The 10th East Coast Protozoology Conference convened at Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland on June 8-9, 2002. This regional meeting sponsored by the East Coast Section of the Society of Protozoologists was attended by 32 members, with researchers, educators, and students coming from as far away as South Carolina and Connecticut. The one and a half day meeting included 20 presentations covering a wide range of topics. A full afternoon was dedicated for student presentations, while other sessions covered cell/molecular biology, systematics, and ecology.

From Left. Front Row: John Miller, Suzanna Ribblett, Laura Utz, Eric Schott, Wayne Coats, John Kloetzel, Fabienne Réveiller, Carol Rosetta. Middle Row: Aaron Bell, Jong-Gyu Park, Jeff Cole, Tom Nerad, Tamieka-Nicole Armstrong, Sarah Jardeleza, Sona Dolan, Kyoung-Ho An, Glen McGugan. Back Row: Louis Diamond, John Clamp, Jim Sniezek, O. Roger Anderson, Mike Dolan, Glenn Gebler, José Antonio Fernandez-Robledo, Sean Cooney, Gene Small, Tammy Ferguson.

A primary objective of the conference was to provide a venue for undergraduate and graduate students to present their research findings, interact with other students, and exchange ideas with established protozoologists. Students attending the meeting contributed eight presentation. Four cash awards were given to students for outstanding performances. Recipients included Tamieka-Nicole Armstrong, an undergraduate from the University of Maryland College Park, Tammy Ferguson, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University, Glen McGugan a Ph.D. student at Clemson University, and Suzanna Ribblett, a M.S. student from the University of Maryland College Park.

Another highlight of the conference was the plenary lecture by Dr. Tom Nerad of the American Type Culture Collection. His presentation entitled "Protist Biodiversity: Insights from Recent Studies?" emphasized the need to go beyond the conventional characterization of morphospecies in evaluating protistan diversity. He reviewed innovative approaches to assess protistan community composition and used his recent work on small flagellates and amoebae to demonstrate a wealth of previously unrecognized taxa.

Members attending the business meeting unanimously supported Dr. John Clamp to continue in his role as the East Coast Sectionâs representative to the Executive Committee of the Society of Protozoologists. The group also recognized the need to replace two of the five members of the Steering Committee to comply with the three-year term limit. Nominations should be sent to D. W. Coats (coats@serc.si.edu) by December 31, 2002. The East Coast Section is also exploring sites for future meetings. Please contact Dr. John Kloetzel (kloetzel@umbc.edu) to recommend a venue or to volunteer to help organize meeting activities.