Message from the President November 2010
Council met recently (28 October) and there are a number of things to report. I am delighted to announce that Council has nominated our distinguished patron, Sir David Attenborough, for the Society’s Founders’ Medal.
The Biodiversity Heritage Library, represented by Tom Garnett, has been awarded the John Thackray Medal. Twelve major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The participating libraries have over two million volumes of biodiversity literature collected over 200 years to support the work of scientists, researchers, and students in their home institutions and throughout the world.
Members have already been alerted to the fact that the winner of the 2010 W. T. Stearn Student Essay Prize is Nils Petter Hellström, who has recently completed his M.Phil. in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. His essay, entitled 'The tree as evolutionary icon: Tania Kovats's TREE in the Natural History Museum', was praised by the judges as fascinating and innovative, and a revised, illustrated version of it will be published in Archives of natural history volume 38 in 2011. I would like to invite students out there to be thinking now about submitting for next year’s competition.
Our long-serving Newsletter Editor, Julia Bruce, who has held that particular fort with distinction for the past 15 years, has indicated that she wishes to step down from the editorship after next year’s AGM in Chester. So, we are actively looking for a replacement. If you are a member of SHNH and think you’d be interested then please do get in touch. Council has long nurtured the desire to achieve a full-colour Newsletter and, since the next issue is number 100, and as a gesture of thanks to Julia, we are going for it (in that issue at least). We shall see how costs pan out before committing to this decision irrevocably. However, Julia is looking for copy for that milestone issue. She would like any reminiscences that members might think would interest others to make that a special Society nostalgia issue.
I am very much looking forward, as I hope you all are, to next year being the Society’s Diamond Jubilee year (1936-2011). We shall be celebrating our 75th anniversary in a variety of ways (watch the Newsletter and website); a full colour Newsletter will be a most appropriate way to kick-off the celebrations. Our 75th Anniversary Meeting will be ‘From Royal Gifts to Biodiversity Conservation: The History and Development of Menageries, Zoos and Aquariums, Thursday 19th and Friday 20th May 2011, Chester Zoo, UK.
Geoff Moore
SHNH President
November 2011
Message from the President August 2010
Council had a good meeting on 29th July, at which we welcomed four new councillors - Professor John Edgington, Ms Miranda Lowe, Dr Isabelle Charmantier and Mr Julian Wilson. In order to obtain a new, and younger, perspective on the business of recruitment and retention of members to the Society, Julian, Isabelle and Miranda were given the task as a small sub-committee, in liaison with Kathie Way (our Council member overseeing membership issues), of reporting to Council how best to take these issues forwards, particularly among younger people. We are aware that, for the most part, young people interact electronically these days and the Society needs to take this into account.
In that connexion, Council is also investigating how best to introduce an electronic submission process for MSS to Archives of natural history (not as a substitute for hard-copy submission but as an alternative option). The Honorary Editor Dr Charles Nelson will be providing details soon.
Members should be alert to the fact that back numbers of the Society’s journals are gradually being up-loaded onto the Edinburgh University Press website (http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/anh). There are a few gaps at present (volumes 6, 7, 8 & 9) where glitches have occurred in processing but we expect these to be available shortly. We would welcome feedback from members who avail themselves of this magnificent resource and we hope to make a different paper available each month to encourage people who are not yet members to join the Society.
Council was also delighted to appoint Dr Margarita Hernández Laille as our new Representative for Spain. Margarita is the author of the book Darwinism and textbooks in Spain and England in the nineteenth century (1870-1902).
Geoff Moore
President
August 2010
Message from the President February 2010
To all those venturing out of hibernation (and what a cold winter it has already been in Britain!), greetings for 2010; the International Year of Biodiversity. As you see, the Society has some delicious fare on offer on our delectable new website, to which we are continually adding a rich, varied and informative menu. I hope to see as many members (and soon-to-be members!) as possible at our Gosse meeting (and SGM/AGM) in Torquay in May. A real benefit of membership is to have the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and get to know new friends in the very informal atmosphere of our meetings.
Council is keen to encourage feedback from members (as my recent article in our Newsletter attests) and we seek continually to extend the reach of the Society.
We received a very welcome unsolicited donation of Ł2,500 last year and this set us thinking how best we could use and extend the reach of such monies. One thing we'd like to be able to do is extend financial support for invited expert keynote speakers to add new dimensions to our meetings (both at home, and ultimately, abroad; via the good offices of our overseas representatives). We could only do such things if we have a greater resource base than at present. So, surprise, surprise we are in fund-raising mode! We shall soon be launching an appeal for donations which will take a variety of forms.
The year 2011 will mark the 75th anniversary of SHNH and Council is planning an exciting programme to celebrate this landmark. Watch this space and keep supporting your Society, one that itself is a veritable microcosm of Biodiversity!
Geoff Moore
President
February 2010