ABLE News and Notes
Compiled by Mariëlle Hoefnagels, Labstracts Editor

In Sympathy

Our heartfelt sympathy is extended to Elizabeth Godrick, Boston University, on the loss of her husband of more than 25 years, Joseph A. Godrick, this past May. His death was very sudden and a tragic loss to Elizabeth and her two sons. Elizabeth has been a member of ABLE for 24 years, is a past-president of ABLE, and hosted the Boston conference.

Kathy Schwab, Committee Chair for ABLE Laboratory Intitiave Teaching Grants, has announced that Ann Yezerski of King's College in Pennsylvania has received a grant in the amount of $1,500 for her proposal, entitled "Molecular Genetic Linkage Mapping for Undergraduates." As a grant recipient, Ann will be required to give a major or minor workshop at an ABLE annual meeting within two years.

For more information on Laboratory Initiative Teaching Grants and an application form, visit http://www.zoo.toronto.edu/able/grants.htm.

Upcoming Meetings

Here is a short list of upcoming meetings that might interest ABLE members. If you know of others that should be included, please email me.

ABLE (Association for Biology Laboratory Education): The 2004 annual meeting will be from June 8-12, 2004, at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

ACUBE (Association of College and University Biology Educators): You just missed their 47th annual meeting (October 9-11, 2003 at Truman State University in Missouri). Details on the 2004 meeting have yet to be posted.

AIBS (American Institute of Biological Sciences): March 16-18, 2004 in Washington, DC. The theme of the meeting will be "Invasive Species: A Search for Solutions."

CUR (Council on Undergraduate Research): The 10th National Conference will be at the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse from June 23-26, 2004.

NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers): The location and dates of the 2004 meeting are to be announced. ABLE staffed a booth and sponsored a speaker at the 2003 annual convention in Portland, Oregon in October, 2003; check out the report in this newsletter!

NCUR (National Conference for Undergradaute Research): The 2004 meeting will be April 15-17 in Indianapolis. In 2005, the annual meeting will be from March 17-19 at Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.

NSTA (National Science Teachers Association): The annual convention was in March 2003 in Philadelphia, but the regional conventions are still to come in Minneapolis (Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2003), Kansas City, MO (November 13-15, 2003) and Reno (December 4-6, 2003). The 2004 annual convention will be in Atlanta, GA from April 1-4, 2004.

Project Kaleidoscope is devoted to undergraduate education in mathematics, engineering, and science. Assemblies are planned for Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2003 at the University of Richmond, Nov. 7-9, 2003 at New York University, Nov. 14-15, 2003 at the Univeristy of California at Irvine, Nov. 21-23, 2003 at the University of Colorado, and December 5-7, 2003, at Agness Scott College in Georgia.

Wanted: Contributions to Labstracts

Labstracts is a forum for you, the members of ABLE, to share what you know about biology laboratory education. Labstracts relies on you for ideas and contributions. If you look at this issue, you will see that we have all sorts of items -- from short news clips to longer articles. Any and all submissions are warmly welcomed.

What are your favorite ideas about teaching? What are your problems? What would you like to know about how your colleagues teach? Do you have ideas for articles, even if you don't have time to write one yourself? (Or are you inspired by Don Igelsrud's article in this issue, which he ends with new article ideas?)

If you want to submit an article, or just an idea for an article, please contact me at hoefnagels@ou.edu. If you are submitting an article, please include information about yourself and a scanned picture (if possible) to include with the article. Photos of students or equipment "in action" are, of course, also always welcome. The deadline for the Winter 2004 issue will be January 15, 2004.