Ruthanne Pitkin

ABLE 2000, the 22nd Annual Conference, was held at Clemson University from June 6-10, 2000. Our host, Robert Kosinski, arranged a comfortable and intellectually challenging conference. From the opening reception by the shores of Lake Hartwell to the closing banquet at the South Carolina State Botanical Gardens, we were treated to beautiful settings, excellent food and pleasant weather. All of the Clemson team from lab prep persons and shuttle bus drivers to guides in the historic buildings were knowledgeable and demonstrated the famous warm and personable "southern hospitality." Even the magnolias were in bloom for our visit to this impressive campus.

The spirit of cooperation and friendship that is characteristic of ABLE was demonstrated by Nancy Rosenbaum, Denise Martin and others who organized the material for the wonderful Clemson black briefcases. Our dormitory greeter was laid low by a "strep" throat and did not get much done. Another challenge to be overcome was the fact that the beds were about 4 ft high in some rooms.

The format of the meeting was changed this year to allow for luncheon presentations and mini-workshops on Friday afternoon. The luncheon talks refreshed our minds while we ate our box lunches. Having the mini-workshops on Friday afternoon allowed participants to concentrate on the minis, and to not feel so rushed for the rest of the conference. This format will be an option for future host to consider. Many thanks to Catherine Teare Ketter, Mini-Workshop Chair, and John Cummings of Clemson University for the successful implementation of the mini-workshops. We also had the opportunity to hear presentations about teaching and a dialogue about AP programs from the Advanced Placement readers that were at Clemson at the same time.

The field trips offered a variety of experiences including pre-conference tours of Clemson University Genomic Institute, South Carolina State Botanical Gardens, Historic Pendelton and the Blue Ridge Foothills. I will long remember the post conference Whitewater Rafting trip down the Chattooga River. Although the water was low, we all had great thrills navigating through sections of the river such as the Bull Sluice. Other trips were to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Greenwood Genetics Center and Park Seed Company, Biltmore Estate and Chimney Rock, and the Riverbank Zoo.

As always, the heart of the ABLE Conference was the Major Workshops. Jim Bader, Chair of the Major Workshop Committee and our host, Bob Kosinski, choose innovative and do-able workshops that represented many aspects of biology. The participants contributed to each workshop by sharing their expertise and evaluating the workshops so that by the time they are published they have been "tested" and polished by the participants as well as the presenters.

I hope that each of you will consider giving a mini or major workshop or sponsoring a Regional ABLE meeting. For more information, visit our WEB site at http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/able/

ABLE is prospering with the help of many dedicated individuals. Because the surplus money from both Tallahassee and Nebraska came in during the past year and we are earning interest on our CD’s, we had an increase of $11,000 in our total assets this past year. At our board and general business meeting, we set forth new job descriptions for the Members-at-Large (see minutes of general meeting) and will be giving a 50% registration waiver to one mini-workshop presenter per presentation. We also renamed the Scholarship Committee to the Grants-in-Aid Committee. The Grants-in-Aid Committee will coordinate the Lab Teaching Initiative Grant Program and develop a program to solicit and award registration waivers for graduate students, post-doc and new faculty interested in laboratory teaching.

The 23th Annual Conference will be held at the University of Chicago, June 18-23, 2001, hosted by Roz Potter. See the ABLE Web Site for conference information. No paper brochures will be mailed this year. You will be notified by e-mail when the web site is available. Please make sure that the Membership Chair, Denise Martin has your email address so that you can vote and register for conference.

Thanks for everyone’s help and keep in touch.

Ruthanne
rbpitk@ship.edu
June 2000