About the ISS

Founded at Woods Hole, Massachusetts in April of 1997, the International Symbiosis Society is primarily involved with the promotion of research and education in the growing field of symbiosis. The Society seeks also to build ongoing and useful communication between the many researchers working in the various sub-fields of symbiosis, as well as connect symbiologists to those in other areas of ecology and biological sciences generally. These symbiosis fields include mycorrhizae, invertebrate-dinoflagellates, lichens, insects, ruminants, endophytic fungi-grasses, cyanosymbioses, Rhizobium-legume and similar nitrogen fixation systems, and so on. We are particularly interested in fostering common grounds for discussion, collaboration, and direct research and education across the sub-fields. For example, those working on Rhizobium can benefit and grow through discussions and co-work on recognition and specificity with those in lichens or Euprymna-Vibrio marine systems, or those involved in lateral gene transfer with Wolbachia can gain from discussions with those working on genetic integration among certain marine systems.

Indeed, most of us involved in symbiosis are members of other societies that directly represent the organisms with which we are working -- phycology, mycology, coral reefs, protistology. But, symbiosis as a significant life systems strategy on earth requires a merging of these fields while we are concentrating on "our own" systems. This is the challenge we face -- and the excitement, for through such mergers, we can build new understandings of symbioses and their importance in evolution and to earth systems.

Daily and weekly activities of the Society are conducted by the President with assistance from other members of the executive committee, the governing councilors, and occasionally students and staff people of Boston University. Key decisions on direction, program initiatives, newsletter and web focus, future congresses, and so on are dicussed by the executive committee and councilors usually through the initiation of the President and mostly via electronic mail. The full ISS membership is consulted for feedback and ideas consistently. Indeed we see each member working to help build the discipline, build the Society. We recommend that every member try to engage in a few of the following:

1. Get at least one other person each year, (such as a student in your lab or colleague) to join the Society.
2. Provide (dzook@bu.edu) your symbiosis-related web site address if you have one, so that we can make a link to it from our upcoming new ISS site.
3. Provide announcements of research you are doing and scheduled to be published and where, meetings, and other information that you think would be of value for some of our members.
4. Consider contributing an article for the newsletter, Symbiosis International, giving an overview, for example of your research or teaching as related to symbiotic systems, or perhaps a book review or meeting report.
5. Consider e-attaching a photograph(s)for inclusion in the ISS web site symbiosis photo gallery.
6. Forward any ideas, suggestions, comments at any time.
7. Respond via e-mail to requests from myself or other members of the governing board for input, opinions, etc. as they arise.
8. If you have any affiliation with a professional journal, please let me know, for we would like to have you perhaps write a brief report for that journal on the 5-ISS Congress or other aspects of the Society. We can help you with it, so please let us know.
9. Contribute lesson/lab ideas activities that could be part of the ISS effort to promote symbiosis education.
10. And, of course, for those who have not renewed membership in the recent past, to do so, to help keep the Society going and growing appropriately. Similarly, please consider subscribing (and renewing each year) to the journal Symbiosis.

The Executive Committee (elected every three years just prior to the ISS Congress):

Douglas Zook, President and Acting Treasurer, Boston University, USA

Carol Lauzon, Vice-President, California State University, Irving, USA

Katharina Pawlowski, Vice-President, University of Stockholm, Sweden

Francisco Carrapiço, Outreach Coordinator, University of Lisbon, Portugal

David Richardson, Saint Mary's University, Canada, Editor, Symbiosis journal

Councilors (Appointed by the President and Executive Committee):

Daniele Armaleo, Duke University, USA

Birgitta Bergman, Stockholm University, Sweden

Paola Bonfante, CNR, Torino, Italy

Monika Bright, Universität Wien, Austria

Angela E. Douglas, York University, England

Nicole Dubilier, Max Planck Institute, Germany

Betsey Dyer, Wheaton College, USA

Takema Fukatsu, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology (AIST), Japan

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, University of Queensland, Australia

Carol Lauzon, California State University, USA

Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts, UISA

Margaret McFall-Ngai, University of Wisconsin, USA

Gopi Podila, University of Alabama, USA

Russell "Rusty" Rodriguez, US Geological Survey, USA

Mary E. Rumpho, Unievrsity of Maine, USA

Marc-André Selosse, IFR-CNRS, France

Katarzyna Turnau, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Ajit Varma, Amity University, India