Summary of the 39th Annual Conferfence
The 39th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists was hosted by Matthew Bolek and held September 18-20, 2008 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Cedar Point Biological Station in Ogallala, Nebraska. Following the Thursday evening dinner and reception, paper sessions were held on Friday and Saturday morning.
A total of 40 people attended the meeting and 19 papers and posters were presented. Highlights of the meeting included excellent paper and poster presentations by students and faculty, field trips of Cedar Point Biological Station by Dr. John Janovy Jr., the second Newton Kingston Lecture given by Dr. Richard E. Clopton of Peru State College, and the Gerald D. Schmidt Memorial Lecture given by Dr. John Janovy Jr. of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Following the Saturday morning session, the annual Business Meeting was called to order by President Matthew Bolek. The membership elected Dr. Delane Kritsky and Dr. Dick Spall, both form Idaho State University, as Life members of RMCP. The membership unanimously elected Dr. Richard D. McKown to the Office of President Elect. President Elect Delane Kritsky and Scott Seville offered to check on the possibility of holding the next meeting at the University of Wyoming Field Station in Jackson Hole Wyoming, contingent on working out details with the research station staff.
Student awards of $100 and an engraved plaque were given to: Datus M. Hammond Award for Best Paper Presentation by a Graduate Student. Ms. Alaine K. Knipes, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Datus M. Hammond Award for Best Poster Presentation by a Graduate Student. Ms. Heather Tracy, Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University. William C. Marquard Award for Best paper Presentation by an Undergraduate Student. Ms. Erica Costello, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming/Casper College Center. William C. Marquard Award for Best poster Presentation by an Undergraduate Student. Ms. Ashlee N Hartman, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The gavel was passed to President Kritsky, and the meeting was adjourned. Information on the meeting and a podcast of the Gerald D. Schmidt Memorial Lecture given by Dr. John Janovy Jr. can be found on
http://www.matthewbolek.com/RMCP%202008/RMCP2008index.html
Submitted by: Matthew G. Bolek - Past President of Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University Stillwater OK, 74078
Summary of the 38th Annual Conferfence
The 38th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists was held on the campus of Metropolitan State College of Denver on September 20th -22nd, 2007. Cynthia Church, President and Program Chair, welcomed members during a reception at the Tivoli Center on Thursday evening.
There were a total of 18 presentations during sessions on Friday and Saturday morning. Dale H. Clayton from the University of Utah delivered the Newton Kingston Memorial Lecture, The Ecological Basis of Coevolutionary History: Lessons of Lice, and Mauritz Sterner, from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center gave a keynote presentation, What are Parasitologists Doing in the United States Geological Survey?
Following the banquet on Friday night, Dr. Robert S. Desowitz presented the Gerald D. Schmidt Memorial Lecture, America the Malarious: A Political and Social History.
The Datus M. Hammond Award for Best Paper presented by a graduate student went to Alaine K. Knipes, University of Nebraska, Larval Morphology Reveals Factors Determining the Distribution of Parasites in Nature: The Case of Dactylogyrus. The Datus M. Hammond Award for Best Poster presented by a graduate student went to Jessica L. Waite, University of Utah, Testing for Monophyly of the Avian Malaria Subgenera (Genus Plasmodium). The William R. Marquardt Award for Best Paper presented by an undergraduate student went to Stephanie Jensen, University of Wyoming, Parasitology and the Secondary Science Classroom. The William R. Marquardt Award for Best Poster presented by an undergraduate student went to Jason Crouch, University of Wyoming, DNA Sequence Diversity of Eimeria callospermophili.
At our annual business meeting, Delane C. Kritsky, Idaho State University, was elected to the office of President Elect, and the Marquardt gavel was passed to our new President, Matt Bolek.
Mauritz Sterner was elected to a Life Membership in the RMCP.
Robert S. Desowitz was elected to an Honorary Membership in the RMCP.
Summary of the 37th Annual Conference
The 37th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists was held at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO during September 21-23, 2006. Eleven papers were presented at the Friday session, and three papers and posters were presented on Saturday morning. We were especially honored to have Dr. Ting-Bao Yang from Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China in attendance. Following the Friday evening banquet our guest of honor, Gerald W. Esch delivered the Gerald D. Schmidt Memorial Lecture. Awards for the best student papers went to Clint E. Oliver, a graduate student at the University of Wyoming/Casper Center, and to Samantha Tolve, an undergraduate student at Colorado College. An award for the best poster went to Andrea Neill and Anna Hodd both undergraduate students at Metropolitan State College, Denver. Omar M. Amin was given a Life Membership Award, and Gerald W. Esch was given an Honorary Membership Award in the R.M.C.P.
New officers for 2006-07 are Cindy Church, President, and Ron Hathaway, Secretary/Treasurer. Matt Bolek is the President Elect and will serve during 2007-08.
The 38th annual meeting will be held on the campus of Metropolitan State College, Denver in mid September.
Submitted by Ron Hathaway, Regional Representative to ASP
Summary of the 36th Annual Conference
The University of Wyoming/Casper Center and Casper College hosted the 36th Annual Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists for the second year in a row. It was held in Casper, Wyoming on April 28th – 30th, 2005. Some members were unable to attend the meeting do to road closures from snowstorms.
Murray Dailey, The Marine Mammal Center, presented the Gerald Schmidt Memorial Lecture entitled, “Parasitic eye infections in young Galapagos sea lions by a digenetic trematode of the genus Philophthalmus.” The Datus Hammond award for the best graduate student paper went to Matthew G. Bolek, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for his paper entitled, “ Transmission patterns in amphibian coccidian (Apicomplexa): implications for arthropods as mechanical vectors for transmission.” Cindy K. Cordery, Arizona State University, received the Datus Hammond award for the best graduate student poster, entitled “Maturation of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Chytridiales).” The President’s Award for the best undergraduate student paper went to Alyssa Gehman, Colorado College, entitled “An investigation of cellular sheaths surrounding gameto-cysts and gametocytes of Monocystis sp. in the seminal vesicles of earthworms.” The William C. Marquardt Award for the best undergraduate student poster went to Ashley Lavering, University of Wyoming/Casper Center, entitled “Eimeria spp. in Wyoming ground squirrels (Spermophilus elegans) on the Casper College campus, Wyoming.” Each graduate student also received a $100 stipend donated by the late Albert Grundmann, and each undergraduate student received a $75 stipend.
The RMCP meeting dates have been changed from April to September to minimize blizzards blocking the roads, and to maximize student attendance. Our next meeting will be in approximately 1.5 years in September 2006. This meeting will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Cindy K. Cordery, Arizona State University, is designing a new RMCP logo. She is also designing new t-shirts for sale.
Elections for all offices were conducted. Ron Hathaway, Colorado College, was elected as president. Cynthia Church, Metropolitan State College of Denver, was elected as president-elect. Gary L. McCallister, Mesa State College, was elected as Secretary/Treasurer. Cindy K. Cordery, Arizona State University, was re-elected as ASP Representative.
Submitted by Cindy Cordery, Regional Representative to ASP