The Story of ISEP
The formation of a society concerned with early events in eukaryotic evolution was discussed by Lynn Margulis, Max Taylor and Howard Whisler in Seattle, USA, in late 1973, following the First International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology in Boulder, USA, where the SET (serial endosymbiosis theory) had its first formal discussion and a protistan session was also held.
It was formally proposed, with election of an ad hoc editorial committee, at a meeting on the origin and evolution of mitosis in Boston, USA, in 1974 (see Margulis & Taylor, 1975), and this has been taken as the first Society for Evolutionary Protistology (SEP) meeting. The second, convened in Toronto, Canada, was summarized by Heath (1978). The word ‘International’ was added after the fourth meeting, held in Maryland, USA (see Goode & Corliss, 1981, 1982), and the society was formally incorporated in 1982.
Executive Committee
Purificación Lopez-Garcia
President
CNRS
puri.lopez()u-psud.fr
Sonja Rueckert
Past President
University of Duisburg-Essen
sonja.rueckert()uni-due.de
Sonja Rueckert
European Councilor
University of Duisburg-Essen
sonja.rueckert()uni-due.de
Lukas VF Novak
Media Director
Université de Bretagne Occidentale
lukas.novak()univ-brest.fr
Alastair GB
Simpson
Office Manager
Dalhousie University
alastair.simpson()dal.ca
Claudio H
Slamovits
Treasurer
Dalhousie University
claudio.slamovits()dal.ca
Laura Eme
President - Elect
CNRS
laura.eme()u-psud.fr
Akinori Yabuki
Councilor At-Large
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
yabukia()jamstec.go.jp
Michelle Leger
Membership Director
Instituto de Biología Evolutiva
michelle.leger()ibe.upf-csic.es
Gillian Gile
North American Councilor
Arizona State University
Gillian.Gile()asu.edu
Gillian Gile
Secretary
Arizona State University
Gillian.Gile()asu.edu
Description of Offices
DUTIES OF PRESIDENT: The President shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the members of the Corporation and of the board of directors. It is the duty of the President to assure that an Auditor(s) is chosen by the board of directors and that an audit of the financial records is canied out and reported to the membership at the annual meeting. The President shall also be charged with the general management and supervision of the affairs and operations of the Corporation, and the President shall be responsible for seeing that Corporation Officers carry out their duties. If for any reason the President is absent or unable to perform their duties, their duties and powers may be exercised by the President-Elect or such other director as they may from time to time designate for the purpose. In the event the office of President becomes vacant, the President Elect shall automatically succeed to such office and in default thereof, the board shall appoint another director to the office of President Elect.
DUTIES OF THE PAST PRESIDENT: The Past President shall be responsible for the nomination of candidates to stand for election of directors at the next biennial meeting.
DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT ELECT: The President Elect shall assume the responsibilities of President if the President is unable to complete their term of Office.
DUTIES OF SECRETARY: The Secretary shall be ex officio clerk of the board of directors. They shall attend all meetings of the board of directors and meetings of members and record all facts and minutes of all proceedings in the books kept for that purpose. A copy of the Minutes from any meeting shall be provided to directors within 30 days of the meeting. They shall give all notices required to be given to the members and to directors. They shall also perform such other duties as may from time to time be determined by the board of directors.
DUTIES OF TREASURER: The Treasurer shall keep full and accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements of the Corporation in proper books of account and shall deposit all moneys or other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of the Corporation in such bank or banks as may from time to time be approved by the board of directors. They shall disburse the funds of the Corporation under the direction of the board of directors, taking proper vouchers therefore and shall render to the board of directors at the regular meetings thereof or whenever required of them, an account of all their transactions as Treasurer, and of the financial position of the Corporation. They shall prepare and present a financial statement to the members at each annual meeting. The Treasurer shall provide the auditor(s) with financial records as required during the audit. The Treasurer shall accept payment of dues, providing each member with a receipt of payment. They shall forward to the Membership Director the names and related membership information for all new and renewing members. They shall forward all historical papers of finance to the Head Office of the Corporation. They shall also perform such other duties as may from time to time be determined by the board of directors.
DUTIES OF THE MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: The Membership Director shall accept or reject membership applications on behalf of the Corporation, maintain a list of active members of the Corporation, shall inform members when membership renewals are due, and shall provide the Secretary, Media Director and other directors of the Corporation with the list of members. The list of active members should include, whenever possible, their postal and electronic mailing addresses as well as their telephone numbers.
DUTIES OF THE MEDIA DIRECTOR: The Media Director is responsible for publishing news about activities of the Corporation. Publication may be printed or electronic as decided by the directors.
DUTIES OF THE COUNCILORS: North American, European, and At-Large Councilors are to attend meetings, providing representation for the members of their respective geographic regions and guidance for the Corporation.
DUTIES OF THE HEAD OFFICE MANAGER: The Head Office Manager must reside in Canada. The Head Office Manager is responsible for maintaining in good order the Corporation Seal, the Articles of Incorporation, the Corporation By-laws, the Minutes of all meetings of the Corporation, the Financial Reports of the Corporation, and other valuable Corporate documents as deemed appropriate by the directors. The Head Office Manager is also the second signatory for the Corporation for all financial matters. The Head Office Manager is not responsible for overseeing or managing the Corporation - these tasks are the responsibility of the President and other directors as specified elsewhere in the By-Laws.