Letter to IBS Members – 2020

Dear IBS Members

I am writing to you in my capacity as President of the International Biogeography Society (IBS) and chair of the IBS Board to give you an update on current and future plans of the society – plans that have inevitably had to change a number of times in the past 6 months to cope with the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic that we all find ourselves in. The society is resilient – but like most other organizations, we are having to find new ways of working and living with Covid-19.

As a Board we have met (virtually) on a regular basis and have had extensive discussions around:

  1. our in-person meetings (Amsterdam and Vancouver);
  2. the launch of the IBS Humboldt Anniversary event;
  3. a newly established virtual monthly lecture series, and
  4. Board elections.

Brief updates on our decisions regarding these activities are as follows: 

  1. In-person meetings (Amsterdam and Vancouver)

As many of you are already aware, we have taken the decision to postpone both the Amsterdam Early Career conference (moved to 7-9 May 2021) and our 10th Biennial Conference in Vancouver (moved to 8-12 January 2022). We debated whether to make these meetings virtual but many on the Board felt that in-person networking is a large and important aspect of these meetings – and also the opportunity to travel to new biogeographic regions. Therefore, we have chosen to move them to these much later dates in the hope travel restrictions will be lifted. However, for both meetings we will aim to include virtual components so that people can join them remotely from anywhere in the world if necessary. We hope this will also widen access of these meetings to those that may not be able to afford to travel. Registration for Amsterdam 2021 is already open, with IBS Vancouver 2022 opening next August.

  1. Launch of the IBS International Humboldt Day (week of events)

Even before we were faced with the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IBS Board had decided to initiate an annual event to celebrate the birthday of Alexander von Humboldt. This International Humboldt Day is a week of open access, online lectures and discussions hosted by different institutions from all over the world to celebrate the work of one of the founding scholars of Biogeography. The first ‘International Humboldt Day’ will be held in the week 14-19 September 2020. We already have a full and hugely varied programme with contributions from biogeographers from all over the world. Please do join in by attending some/all of these events and there is still time to volunteer an event from your own Institution if you would like to do so. Details can be found at https://www.humboldtday.org

  1. Newly established virtual monthly lecture series (the Funk lectures)

Given the postponement of our meetings in-person for at least 1 year we have decided to launch a virtual monthly seminar open to all members of the IBS. These will be held on the first Wednesday of each month, beginning this October. Each month will feature an invited speaker talking about their most recent biogeographical research, or workshop and will be hosted by a member of the IBS Board. We aim for the topic of these lectures to be exciting and timely updates in the field of biogeography. More details will follow this September. We have decided to name this lecture series the Funk Lectures in honour and memory of one of the IBS’ founding members, Vicki Funk (Read more about Vicki at:  Vicki Ann Funk (1947-2019): a short tribute in the latest issue of Frontiers of Biogeography

  1. Board elections and 2021 Recognition Awards

We normally hold the elections for new positions on the IBS Board at this time of year in order for new members to join the Board and old members to step down at the Biennial Conference. We also award the Dissertation Award, MacArthur & Wilson Award, and Wallace Award at the Biennial Conference. Given the postponement of the meetings and the current complexities in planning associated with Covid-19, we have taken the decision to postpone these Board elections, and also the search for recipient of the Dissertation Award until this time next year.  Recipients for the MacArthur & Wilson Award (Dr. Jason Weir), as well as the Wallace Award (Dr. Petr Pyšek) have already been decided and announced , however both will be physically awarded at the 2022 Biennial Conference.  The current Board will therefore remain in place until January 2022 – although several members may step down due to work pressures elsewhere. We will advertise places if and when they become vacant. I will stay on as the IBS President for another year but Felisa Smith (President-elect) has kindly agreed to step up and share this role with me for the forthcoming year.

Thank you for your patience in reading this somewhat longer-than-usual communication from the IBS. We very much appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm for the society throughout these challenging times.

With very best wishes,

Kathy

Kathy J. Willis| Professor of Biodiversity| Department of Zoology| University of Oxford

President| The International Biogeography Society

www.biogeography.org