24th Annual General Meeting

Parasitology Section

Canadian Society of Zoologists

12:30, May 16, 1997

University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario

MINUTES

Present: Drs. Belosevic (Chair), Podesta, McLaughlin, Shostak, Marcogliese (Chair, Parasite Module Steering Committee), Members and Guests of the Parasitology Section.

1.0 Approval of Agenda

Dr. Belosevic called the meeting to order and asked for approval of the Agenda.

Moved: Arai/Burt Carried

2.0 Chairman's Introductory Remarks

Dr. Belosevic welcomed all present, and introduced those of the current Executive who were in attendance, and informed the Section that Dr. Khan had been elected the new Vice-Chair and Dr. Goater had been elected as the new Councillor. Dr. Belosevic extended congratulations to Dr. Befus as 1997 recipient of the Wardle Award (applause). He then introduced the speakers in the Parasitology Symposium, Drs. Barta, Sher, Matlashewski and Olivier. Financial contributions from the Canadian Society of Zoologists (CSZ), American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) and the Department of Microbiology at the University of Western Ontario were gratefully acknowledged. Dr. Belosevic reported on the death of Dr. Margolis and noted that he had sent a card and letter of condolence on behalf of the Section.

3 .0 Minutes of 23rd Annual General Meeting

Dr. Shostak called for a motion to approve the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, which had been mailed to all members and placed at all tables in the meeting room.

Moved: Webster/Arai Carried

4.0 Matters arising from the Minutes

4.1 By-Laws Amendments

Dr. Shostak informed the membership that the By-Laws amendments had been passed unanimously (31-0) by mail-in vote and asked the membership to ratify the vote by show of hands, requiring a simple majority. Passed

4.2 Parasitology Section Web Site

Dr. Belosevic informed members that the Section now had a Web site up and running, maintained by Dr. Shostak. Members were informed that the Web site would post a list of current positions in parasitology, and that all such postings should be directed to Dr. Shostak.

5.0 Secretary-Treasurer's Report

5.1 Financial Report

Dr. Shostak presented the Financial Report, noting that there had been a small correction to the previous year's figures and that the Sections funds were now all held by the Treasurer, CSZ. He asked for a motion to approve the Report.

Moved: McLaughlin/Marcogliese Carried

5.2 Results of Election

Dr. Shostak reported that DR. Rasul Khan had been elected Vice-Chair and Dr. Cam Goater had been elected Councillor.

5.3 Affiliate Societies

Dr. Shostak reported that he had been unable to attend 1996 meetings of the ASP and the Federation of Societies for Parasitology (FSP), but noted that little of direct concern to the Parasitology Section arose from his correspondence with those organizations. The FSP was in the process of reevaluating the ways it can best serve its member societies.

6.0 Nominating Committee

Dr. Shostak reported that the Committee had comprised Dr. Bower (Chairperson) and Dr. Evans. They had solicited two nominations each for the positions of Vice-Chair and Councillor, but were unable to find a candidate for Secretary-Treasurer, and that Dr. Shostak had agreed to serve one final term. Dr. Shostak informed the members that for the coming year nominees were needed for the positions of Vice-Chair, Councillor, and Secretary- Treasurer.

7.0 Recognition Committee

Dr. Podesta reported that the Committee comprised Dr. Holmes, Arai and Woo, and that Dr. Befus had been selected as the 1997 recipient of the Wardle Award.

8.0 Student Awards Committee

Dr. McLaughlin reported that judges for the student paper competitions had been himself, and Drs. Podesta, Marcogliese and Shostak. He noted that competition, particularly among the oral presentations, had been stiff. He presented Mr. Sean Forrester of Lakehead University (Supervisor: Dr. Lankester) with the Murray Fallis Prize for his oral presentation of, "Overwinter survivorship of Parelaphostrongylus tenuis first-stage larvae" (applause). Then Dr. McLaughlin presented Ms. Diane Bienek of the University of Alberta (Supervisor: Dr. Belosevic) with the ASP Prize for her poster, "Growth of Trypanosoma danilewskyi in medium containing fish or mammalian serum" (applause).

9.0 Parasite Module

9.1 Directory of Parasitologists

Dr. Marcogliese presented the annual report of the Parasite Module Steering Committee (appended). In his summary he noted that he had attended meetings of the Biological Survey and the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN). He reported that EMAN was developing protocols over the next few years for various types of collections, including those parasitological. An updated Directory of Parasitologists in Canada had been compiled by Dr. MacKinnon and was now available in hard copy and on the Section Web site, and was linked to the EMAN Web site. Dr. Marcogliese reported that he had received a report on the Survey of Taxonomic Expertise from Dr. Shostak, which concluded that in Canada there is expertise in only some groups of parasites, that we are losing considerable taxonomic expertise through retirements, but that there is considerable interest in participating in projects to study Canada's parasite fauna. Dr. Macogliese reported that a report on the Perch Project would be prepared during the next year, and that a new project on parasites of sticklebacks was being initiated. He noted that the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) seems to be continuing their commitment to parasitology. Dr. Marcogliese reported that Dr. MacKinnon was stepping down from the Committee. Dr. Shostak asked that members show their thanks to Dr. MacKinnon for her years of service (applause). Dr. Burt suggested that a letter of thanks to the Society be sent from the Section because the Zoological Education Trust had underwritten part of the publication costs for the Directory.

10.0 New Business

10.1 Parasitology Symposium 1998

Dr. Belosevic informed the members that the Executive has suggested a tentative topic for the next symposium, "Invertebrate responses to parasitic infection." He asked any members with other ideas to contact the Executive. Dr. Burt noted that the organizing committee for the 1999 meeting in Ottawa would like to have details of the symposium as much as one year ahead. Dr. Beverley-Burton expressed concern over the concurrent scheduling of symposia and suggested that future organizing committees try to avoid these conflicts or else promote plenary symposia of broad interest to the Society as a whole.

10.2 ICOPA IX

Dr. Shostak noted that he had received program and accommodation information from the organizers of ICOPA IX and made it available to those in attendance.

10.3 Archives

Dr. Belosevic reported that Paul Lewis had retired as Archivist and asked for a show of thanks (applause). He noted that Dr. Shostak had been appointed by Executive Council as the new Archivist (applause).

10.4 Canadian Museum of Nature

Dr. Burt reported that there had been sweeping changes at the CMN, including the replacement of the Director and the installation of a new Board of Trustees. His impression was that there was now a more positive mood at the CMN, and expressed hope that the relationship between the CMN and the Society would now be less adversarial. In response to a question from Dr. Marcogliese, Dr. Burt noted that the new Board of Directors still seems to lack input from the scientific community. Dr. Shostak informed members that he had received notice that the move of the parasitology collections at the CMN to Aylmer, Quebec had been completed and that the museum should soon be in a position to begin accepting new depositions.

11.0 Any Other Business

Dr. Belosevic commented that he was initiating a membership drive to increase participation in the Section by those not previously associated with it. He then asked if there was any other business. Mr. Forrester informed the members that two new parasitological videos had been co-produced by Dr. Lankester of Lakehead University: Parelaphostrongylosis and Cerebrospinal Elaphostrongylosis. Purchase price is about $25. 12.0

Adjournment Motion: Burt/Arai Carried

The meeting adjourned at 13:40