SCB Newsletter

NOTE: As many of you may be aware, the SCB websites experienced unusual downtime over the last few weeks. Our websites are now live and available to serve you; however many pages are still offline and will not load correctly (you will see an error that reads "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect" -- we are aware of these problems. We are dealing with a SQL Injection attack. These types of attacks are known to exploit website vulnerabilities with the intent of distributing viruses and malware. We are working to correct the problems and clean up the data corruption this has caused. Thank you for your patience while we work through this problem. More information is available here.

WELCOME!

To be effective, conservation biology must be represented by a well-organized and recognizable body of professionals that is active and involved wherever decisions that affect biodiversity are made. The Society for Conservation Biology is striving to be such a body. Throughout our 16-year history, we have promoted the highest standard of scientific research. We have encouraged communication and collaboration between conservation biology and other disciplines. We have established Conservation Biology as one of the most influential ecological journals in the world. But for the most part we have kept to ourselves, pursuing our careers and research and interacting with a restricted sphere of individuals with similar interests. This narrow focus has limited our influence on public policy and our engagement with those on the front line of conserving biodiversity--land managers, the staff of government agencies and conservation groups, environmental educators, and other practitioners.

In response to feedback from our members, SCB is taking major steps toward becoming a true society--better organized, more involved, better educated, and more inclusive. Rapid growth of geographically-based sections of SCB and establishment of the Executive Office illustrates the remarkable promise of our recent membership initiatives. We hope that our efforts to make practitioners full partners in SCB and its mission will be equally effective.

The most rigorous scientific research imaginable will not protect, maintain, and restore life on this planet unless we understand how that knowledge can be translated into action. Conservation In Practice was launched in 2001 in response to this constraint. Conservation In Practice seeks to meet the needs of practitioners and policy makers who are short on time, but eager to assimilate the most recent and cutting-edge information on scientific and technical topics with relevance to management. The magazine not only disseminates information, but facilitates more productive dialogue between academics and practitioners.

In 2002, we provided subscribers to Conservation In Practice with membership in SCB. If you are among this group, greetings! We look forward to working with you and learning from you. Please consider joining one or more of our geographically-based sections , a local chapter if one is based nearby, or one of the many active SCB committees. Information on these and other member activities and services is available on SCB's web site, http://conservationbiology.org. We invite you to share your perspectives on conservation biology and SCB with other members of the Society and, importantly, with our Executive Office . SCB is undergoing an interactive process of strategic planning, and your input is critical to our success. On behalf of SCB, I extend the warmest of welcomes to our new colleagues.

Mac Hunter, President