News the newly founded Society of Island Biology
Dear colleague,
As you may remember, in July 2019, during the final day of the 3rd International Symposium on Island Biology, held in Saint-Denis (La Reunion island), the participants collectively decided to formalize the Society of Island Biology (hereafter SIB) and to hold a vote to appoint a board candidature composed of ten colleagues and led by myself. One month later, the candidature was digitally elected by a huge majority; of 397 persons participating in the election, 85.6 % (340 persons) voted in support, and 14.4 % (55 persons) either voted against or abstained.
The most important commitment assumed by this board was the legal registration of the SIB, something that has finally been achieved after a laborious bureaucratical struggle for more than a year. The Society was legally recognized by the Spanish Administration (Ministerio del Interior, Registro de Asociaciones) on the 8th of February 2021 (Salida nº: 1743) along with the bylaws agreed by the board (available on the SIB website). Since then the board has been working in preparing the launching of the society, including its webpage (http://islandbiology.com/), now fully active, and the agenda for the next years of meetings and symposia. Different committees on finances, communication, website and meetings, have been organized within the board to work on those specific issues.
Unfortunately, during these last two years, the emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic, with all its consequences, radically altered our way of life and our Society’s plans, just as it did for the vast majority of scientific societies and their events worldwide. For the moment, given the extremely fluid situation of the pandemic, and the still uncertain future we are facing, in the interest of keeping everyone safe, the SIB board and the local organizers have reluctantly decided to delay our planned 2022 Wellington symposium to 2023. However, we are now actively developing alternative activities to be held in 2021 and 2022, including webinars, digital symposia, and other events, possibly in collaboration with other organizations, so that the Society can provide opportunities for scientific interaction and discourse to all our members independent of pandemic restrictions. We look forward to sharing these with you soon.
Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that the Society has an e-mail address (info@islandbiology.com) where you can contact us to share your opinions or queries regarding the SIB.
On behalf of the Society of Island Biology board, yours sincerely,
José María Fernández-Palacios