2018 Elections: Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Below, please find the positions up for election and the candidate information for each position
Place your votes by clicking here!
Secretary
Dave Angelini
https://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/dave.angelini/
Self Nomination and Nominated by Bob Goldstein
As an assistant professor at Colby College I study alternative phenotypic outcomes, including instances of serial homology, sexual dimorphism and phenotypic plasticity. Insects are my most common study species, where I use a combination of methods from developmental biology, morphometrics, functional genetics and genomics. My lab also works to connect K-12 teachers with resources for insect biology, including development, evolution, and urban ecology, through our website, bugsinourbackyard.org. It’s been an honor to act as Secretary of EvoDevoPanAm for the past 2 years, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to serve in that capacity.
Frank Smith
https://www.unf.edu/bio/N01384165/
Nominated by Bob Goldstein
I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of North Florida. My research compares development of tardigrades to arthropods and other animals to unravel the evolution of animal body plans. I am passionate about the field of evolutionary developmental biology and would like to facilitate the growth of this field in any way possible. One way that I can facilitate the growth of the evo-devo field is by contributing to the Pan-American Society of Evolutionary Developmental Biology. The Secretary position in this Society would provide me with an excellent opportunity to do this.
Development Officer
Daniel Meulemans Medeiros
https://www.colorado.edu/eeb/facultysites/medeiros/Home.html
Self nomination
My main motivations for seeking re-election to the position of Development Officer is that I love the field of EvoDevo, and strongly support the mission of PASEDB and want it to succeed and thrive at the highest level possible. While my current term has met with some success (notably the support of the NSF and NIH) there was definitely a learning curve. I finally feel like I understand the position, and, importantly, have figured out how to administer the grants. Thus, I feel like I am well trained for the job, and am highly motivated to serve PASEDB. If elected to another term, I hope to secure more private funding from publishers and other companies.
Election and Awards Officer
Julia Boughner
https://medicine.usask.ca/profiles/anatomy-and-cell-biology/boughner,-julia.php
Self nomination
I’m writing to nominate myself for the position of Election & Awards Officer (EAO) because I’m keen to serve and support our PASEDB community in a formal capacity. I think that my current suite of organizational and administrative skills and expertise is best suited to the open EAO position. For instance, as member (2012-present) of my Department’s Graduate Program Committee, I have developed policies to guide the objective and transparent assessment and administration of our graduate student Travel Awards, Publication Awards, and Scholarships. Each year, I also help assess our grad students’ award and scholarship applications. Within my College, for the past three years I have served on committees to evaluate Summer Student Awards and Faculty Research Awards. Nationally, since 2016, I have served the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as a member of its “Genes, Cells & Molecules” Evaluation Group that meets annually in Ottawa to review Discovery Grant (operating grant) applications. More broadly, I serve on the Steering Committee of the Physical Anthropology Women’s Mentoring Network (2011-present), and volunteer as a (co)organizer of public outreach events including Café Scientifique Saskatoon (2012-present) and March For Science Saskatoon (2017-present). In sum, I’m a skilled, accountable, engaged, punctual, enthusiastic and collaborative committee member who is gratified to formally support communities that are important to me personally and professionally.
Jill Preston
https://jillpreston.weebly.com/
Nominated by Stacey Smith
The importance of developmental as a shaping force in evolution has long been recognized, but the advent of tools for high-throughput phenotyping, ‘omics’, and functional analyses have led to an exciting resurgence of evodevo studies, allowing us to identify key mechanisms underlying developmental constraints on phenotypic variation. Over the past 15 years, my success in the botanical arm of this field can be attributed to the support of several mentors within the evodevo community, and additional role models that I (and my students) had the opportunity to meet every year at various scientific conferences, including those of PASEDB. With my own lab in full swing, and tenure (hopefully) around the corner, I am now in a position to give back to the community by getting involved in the promotion of evodevo to the next generation of biologists. I am particularly happy to be nominated for the Elections and Awards Officer position at PASEDB that highlights exceptional work in evodevo at several different career stages, and cuts across cultures.
Latin American Media Officer
Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca
Nominated by Maurijn Van Der Zee
Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the Center in Biodiversity and Sustentability/NUPEM of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) at Macaé, Rio de Janeiro. He acted as the Latin American Liason Officer for the Pan American Society of Evolutionary Developmental Biology (PASEDB) between 2016-2018. As the Latin American Media Officer he would like to foster new initiatives to spread Evo-devo to all countries.
Latin American Liaison Officer
Christian Louis Bonatto Paese
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Bonatto_Paese
Self nomination
I strongly believe in the potential of the Latin American scientists in making incredible science, even with the scarce resources that they have. As a Brazilian that is having the opportunity to finish my PhD in England, I had the chance to meet amazing researchers in the entire world, that see the strength of the LASDB. I applied to run for the Latin American Liaison Officer for the EvoDevoPanAm because I want to have the good time to represent and help Latin America to gain the visibility that it deserves in the EvoDevo field.
Natalia Lucia Pabón-Mora
https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/71592/bio
Self nomination and Nominated by Stacey Smith
After having obtained my PhD at the City University of New York in Plant Developmental Biology in 2012, I came back to my home country Colombia to start the first program in plant developmental biology with a particular emphasis in non-model tropical species. The program and the laboratory are based at the Universidad de Antioquia, in Medellín. Our laboratory has four main research areas: 1) the genetic basis of flowering and floral diversity in tropical plants, 2) genetic mechanisms underlying fruit development, 3) genes involved in floral symmetry in monocots and basal angiosperms, and 4) genome evolution in parasitic plants. To date the lab has 6 graduate and 5 undergraduate active students. In addition to research activities I have been actively involved in teaching and science dissemination as I was the president of the last Latin American Society for Developmental Biology Meeting (LASDB2017) and I am the president elect of the Colombian Society for Developmental Biology. I am also an editor at the journal Neotropical Biodiversity and Frontiers in Plant Science. Finally, I was awarded the early career award by the Pan Am Evo Devo in 2015 and I have followed up closely the transformation of the society. I would love to be able to be the link of the society with the Latin Americans, a group of researchers that I know well and that I am familiar with, not only in terms of their research, but in terms of their needs and expectations.
Sylvain Marcellini
http://lade.udec.cl/
Self nomination
Sylvain Marcellini obtained his PhD in France, performed his post-doctoral training in Cambridge, and established the Laboratory of Development and Evolution at the University of Concepcion, Chile, where he has been working since 2006. He is the treasurer of the LASDB (Latin American Society for Developmental Biology) and a member of the EvoDevo and Evolution & Development editorial board. He edited a Frontiers in Genetics EvoDevo topic and regularly reviews manuscripts for EvoDevo, BMC Evolutionary Biology, Evolution & Development, Development Genes & Evolution, Journal of Experimental Biology part B, Gene, Frontiers in Genetics and PLoS ONE. He wishes to actively promote EvoDevo in Latin America by facilitating information flow and strengthening the collaborations and networking between EvoDevo labs that are far too diluted and isolated in this huge continent.
Diversity Officer
Tamara Franz-Odendaal
http://www.bonedevelopmentlab.ca/
Nominated by Billie Swalla
I am interested in re-serving as the Diversity officer for the Pan-Am Evo-Devo society. Not only should the society strive to have a balance of diverse individuals on the executive and invited speakers list, but care should be taken to ensure that everyone is included in the meeting. I currently hold a federally funded position that enables me to devote much of my time to gender equity and inclusion in science. As Diversity officer, I will strive to ensure the inclusion of all members and will provide opportunities at the society meeting for members from minority groups to have their voices heard in a safe and respectful manner.
Dave Angelini
https://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/dave.angelini/
Self Nomination and Nominated by Bob Goldstein
As an assistant professor at Colby College I study alternative phenotypic outcomes, including instances of serial homology, sexual dimorphism and phenotypic plasticity. Insects are my most common study species, where I use a combination of methods from developmental biology, morphometrics, functional genetics and genomics. My lab also works to connect K-12 teachers with resources for insect biology, including development, evolution, and urban ecology, through our website, bugsinourbackyard.org. It’s been an honor to act as Secretary of EvoDevoPanAm for the past 2 years, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to serve in that capacity.
Frank Smith
https://www.unf.edu/bio/N01384165/
Nominated by Bob Goldstein
I am an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of North Florida. My research compares development of tardigrades to arthropods and other animals to unravel the evolution of animal body plans. I am passionate about the field of evolutionary developmental biology and would like to facilitate the growth of this field in any way possible. One way that I can facilitate the growth of the evo-devo field is by contributing to the Pan-American Society of Evolutionary Developmental Biology. The Secretary position in this Society would provide me with an excellent opportunity to do this.
Development Officer
Daniel Meulemans Medeiros
https://www.colorado.edu/eeb/facultysites/medeiros/Home.html
Self nomination
My main motivations for seeking re-election to the position of Development Officer is that I love the field of EvoDevo, and strongly support the mission of PASEDB and want it to succeed and thrive at the highest level possible. While my current term has met with some success (notably the support of the NSF and NIH) there was definitely a learning curve. I finally feel like I understand the position, and, importantly, have figured out how to administer the grants. Thus, I feel like I am well trained for the job, and am highly motivated to serve PASEDB. If elected to another term, I hope to secure more private funding from publishers and other companies.
Election and Awards Officer
Julia Boughner
https://medicine.usask.ca/profiles/anatomy-and-cell-biology/boughner,-julia.php
Self nomination
I’m writing to nominate myself for the position of Election & Awards Officer (EAO) because I’m keen to serve and support our PASEDB community in a formal capacity. I think that my current suite of organizational and administrative skills and expertise is best suited to the open EAO position. For instance, as member (2012-present) of my Department’s Graduate Program Committee, I have developed policies to guide the objective and transparent assessment and administration of our graduate student Travel Awards, Publication Awards, and Scholarships. Each year, I also help assess our grad students’ award and scholarship applications. Within my College, for the past three years I have served on committees to evaluate Summer Student Awards and Faculty Research Awards. Nationally, since 2016, I have served the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as a member of its “Genes, Cells & Molecules” Evaluation Group that meets annually in Ottawa to review Discovery Grant (operating grant) applications. More broadly, I serve on the Steering Committee of the Physical Anthropology Women’s Mentoring Network (2011-present), and volunteer as a (co)organizer of public outreach events including Café Scientifique Saskatoon (2012-present) and March For Science Saskatoon (2017-present). In sum, I’m a skilled, accountable, engaged, punctual, enthusiastic and collaborative committee member who is gratified to formally support communities that are important to me personally and professionally.
Jill Preston
https://jillpreston.weebly.com/
Nominated by Stacey Smith
The importance of developmental as a shaping force in evolution has long been recognized, but the advent of tools for high-throughput phenotyping, ‘omics’, and functional analyses have led to an exciting resurgence of evodevo studies, allowing us to identify key mechanisms underlying developmental constraints on phenotypic variation. Over the past 15 years, my success in the botanical arm of this field can be attributed to the support of several mentors within the evodevo community, and additional role models that I (and my students) had the opportunity to meet every year at various scientific conferences, including those of PASEDB. With my own lab in full swing, and tenure (hopefully) around the corner, I am now in a position to give back to the community by getting involved in the promotion of evodevo to the next generation of biologists. I am particularly happy to be nominated for the Elections and Awards Officer position at PASEDB that highlights exceptional work in evodevo at several different career stages, and cuts across cultures.
Latin American Media Officer
Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca
Nominated by Maurijn Van Der Zee
Rodrigo Nunes da Fonseca is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the Center in Biodiversity and Sustentability/NUPEM of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) at Macaé, Rio de Janeiro. He acted as the Latin American Liason Officer for the Pan American Society of Evolutionary Developmental Biology (PASEDB) between 2016-2018. As the Latin American Media Officer he would like to foster new initiatives to spread Evo-devo to all countries.
Latin American Liaison Officer
Christian Louis Bonatto Paese
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Bonatto_Paese
Self nomination
I strongly believe in the potential of the Latin American scientists in making incredible science, even with the scarce resources that they have. As a Brazilian that is having the opportunity to finish my PhD in England, I had the chance to meet amazing researchers in the entire world, that see the strength of the LASDB. I applied to run for the Latin American Liaison Officer for the EvoDevoPanAm because I want to have the good time to represent and help Latin America to gain the visibility that it deserves in the EvoDevo field.
Natalia Lucia Pabón-Mora
https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/71592/bio
Self nomination and Nominated by Stacey Smith
After having obtained my PhD at the City University of New York in Plant Developmental Biology in 2012, I came back to my home country Colombia to start the first program in plant developmental biology with a particular emphasis in non-model tropical species. The program and the laboratory are based at the Universidad de Antioquia, in Medellín. Our laboratory has four main research areas: 1) the genetic basis of flowering and floral diversity in tropical plants, 2) genetic mechanisms underlying fruit development, 3) genes involved in floral symmetry in monocots and basal angiosperms, and 4) genome evolution in parasitic plants. To date the lab has 6 graduate and 5 undergraduate active students. In addition to research activities I have been actively involved in teaching and science dissemination as I was the president of the last Latin American Society for Developmental Biology Meeting (LASDB2017) and I am the president elect of the Colombian Society for Developmental Biology. I am also an editor at the journal Neotropical Biodiversity and Frontiers in Plant Science. Finally, I was awarded the early career award by the Pan Am Evo Devo in 2015 and I have followed up closely the transformation of the society. I would love to be able to be the link of the society with the Latin Americans, a group of researchers that I know well and that I am familiar with, not only in terms of their research, but in terms of their needs and expectations.
Sylvain Marcellini
http://lade.udec.cl/
Self nomination
Sylvain Marcellini obtained his PhD in France, performed his post-doctoral training in Cambridge, and established the Laboratory of Development and Evolution at the University of Concepcion, Chile, where he has been working since 2006. He is the treasurer of the LASDB (Latin American Society for Developmental Biology) and a member of the EvoDevo and Evolution & Development editorial board. He edited a Frontiers in Genetics EvoDevo topic and regularly reviews manuscripts for EvoDevo, BMC Evolutionary Biology, Evolution & Development, Development Genes & Evolution, Journal of Experimental Biology part B, Gene, Frontiers in Genetics and PLoS ONE. He wishes to actively promote EvoDevo in Latin America by facilitating information flow and strengthening the collaborations and networking between EvoDevo labs that are far too diluted and isolated in this huge continent.
Diversity Officer
Tamara Franz-Odendaal
http://www.bonedevelopmentlab.ca/
Nominated by Billie Swalla
I am interested in re-serving as the Diversity officer for the Pan-Am Evo-Devo society. Not only should the society strive to have a balance of diverse individuals on the executive and invited speakers list, but care should be taken to ensure that everyone is included in the meeting. I currently hold a federally funded position that enables me to devote much of my time to gender equity and inclusion in science. As Diversity officer, I will strive to ensure the inclusion of all members and will provide opportunities at the society meeting for members from minority groups to have their voices heard in a safe and respectful manner.