The Animal Section would like to invite members to put themselves forward for election to one of the positions listed below:
- Convenor of the Foraging and Nutrition Group
- Convenor of the Neurobiology Group
Please see below for more information on the roles, the new foraging, nutrition and growth group and how to apply. The deadline for applications is the 15th April 2008.
Group Convenor (vacancy currently in the Neurobiology Group and the Foraging, Nutrition and Growth Group)
The role of the group “convenor” is to take a lead in co-ordinating the activities of a “group” within the SEB, and reports these activities to Section. A “group” is simply a theme to represent the interests of SEB members e.g. Osmoregulation group. While there is no formal list of members for a group (anyone with an interest can get involved!), the group does need to contribute to the annual scientific meeting of the Society. In addition, groups may wish to run more specialist satellite meeting or sessions outside the SEB Annual Main Meeting. The roles of the convenor are therefore varied and include: -
- To organise and chair an annual group meeting to discuss the group’s interests/aspirations, but most importantly to agree a scientific contribution to the main SEB meeting.
- Identify the title/main theme and names/contact details of a session organiser(s) for the group’s contribution to the SEB annual meeting.
- Keep a list/melting pot of ideas for future scientific sessions, and potential contributors.
- Encourage and promote the participation of student members within their group, and identify young post-docs who may get more involved with the group or be potentially long-term members of the Society.
- Co-ordinate satellite meetings from time to time.
- Co-ordinate the group budget, take responsibility for the budget and its expenditure on group affairs.
- Report group expenditure to Section.
- Report scientific activities to Section. Liaison with other groups as appropriate on joint scientific sessions.
- Attend Section meetings twice a year. Nominate a deputy for your group in case you cannot attend.
- Be prepared to be a convenor for a term of office of 3 years and elect a deputy to be the future convenor of the group.
- Keep minutes of the group discussions/meetings. These can be summarised in a short report at the section meetings.
This is not an exhaustive list of things that a convenor could do, but an idea of the main tasks. The precise organisation of the group affairs is left up to the group to decide. The group “committee” meeting may be a formal affair, or it can be informal; as long as the members of your group get a chance to contribute to scientific debate/activities. At the very least the group committee will have a chair (the convenor) and a deputy. The other contributors tend to be evolved on a more pragmatic basis i.e. your session organisers for this year/next year!
The benefits of being a convenor are also varied. It is obviously a great opportunity to drive forward the science that you are interested in. There is the opportunity to meet with other members of the Society and broaden your knowledge of the Society. Perhaps most important of all, you get to communicate science to others and promote your discipline. It is also a great opportunity to evolve the science and make connections between your discipline and other areas of science. This might involve joint meetings with other societies, or collaborations at an individual level arise from such events. Clearly, there are many cross-discipline opportunities.
Foraging, Nutrition and Growth.
This is a new interest group which has arisen through demand for sessions in these general areas at our annual meetings. For example, for sessions on the functional physiology of the gut, and also the interest in feeding behaviour in relation to stress or pollution. In addition, behaviour and energetics have always been key issues in the biology of organisms and their survival. Acquiring energy (food) is an essential part of this process. Finally, we would like to attract scientists back to the SEB who used to attend our meetings, for example joint sessions on fish nutrition, biomechanics of feeding, nutrition in birds and reptiles etc. We are therefore looking for a convenor who would like to take up this challenge, and funnel the enthusiasm our members have for this topic into scientific sessions at the main meeting, and to establish a fully active group for the animal section.
How to apply
If you would like to put yourself forward for any of these positions then please click below to fill in a short online application form. Once you have applied, the SEB will contact you to request a copy of your CV and a brief outline of why you are interested in the position and to inform you when the relevant elections are to take place. If there are a large number of applicants then a short-list may be drawn-up prior to the elections.
The deadline for applications is the 15th April 2008
