Word Cloud from 2024 Members Meeting when participants were asked, "What attribute do you believe distinguishes systematic biologists from other evolutionary biologists?"
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.
Call for Applications for a New DEIC Member
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) has an open position and is looking to fill it. We are a dynamic group of committed members who care about SSB and systematics, and who want to help grow the Society and support its members. We are currently looking for a new member, in particular at the post-doc career stage (but we will consider any applicant!). If interested, please email your application by October 22nd to the Diversity Director Anahí Espíndola ([email protected]), telling us a little bit about yourself and your motivations for joining. Also, feel free to reach out if you would like to know more before submitting your application.
More information about the DEIC and what we do:
We are a committee of SSB members at a variety of career stages. Our goal is to celebrate and foster the inclusion of all social, racial, cultural, sexual, gender, dis/ability, and economic groups in the Society by promoting the advancement of the study of systematics for anyone interested at all career stages. To do this, we work with leadership to make SSB a welcoming society where all members can succeed, and we assist SSB in promoting and implementing DEI plans. Among other actions, we organize events throughout the year and at SSB’s professional meetings. Some of our past actions included the organization of special symposia at the Evolution and standalone meetings, the co-organization of the Story Collider event with the other tri-societies (SSE and ASN), the coordination of and planning following a Society-wide climate survey, and more.
More information about the DEIC and what we do:
We are a committee of SSB members at a variety of career stages. Our goal is to celebrate and foster the inclusion of all social, racial, cultural, sexual, gender, dis/ability, and economic groups in the Society by promoting the advancement of the study of systematics for anyone interested at all career stages. To do this, we work with leadership to make SSB a welcoming society where all members can succeed, and we assist SSB in promoting and implementing DEI plans. Among other actions, we organize events throughout the year and at SSB’s professional meetings. Some of our past actions included the organization of special symposia at the Evolution and standalone meetings, the co-organization of the Story Collider event with the other tri-societies (SSE and ASN), the coordination of and planning following a Society-wide climate survey, and more.
Call for SSB Symposia and Workshops at Evolution 2025
The 2025 Evolution meeting will be held in Athens, GA, USA from June 20, 2025 to June 24, 2025. If you are interested in organizing either a symposium or a workshop as part of the meeting, please submit a brief proposal to the SSB Program Director.
Symposia are half-day events and often consist of half-hour talks. The talks should be related to a common theme, which can be any research area in systematics. SSB can cover up to $10,000 of expenses per symposium.
Workshops usually take place on the first day of the joint meeting. They can be half-day or full-day. Workshop organizers can decide on the format that best suits the needs of their workshop. Funding for workshops is also available; a proposed budget should be included in the proposal based on the number of presenters and other needs of the workshop.
It is crucial that symposium and workshop organizers ensure that the events include a diverse group of scientists.
More information on preparing and submitting proposals for symposia and workshops can be found here. The proposal submission deadline is Nov. 15th.
Symposia are half-day events and often consist of half-hour talks. The talks should be related to a common theme, which can be any research area in systematics. SSB can cover up to $10,000 of expenses per symposium.
Workshops usually take place on the first day of the joint meeting. They can be half-day or full-day. Workshop organizers can decide on the format that best suits the needs of their workshop. Funding for workshops is also available; a proposed budget should be included in the proposal based on the number of presenters and other needs of the workshop.
It is crucial that symposium and workshop organizers ensure that the events include a diverse group of scientists.
More information on preparing and submitting proposals for symposia and workshops can be found here. The proposal submission deadline is Nov. 15th.
Open Letter to Leadership of the California Academy of Sciences
SSB President Corrie Moreau recently wrote an open letter on behalf of SSB to leadership at the California Academy of Sciences, expressing concern about recent layoffs of curatorial staff and reiterating SSB's support for systematic biologists and scientific collections worldwide.
"The Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) stands firmly in support of systematic biologists and scientific collections. As an international scientific society, in addition to advocating for diverse systematic research communities, we support collections globally and advocate for equitable access to collections resources."
"We are deeply concerned about the layoffs of curatorial staff at the California Academy of Sciences. Such reductions in personnel disrupt important biodiversity research, reduce the accessibility of collections for researchers, and increase the gap between the public good and our biodiversity heritage."
You can read the full letter here.
"The Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) stands firmly in support of systematic biologists and scientific collections. As an international scientific society, in addition to advocating for diverse systematic research communities, we support collections globally and advocate for equitable access to collections resources."
"We are deeply concerned about the layoffs of curatorial staff at the California Academy of Sciences. Such reductions in personnel disrupt important biodiversity research, reduce the accessibility of collections for researchers, and increase the gap between the public good and our biodiversity heritage."
You can read the full letter here.
Welcome Newly Elected Officers, Council Members, Trustees, and Editors!
The SSB Council comprises the executive officers, 15 elected councilors, and two graduate student representatives. We are excited to welcome the following newly elected officers and Council members who will start their terms in January 2025! Thank you so much for your service to the Society.
President-Elect: Tracy Heath
Awards Director: Rebecca Chong
Treasurer: Lacey Knowles
Communications Director: April Wright
Council Members: Kaycee Bell, Daniel Caetano, Megan Smith, Rebecca Tarvin, Thais Vasconcelos
Trustee: Laura Kubatko
Systematic Biology Editor in Chief: Bob Thomson
President-Elect: Tracy Heath
Awards Director: Rebecca Chong
Treasurer: Lacey Knowles
Communications Director: April Wright
Council Members: Kaycee Bell, Daniel Caetano, Megan Smith, Rebecca Tarvin, Thais Vasconcelos
Trustee: Laura Kubatko
Systematic Biology Editor in Chief: Bob Thomson
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2024 Presidential Address at Evolution 2024
If you missed the SSB Presidential Address at Evolution 2024, or you simply want to hear the presentation again, we've got the link for you. Listen to current SSB President Corrie Moreau as she addresses the audience on all things related to the Society of Systematic Biologists, including information on the new Global Assistance Membership Program and announcements of the 2024 award winners, followed by the SSB Presidential Address, "Exploring some uncomfortable truths about species," featuring SSB Past President David Baum.
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2024 Award Winners Announced at Evolution 2024
Call for Reviewers - SSB Student Awards
SSB is always looking for reviewers for student awards competitions!
These awards include Graduate Student Research Awards, Mini-ARTS awards, and the Ernst Mayr Award. Serving as a reviewer for these award competitions is a critical role in our Society and directly supports early career researchers in systematics.
Please indicate your interest by completing the form on this page Reviewing Award Applications
These awards include Graduate Student Research Awards, Mini-ARTS awards, and the Ernst Mayr Award. Serving as a reviewer for these award competitions is a critical role in our Society and directly supports early career researchers in systematics.
Please indicate your interest by completing the form on this page Reviewing Award Applications
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