB being a great open venue for shop. our younger scientists-in-training! -Brian Tsukimura

SICB Newsletter, Fall 2012 Page 13

H IGH F IVES A LL made it more difficult for some members to afford the travel costs. ROUND A Furthermore, many other scientific Member Benefit: (Continued from page 1) organizations have seen declines in similar to or higher than last year, membership and meeting attend- 25% Discount on with a new record of 1651 abstracts ance over the last few years. Why submitted in September. are we doing so well? There is Oxford University The overall member- probably no single an- ship of SICB has also swer, but we certainly Press Books remained very strong, have benefitted from and is likely to set a the dedication and hard Go to the SICB record by the end of work of our officers, the year, with well well-planned meetings Home Page over 2600 members. at excellent venues, This is a substantial and an overall organi- increase from the ap- zation of the society proximately 2100 that encourages the members in SICB ten formation of interest years ago, about 20% groups that consider overall, and 10% in SICB their intellectual voting members. ‘home’. We cover a Membership took a large jump in broad range of topics in SICB, but 2006, and has remained at relative- there are clusters within that diver- ly high levels since then. Much of sity that are very strong in their the increased membership over the shared interests, and in their ea- past decade has been in the cate- gerness to present research discov- gories of postdoctoral members eries and ideas, in the regular ses- (100%), graduate students (60%) sions and in symposia. In other words, the SICB meeting is the one they always attend to be sure to SICB Membership & Meeting Trends know about advances in their fields, and to catch up with colleagues. At the 2013 meeting, we will have 2500 several new events and proce- dures: 2000 First, there will be expanded vid- Membership eo coverage of the plenaries and Number 1500 certain other presentations. Mtg Registrants Second, we will encourage video 1000 capability in the poster sessions for 2000 2005 2010 2015 those with ipads or similar tablet computers, an interest that is likely Year to expand in the future. Third, we will be setting up a spe- cial booth in the exhibitor area and undergraduates (400%), a sure where any members can put their sign that SICB is reaching those flyers and pamphlets regarding ed- younger scientists, and that they ucational or research opportunities. see our society as relevant to their In the past these have been spread interests. I am certain many of out on tables and in the foyers, those new members will become with no organization. We will give full members in the coming years. this a try and see how it works out The increasing attendance at our this year. meetings is a good sign, especially See you on the trolleys! at a time when the economy has -Ken Sebens