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UPDATES FROM REGIONAL SECTIONS AND WORKING GROUPS

• ASIA
• EUROPE
• MARINE
• FRESHWATER WORKING GROUP
• SOCIAL SCIENCE WORKING GROUP

ASIA

The Asia Section recently held elections for its Board of Directors. Four new board members were elected: Promila Kapoor-Vijay (Switzerland), Lu Zhi (China), Shaikh Kashif (Pakistan), and Simon Nemtzov (Israel). Simon will assume responsibility for the Section's communications work. Four board members completed their terms in December 2007: Ahmed Khan, Tom McCarthy, Linda Whittaker, and Eric Wikramanayake. The Section welcomes the new members and looks forward to working with them on organizing SCB's 2009 annual meeting, which will be held in China.

Linda Whittaker

EUROPE

The Section held its annual elections at the end of 2007. Four positions on the board were open this year with none of the current board members running for reelection. The enthusiasm of Section members during the 2006 elections has continued and we had an impressive list of candidates. The board thanks all those who ran in these elections and reminds all of our members that our committees offer exciting opportunities to get actively involved in the work of the Section. Congratulations to the four new members: Gabor Lovei (Denmark), Nuria Selva (Poland), Ozgun Emre Can (Turkey), and Petr Zasadil (Czech Republic).

Gabor Lovei is a Senior Scientist in the Applied Ecology Group of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He is an invertebrate ecologist and ornithologist who mainly works in agro-ecosystems in Europe and New Zealand. He brings a valuable range of skills and experience to the board.

Nuria Selva is based in Poland and is currently involved in large-carnivore conservation projects. Working with carnivores has exposed Nuria to the conservation-policy interface and she has been actively involved with the Section's Policy Committee for several years. We look forward to working with her in her new role as a board member and chair of that committee.

Emre Can is also a carnivore conservation biologist. A native of Turkey, he completed his BSc in Biology at the Middle Eastern Technical University, Turkey before completing an MSc on wolf ecology at CIHEAM, France. He returned to METU for another Master's and since then has worked with national and international NGOs (including WWF, WSPA, WCS, UNDP) in Turkey conducting carnivore research and management projects. We are pleased to see continued Turkish representation on the Section's board.

Petr Zasadil is Vice-Dean for Research in the Faculty of Forestry and Environment in the Czech University of Life Science, Prague. Petr is a welcome addition to the board and destined to be one of our busiest members -- he is also chair of the local organizing committee for the second European Congress of Conservation Biology, which his institution will host.

The board thanks our departing members, András Báldi, Cagan Sekercioglu, Pierre Ibisch, and Renato Massa, for all their work on behalf of the Section. We look forward to continuing to work together to further the efforts of the SCB in Europe.

During 2007, the board decided to that the Section would benefit from the appointment of a part time development coordinator. We were able to take this bold step as a result of the very successful ECCB meeting in Eger, Hungary in 2006. We are pleased to announce that on 1 February, Barbara Mihok began working in support of the Section. Barbara will be based at the Hungarian Museum of Natural History and will focus on maintaining and strengthening the European membership of SCB. Barbara trained in development of civil organizations, studied environmental conservation at Oxford, and has until recently been living and working in Trento, Italy. Barbara has an MSc in Biology and is currently finishing her Ph.D. in forest ecology in Hungary. It is a great pleasure to welcome her to the board, and we look forward to working with her.

As noted, the venue and dates for the second European Congress of Conservation Biology have been selected. The Section and Czech University of Life Science warmly invite you to join us at their campus in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, from 1-5 September 2009.

As always, the board encourages the participation of Section members in the activity of the Section. Contact the board with any questions or comments at europe@conservationbiology.org.

Owen Nevin

MARINE

The Marine Section Board convened at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA from 16-18 November, 2007 to continue planning the Section's first meeting, the International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC). This meeting will be held 20-24 May 2009 at George Mason University near Washington, D.C. Joining the board at this meeting were John Day of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and John Senior of Parks Victoria, both of whom were active in organizing the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC) in Geelong, Australia in October 2005. The content of IMCC, which will serve as the second International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC2) and maintain the scope and vision of IMPAC1, was further developed at the St. Petersburg meeting, through site visits to George Mason University, and through the work of the IMCC Steering and Program Committees. Confirmed IMCC plenary speakers include Dorothy Childers, Ratana Chuenpangdee, Alexandra Cousteau, Rod Fujita, Daniel Pauly, and Callum Roberts. The major themes for the conference include global climate change, land-sea interface, poverty and globalization, and ecosystem-based management

The IMCC Web site (www.conbio.org/IMCC) has further information on the meeting and volunteer opportunities. The call for papers, symposia, and workshops will be announced in the near future. An IMCC flyer has been developed and all SCB members are encouraged to download it from the IMCC Web site and spread the word about the meeting.

Current board member Daniela Maldini will now serve as Treasurer for the Section. Leslie Cornick and Michael Webster have taken over fundraising responsibilities for the Section.

Phaedra Doukakis

FRESHWATER WORKING GROUP

Chattanooga 2008

Board member Than Hitt coordinated a successful proposal for a four-hour symposium, Advances in freshwater conservation planning. The symposium will bring conservation scientists and practitioners together to address several key challenges and opportunities for freshwater conservation across the globe. Contributors to this session represent academic institutions, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations, including perspectives of Europe, North America, Central America, Africa, and Australia. By addressing freshwater conservation strategies from a "landscape" perspective, the symposium will contribute to the theme of the meeting.

Than also is helping to organize a joint marine and freshwater evening social to be held at the Tennessee Aquarium, and is working with the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society to organize a field trip to the Duck River. Please plan to attend these and other Freshwater Working Group events. Contact Than (than@vt.edu) for details or to offer ideas or help.

Board Elections

Working group elections were held in December 2007. Than Hitt (Virginia Tech, USA) was reelected, and we have four new board members: Kunjuraman Jayachandran (Kerala Agricultural University, India), Ravi Shanker Kanoje (retired, India), Michael Marchetti (University of California, Davis, USA), and Jeanne Nel (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa). Many thanks to them for their willingness to work for freshwater conservation, and a special thanks to our retiring board members: Changqing Yu, Dirk Roux, Josh Viers, and Xianfeng Zhang. Your work is greatly appreciated!

Freshwater Education

The working group's education committee (Simon Linke, Than Hitt, and Lisa Bonneau) is developing a freshwater ecology and conservation module for the Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (http://ncep.amnh.org). Contact Simon (simon.linke@gmail.com) if you're interested in helping with this effort.

Freshwater List

To join the freshwater email list, go to http://list.conbio.org/mailman/listinfo/freshwater/. The volume of messages is relatively low. Postings typically address freshwater conservation issues, publications, jobs, and resources.

Ken Vance-Borland

SOCIAL SCIENCE WORKING GROUP

Social Science Content at SCB2008

The 2008 annual meeting will feature innovative social science and interdisciplinary content, including plenary sessions, short courses, symposia, workshops, and discussion groups. Among the social science and interdisciplinary session topics being explored are the following. See www.conbio.org/2008 for more information on organizers and content.

Short Courses

-- The role of the social sciences in conservation planning (see article by organizer Tara Teel below)
-- Targeting behavior: designing conservation behavior change programs

Symposia

-- Economic growth and biodiversity: the elemental arguments
-- Advances in freshwater conservation planning
-- Assessing ecosystem service values for marine and coastal ecosystems: melding the natural and social sciences
-- Connecting ecological and socioeconomic monitoring to management for Marine Protected Areas in California's Channel Islands
-- Landscape change on the Cumberland Plateau: drivers, consequences, and policy solutions for a key biodiversity hotspot
-- Parks, people, and posterity: reconsidering the ethical dimensions of international conservation
-- The politicization of endangered species science

Workshops

-- Conserving biological diversity by improving public and corporate policies -- issues and strategies
-- Tools and methods for integrated land-sea planning
-- The involvement of the private sector in marine protected area planning, management, and conservation. Case studies from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific
-- Protected areas and biodiversity conservation II: engaging surrounding communities
-- Integrative conservation problem solving workshop: methods to bridge the natural and social sciences
-- Capacity-building for SCB chapters, part II: empowering environmental problem-solving

Discussion Groups

-- Religious values and conservation biology--defining the role of the SCB working group on religion and conservation biology
-- Conservation internships: building collaborations between conservation organizations, universities, and societies to facilitate student learning, promote diversity, and advance conservation

Rich Wallace

Short Course: Social Science and Conservation Planning

In collaboration with Colorado State University, the Working Group is sponsoring a short course, The Role of the Social Sciences in Conservation Planning, at SCB's 2008 annual meeting. The four-day course will be directed at building capacity in social science applications, offering participants a framework for thinking about the role of the social sciences in helping to address conservation challenges. The course also is intended to enhance understanding of how specific social science disciplines can contribute. Speakers with social science expertise will provide overviews of the different disciplines, including core concepts and examples of tools that can assist on-the-ground conservation efforts. In addition, through case studies and group interaction, participants will have an opportunity to translate course concepts into practice using "real world" examples, including those from their own work. The course will be designed to target a diverse audience, including researchers and practitioners as well as graduate students and early-career conservation social scientists. Questions can be directed to the organizer, Tara Teel (tteel@lamar.colostate.edu).

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