IRGO Minutes 26 July 2013
Minutes of the IRGO business meeting held on 26th July 2013, during the 17th International Symposium on Ostracoda (ISO17), in Rome, Italy.
Chair Renate Matzke-Karasz, Vice-chair Elsa Gliozzi, Secretary Ricardo L. Pinto and 84 delegates were present.
At 18:07, the Chair opens the session, presents the agenda and conducts the meeting. The Secretary takes the minutes.
1- Minutes of the ISO16 IRGO business meeting, held in Brasília, Brazil, July 2009.
The minutes of the previous business meeting were approved as representing a faithful record of the session with 54 votes in favour and none against.
2- Memorials
The following friends have passed away since July 2009 and to their memory and honour a minute of silence was observed:
Jean-François Babinot (1940-2013), Sara Ballent (1950-2011),
Helmut Bartenstein (1914-2010), Erich Brand (1914-2011),
Gerhard Becker (1928-2009), Gerd Hartmann (1928-2010),
Noriyuki Ikeya (1938-2010), Heinz Malz (1931-2012),
Eduardo Musacchio (1941-2011), Dawn Peterson (1948-2010),
Arnold Rabien (1918-2011), Karl Zagora (1938-2011).
3- Financial report from the treasurer
The Chair presented IRGO’s financial report provided by the Treasurer Akira Tsukagoshi and the accounts were approved with 84 votes in favour.
4- IRGO activities for 2009-2013
The Chair presented the activities carried out by the 2009-2013 steering committee (logo for IRGO, new IRGO website with lots of new topics, new Cypris website, membership renewal with the International Palaeontological Association, affiliation to The Crustacean Society, affiliation to The Micropalaeontological Society). The Chair pointed out that IRGO members are herewith invited to provide contributions to the newsletters of these societies. Just contact members of the IRGO steering committee in case you wish to make use of this opportunity. A currently ongoing project is the scanning of all historic volumes of The Ostracodologist and Cypris (kind loan by The Senckenberg Institution). They will be uploaded to the Cypris website in the near future.
In special, the recently founded Society of Friends of IRGO (SF∗IRGO) and its objectives were discussed. The proposition of SF∗IRGO acting within IRGO was submitted to voting and approved with 78 votes in favour.
5- 8th European Ostracodologists’ Meeting (EOM8)
Tõnu Meidla presented an update on the organisation of the EOM8, to be held in Tartu, Estonia, in 2015.
6- Field trips attached to future ostracod symposia
A discussion about the promotion or not of field trips during ostracod conferences was conducted. Finally, the following recommendations were offered: 1-it should remain a decision of the organizers, who can evaluate the feasibility and worthiness of including field trips in the program of conferences; 2- if organizers opt for including a field trip in their event, it is recommended that preventive measures are taken such as pre-registration, including deposits etc.
7- ISO18 venue
Gene Hunt and Todd Oakley offered to organize the next ISO in USA, either in Washington or in Sta. Barbara, depending on details about suitability still to be verified. This proposal was accepted and further details will be announced in due course.
8- Miscellanea
The Chair asked all delegates if any other subject should be added to the agenda and there were no additions.
9- Prizes
The following prizes were awarded to participants of the ISO17:
The Sylvester-Bradley Award, kindly sponsored by The Bristish Micropalaeontological Society, for best oral presentation of a junior researcher went to Yuanyuan Hong for the communication “Hong & Yasuhara - Shallow marine ecological degradation in Hong Kong: a palaeoecological approach using ostracods”.
The IRGO Award for best poster presentation of a junior researcher went to Josep Antoni Aguilar-Alberola for the scientific poster “Aguilar-Alberola & Mesquita-Joanes - The hatching process in Cyprididae ostracods: morphology and function of the A-9 stage”.
The new SF∗IRGO Award for the best poster of all went jointly to Ilaria Mazzini and Jessica Fischer, respectively for their communications “Mazzini, Bibi, Schuster, Beech & Hill - The “elephants” and the ostracods: a 7 My old tale from the United Arab Emirates” and “Fischer, Schoppmann, Matzke-Karasz & Laforsch - The potential role of freshwater ostracods in controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS)”.
10- Next IRGO Officers
The Chair first pointed out that there was no response to the call for suggestions and volunteers for positions within the IRGO steering committee that had been spread to the community through Ostracon in June 2013.
The following officers were appointed for the period 2013-2017:
Chair: Finn A. Viehberg
Proposed by Renate Matzke-Karasz, seconded by Angel Baltanás, Isa Schön and several other colleagues. Approved by voting.
Vice-Chair: Gene Hunt or Todd Oakley, depending on the decision for the ISO18 venue. No voting required.
Secretary: Ricardo L. Pinto
Volunteered. Approved by voting.
Treasurer: Akira Tsukagoshi
Volunteered. Approved by voting.
Communication Officer: Ilaria Mazzini, proposed by Renate Matzke-Karasz, seconded by David Horne and Francesc Mesquita-Joanes. Approved by voting.
Past-chair: Renate Matzke-Karasz
11- Acknowledgements and adjournment
The now Past-chair expressed sincere gratitude to all those involved in the organization of ISO17, especially Elsa Gliozzi and Ilaria Mazzini, for the excellent conference held in Rome and closed the session at 19:12.
The present document awaits approval of delegates at the ISO18 business meeting in USA.
Renate Matzke-Karasz and Ricardo L. Pinto