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GLOBALIZATION OF SCB: NEW OPTIONS AND INITIATIVES

• Lower dues options
• Se busca nombre para el nuevo boletin de la SCB

Lower dues options

With expanding global horizons, each one of us needs to actively recruit new members from outside the United States. All over the world, SCB members can benefit from bringing home the lessons learned abroad, and sharing solutions adapted to home regions. To level the economic "playing field" for members from developing countries, SCB already offers a 50% discount on membership dues (i.e., $47 for individuals, $32.50 for students). Many of our members have been unaware of the following additional options for expanding global membership.

In 2001 there will be a new membership option that makes dues even more affordable: online subscription to Conservation Biology. All members will be able to receive the online journal at 90% of the U.S. rate. For example, individuals from Europe who are currently paying $94 for the hardcopy journal could reduce their expenses to $67.50 for the online journal. Students who are eligible for the developing nation discount will be able to receive the online journal for an attractive $21.15. Please help us spread the word, sign on new members, and encourage existing members to renew!

The popular new publication Conservation Biology in Practice (CBIP) provides an attractive option for those who are watching their budget and the U.S. scene. Periodically, articles from outside the U.S. will be included to "draw out lessons that might be applicable in North America as well as other regions," says Editor Kathy Kohm. We are hoping this new publication will spark cross-fertilization of ideas. Designed for practitioners, CBIP is available at a flat subscription rate of $30. In addition, subscribers may choose to join SCB for $20 in the "no journal" membership category. This option would cost a total of $50, providing the dual benefits of CBIP and global networking in a professional organization. CBIP will be attractive for students who are learning English, resource managers who have little time to spare, and faculty who are looking for case studies to include in course materials.

At the 2000 annual meeting, Board members raised several questions about international membership. Are SCB members aware of the dues options designed to encourage expansion of our network beyond the U.S. borders? If more members were aware, would it boost membership? Are there other ways that membership could be made more affordable and useful for conservation biologists from developing countries?

Please share your opinions about incentives to enhance global membership. Contacts: Jane Packard (j-packard@tamu.edu), Mac Hunter (Hunter@apollo.umenfa.maine.edu), and Georgina Mace (georgina.mace@ioz.ac.uk).

Jane M. Packard

Se busca nombre para el nuevo boletin de la SCB

The SCB Internationalization Committee is near to launching its first regional bulletin, which will serve members and other interested individuals in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The purpose of the bulletin is to facilitate information exchange in order to help strengthen the discipline of conservation biology in the region.

The bulletin will be distributed electronically, published six times a year, and will have two main sections. The first will include the table of contents of each issue of Conservation Biology in Spanish. Spanish abstracts, in turn, will be available for browsing at the SCB website. English tables of contents (including an electronic mailing service) and abstracts are available at Blackwell's website (http://www.blacksci.co.uk/). The second section of the bulletin will be a compilation of information items relevant to the practice of conservation biology.

Appropriate topics include (1) recent publications of interest and information on how to obtain them, (2) announcements of conferences, courses, workshops, and information on how to apply for financial support, (3) contact information for potential funding sources for the region, (4) requests/offers of collaboration, and (5) announcements of jobs and assistantships.

Contributions to the bulletin can be made in Spanish, English, Portuguese, or French, but will not be translated to the other languages; they will be published in the language that they are submitted. We expect to begin publication late this year or early in 2001.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need a new name for the bulletin, preferably one that is more or less decipherable in the four languages mentioned above. Please submit entries before 30 September; the winner will be given a year's free membership in SCB. Contact Jon Paul Rodriguez, EEB Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, Telephone (609) 258-3868, FAX (609) 258-1334, jon@princeton.edu.

Jon Paul Rodriguez

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