Eugene Elmore, SIVB President
For those of you who were unable to attend our joint meeting with the Society for Cryobiology in Savannah, you missed a truly great meeting. Our keynote, plenary, and session speakers were exceptional. As always, there were many opportunities to network with both old and new colleagues, and build collaborations. I was impressed with the energy that prevailed throughout the meeting. Enthusiasm for the scientific presentations and a sense of great things to come with the Society was readily evident. I will, as others have done, emphasize the positive benefits of our recent meeting and the wonders of Savannah. Our committee meetings were well attended by volunteers who wanted to take a more active role in the Society and have a positive impact on its future as well as the future of science.
I can recall the first Society meetings I attended and the willingness of scientists to share their knowledge with those of us who were new to the field. This willingness was present throughout our meeting. Unique to the current Society meeting, which was absent in many of the earlier meetings, was the Society’s student initiative which provides a strong commitment to make sure the students could actively participate. The student initiative has come into its own with highly active members who not only attend the meeting but strive to take a very active role both at the meeting and by serving on committees. This year, for the first time, students have been asked to participate at the society’s board meetings to ensure that their issues are considered. The student organized program provided valuable insights into student career development and included: student presentation awards that were organized and judged by students, a presentation skills session, an interviewing skills workshop, and a data mining workshop. The workshops, which were organized for students as well as more senior scientists, provided valuable tools to assist in research as well as communicating science to the nonscientist. In fact, one of our students, Marten Peterson who was in charge of the student awards program, was interviewed by The Scientist Magazine.
On a personal note, I consider being elected your president the highest honor of my career. Not just because I’m president of the “original” and oldest in vitro biology society in the world, the society that has had the greatest impact on my career, and the society I most closely identify with as a scientist; but, because you, its members, voted for me. I will do my best to carry on the traditions of its founders and subsequent leaders and members and to validate your trust in me.
Let’s work together to make the SIVB the premier society to promote the quality needed to support quality science in the 21st Century. Plan now to attend the Tucson meeting next year. You will be happy you did! I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Eugene Elmore
SIVB President
