The thirteenth meeting of the East Coast Section of the International Society
of Protistologists was held at Russell Sage College, in Troy, New York on June
6,7,and 8, 2006. The meeting had 68 registered attendees, participating in 28
talks and 15 posters.
Carrying on the tradition of presenting a meeting hospitable to students, 22
graduate and undergraduate researchers presented 10 talks and 9 posters. In
addition, there were 14 investigators and students from local colleges who
attended at least one session.
 | | Attendees of the meeting, outside the venue. | |
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There were many highlights of the meeting. The Keynote Address by Dr. Laura
Landweber of Princeton University on "Detangling Scrambled
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| Captain William Reynolds, of the Half Moon. |
Genes" was eye-opening about both the complexity of protistan
molecular innovations and the amount of work required to figure them out. The
President’s Address by Dr. D. Wayne Coats, of the Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center, gave ample support to the importance of marine pathogens in
regulating phytoplankton populations, and the need for long-term monitoring of
ecosystems. Mr. William T. Reynolds, the captain of the ship Half Moon,
gave an enthusiastically received talk about the scientific work of students,
adult volunteers, and crew to monitor the waterways through which the ship
sails. He invited additional collaborations.
The poster session was a particular success. The quality of the posters was
superb, the dinner was delicious, and the conversations both at the posters and
at the table was rewarding.
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| Poster session and banquet. |
A number of prizes were awarded:
- Best student talk: Chitchai Chantangsi, University of Guelph
- Best student poster: Chrissa Wright, SUNY Plattsburgh
The Meeting received sponsorship from The International Society of
Protistologists, the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of
Health, Sinauer Associates, Inc., and Russell Sage College.
The Planning Committee was:
- Samuel Bowser, Wadsworth Center
- Michael Dolan, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- David Domozych, Skidmore College
- Andrea Habura, Wadsworth Center
- Jack Harris, Russell Sage College
- Jan Keithly, Wadsworth Center
- Michael Koonce, Wadsworth Center
- Jeff Travis, State University of New York, Albany
