The Society of Systematic Biologists advances the science of systematic biology in all its aspects of theory, principles, methodology, and practice, for both living and fossil organisms, with emphasis on areas of common interest to all systematic biologists regardless of individual specialization.
Recent News
IDEA Award Deadline Extended to February 10
The deadline to nominate a person or group for the ASN/SSE/SSB Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Award has been extended to February 10. This award will be given to a person at any career stage who has strengthened the ecology and evolutionary biology community by promoting inclusiveness and diversity in our fields. The award can also be presented to a group. The recipient(s) will be invited to present a plenary lecture at the following year’s Evolution meeting. Each recipient will also receive a plaque and a $1000 honorarium (shared among recipients if more than one).
Eligibility Note: No contemporary officer, editor, member of diversity committee, or meeting organizer of the three societies is eligible for the award. Membership in any of the three societies is not required to nominate someone or be nominated for this award.
Nomination packages should include:
Please contact committee chair Andrea Sweigart at sweigart@uga.edu with any questions.
Click here to access the application.
Eligibility Note: No contemporary officer, editor, member of diversity committee, or meeting organizer of the three societies is eligible for the award. Membership in any of the three societies is not required to nominate someone or be nominated for this award.
Nomination packages should include:
- Nomination Letter: A single letter of support (1-2 pages) including biographical information (name, title, organization) of the person or group being nominated, along with a short description of the activities supporting the nomination. The letter must also include a section on the nature of impact the person or group has had on inclusivity, diversity, and equity in the field. For self-nominations, this letter should be written by another person who is familiar with the activities of the nominee.
- Biosketch: A brief biosketch or list of activities (maximum 3 pages) for the person/group nominated.
- Optional supplementary material: any material you believe clarifies the activities of the nominee relevant to this award (maximum 3 pages).
Please contact committee chair Andrea Sweigart at sweigart@uga.edu with any questions.
Click here to access the application.
The Evolution conference is the joint annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society of Systematic Biologists. The meeting is one of the premiere opportunities for sharing research on evolutionary biology each year.
Evolution 2023 will be held in 2 parts: A 2-day virtual conference with live online talks, symposia, and networking events held June 2-3, followed by a 5-day in-person conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center on June 21-25, 2023. Registration for both the virtual and in-person conferences will open in February 2023. Register for the virtual conference, in-person conference, or both!
Follow @evol_mtg or @evol_mtg@ecoevo.social for updates.
Evolution 2023 will be held in 2 parts: A 2-day virtual conference with live online talks, symposia, and networking events held June 2-3, followed by a 5-day in-person conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center on June 21-25, 2023. Registration for both the virtual and in-person conferences will open in February 2023. Register for the virtual conference, in-person conference, or both!
Follow @evol_mtg or @evol_mtg@ecoevo.social for updates.
Thank you to the organizers of #SSB2023!
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The fifth SSB standalone meeting was held on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in México City, México on Jan. 14th and 15th, 2023.
#SSB2023 is now over - and what a fantastic meeting it was! Wonderful people, exciting science, and a great location. A huge thank you to all the organizers: Susana Magallón, Santiago Ramírez, Hernán Vázquez, Ricardo García, Alejandro González, Ivalú Cacho, Virginia León, Alejandro Oceguera, Helga Ochoterena, Alejandro Zaldivar, Alejandra Moreno, Arturo Becerra, Pablo Vinuesa SSB is so grateful for all your hard work! |
Call for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) Student Member
The SSB Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) is a standing committee within the Society that works to promote diversity, equity, and inclusiveness to enhance the study of all fields in systematics, and to foster the career of early career systematists. A diverse and inclusive SSB will foster innovation, creativity, and inclusion at all professional levels. Through independent activities, as well as activities in collaboration with diversity committees of the joint evolution societies, our goal is to promote the advancement of the study of systematics among underrepresented groups by supporting the inclusion and retention of individuals of all identity groups. SSB is looking for a dedicated student member to join our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and help us continue to lead vital efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Society of Systematic Biologists.
Student members will begin a 2-year term on February 1, 2023. Not all diversity work can or should be done by people of color, members of the LGBTQI+ community, and/or white women, and thus we strongly encourage applicants who do not identify as members of these groups as well. Ideal candidates for these positions are passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and able to work collaboratively. The committee is tasked with developing the DEI mission of SSB and implementing initiatives to diversify SSB and the field of evolutionary biology. Members of this committee will work closely with the DEI committees of ASN and SSE to develop synergistic projects that support tri-society initiatives.
Click here if you would like to know more about SSB's efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in evolutionary biology. Additionally, if you would like to know more before applying, we encourage you to contact us: diversitydirector@systematicbiologists.org.
To apply, please write a short statement (no more than one page) detailing your motivation for joining the committee, and list any prior DEI experience, if applicable. Send your statement to diversitydirector@systematicbiologists.org. Applications received by January 20th, 2023 will be considered by the DEIC review panel. Apply now to join the DEIC!
Student members will begin a 2-year term on February 1, 2023. Not all diversity work can or should be done by people of color, members of the LGBTQI+ community, and/or white women, and thus we strongly encourage applicants who do not identify as members of these groups as well. Ideal candidates for these positions are passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and able to work collaboratively. The committee is tasked with developing the DEI mission of SSB and implementing initiatives to diversify SSB and the field of evolutionary biology. Members of this committee will work closely with the DEI committees of ASN and SSE to develop synergistic projects that support tri-society initiatives.
Click here if you would like to know more about SSB's efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion in evolutionary biology. Additionally, if you would like to know more before applying, we encourage you to contact us: diversitydirector@systematicbiologists.org.
To apply, please write a short statement (no more than one page) detailing your motivation for joining the committee, and list any prior DEI experience, if applicable. Send your statement to diversitydirector@systematicbiologists.org. Applications received by January 20th, 2023 will be considered by the DEIC review panel. Apply now to join the DEIC!
Proposed Code of Ethics
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Since 2018, there has been a tri-society initiative to develop a Code of Ethics for the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the American Society of Naturalists. While behavior at the annual Evolution meeting falls under a Code of Conduct, the societies currently have no policies regarding conduct outside the meeting. Adopting Codes of Ethics will allow the societies to establish explicit standards of excellence and a transparent process for upholding these standards, and in so doing, foster societies that are welcoming for everyone. The three societies have now each drafted their own Codes of Ethics. Before each Code is put into place, we are seeking our members’ feedback and approval.
We invite you to visit the Code of Ethics website, review the standards of conduct and processes for enforcement, ask any questions you may have, and give your feedback. |
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SSB Legacy Committee
The new SSB Legacy Committee is working to create accessible content about our society's history. The founding members are Chris Simon, Michael Landis, Jim Rohlf, Gary Schnell, and Rosana Zenil-Ferguson. Go here for more information, and expect more soon.
Announcing The Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists
We are pleased to announce that the Society of Systematic Biologists launched a new journal on May 1st, 2021. The Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists (BSSB) will be published in collaboration with the Library Publishing Coalition at The Ohio State University Libraries. This innovative partnership will enable us to publish open access articles at a minimal cost to members of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Articles will be published without article processing charges (APCs) for SSB members. Stay tuned for the first issue of the Bulletin!
The Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists will publish manuscripts that advance our understanding of the Earth's biodiversity, with a special focus on investigations that describe how species are related (i.e., phylogeny), identified (e.g., species delimitation, morphometrics, taxonomic practice), or have evolved (e.g., phylogeography, biogeography, phylogenetic comparative methods). BSSB will also publish manuscripts that advance the theory or methods used in data analysis. Manuscripts will be evaluated on two criteria: the quality of the science and their contribution to our collective understanding of the focal species or clade. BSSB aims to publish investigations that utilize state of the art data analyses and high-quality data sets to achieve these goals.
Code of Conduct
We have a code of conduct at all our meetings; we encourage reporting of issues to members of the joint meeting council or members of our executive committee. All three societies are dedicated to making the meeting a welcoming place to all with no discrimination or harassment. To this end, we have created a form to aggregate the useful suggestions that have come in so far. To provide a suggestion, go here. To see the suggestions so far, please go here (SSB does not vet or approve of these suggestions -- we're merely aggregating them now for future discussion). Note that the form has been populated with public suggestions proposed on Twitter and Facebook so far (though the comments were made associated with names, it's not clear that people want their name associated, so only the first initial is included -- if you want your name included, please contact Brian O'Meara). We'll be doing more moving forward -- this is just a rapid response to capture ideas while they're fresh