Article By: Johnica Morrow
As has become tradition among western and Midwestern parasitologists, the annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitologists took place here at the station Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The eager faces of dozens of parasitologists from Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and of course Nebraska filled Goodall Lodge in with an air of excitement. At this 44th annual meeting, parasitologists (many of whom are or were former Cedar Pointians) met to discuss research in the field of parasitology and to watch students present their research to an audience of their peers.
The conference began with President Matt Bolek welcoming us all here and telling us a few stories about the guest lecturers for the weekend. With Cindy Church presiding, graduate presentations began promptly at 9:10am. After four wonderful presentations describing research in tapeworms, monogenes, trematodes, and snails, members took a break for cookies, coffee, and of course discussion.
After the break, Scott Gardner introduced Augustine Jimenez who delivered a passionate lecture about nematodes for the Newton Kingston Memorial Lecture. Members then took a lunch break before heading back in to watch the undergraduate presentations at 1:30pm. The undergraduate presentations gave us lots of information on coccidians, echinostomes (trematodes), gregarines, gordiids, and even a parasitoid wasp's mating behaviors! The topics were as diverse as the researchers themselves and each talk was enjoyable to RMCP members. After another coffee/cookie break, a few more presentations informed us about fish parasites and the temperature-dependent nature of gregarine development.
Following this session, members had the chance to observe three beautifully put-together poster presentations before reconvening in the Goodall Lodge for dinner. The Friday night banquet is a long-held tradition at RMCP. This year, CPBS's newest staff member, Airicca Roddy, planned a delicious Italian meal to compliment the wines members enjoyed that evening. The day concluded with John Janovy introducing Ben Hanelt as the speaker for this year's Gerald D. Schmidt Memorial Lecture. Ben spoke about his work with nematomorphs and all the cool things these little critters have revealed to us over time.
The next day we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast before we headed down to the basement for one last session. We listened to two talks by Dr. Scott Seville and Dr. Ron Hathaway about their exciting research about coccidians and protostrogylid nematodes (respectively). Afterwards we moved on to the final part of the conference...the business meeting!
The meeting was directed by our president, Dr. Matt Bolek and our president-elect, Dr. Karl Reinhard. Awards were given to the winners of the presentation/poster competitions. Cedar Point's own Francisco Melo was among the winners this year! Great job, Francisco! We were also informed about how well the American Society of Parasitologists meeting went this past summer in Quebec City. One of the major concerns of the national society is also a concern for RMCP in addition to a concern for other regional parasite meetings. This concern is the dropping of membership, especially in terms of student member numbers.
It was this concern that motivated fellow Cedar Pointian, Elizabeth Racz to move that the society have an open discussion about moving the meeting back by a week. During the course of the conference, several students voiced concerns about the timing of RMCP. Being scheduled the weekend after labor day gives students very little time after returning for the fall semester to prepare their presentations, posters, and secure funding for the conference. For those that teach, it is also quite a task to take off the second week of classes. Many students spoke of their classmates who were unable to attend the meeting because they didn't want to miss class during the second week of the semester after only having a week to get familiar with the classes and their professors. UNL alone would have had 6 students that would have come to RMCP had the meeting been pushed back by only a week.
Mrs. Racz's suggestion instigated a heated debate amongst students and faculty. Most faculty members where staunchly opposed to the idea of changing the time period. Some suggested moving the conference back by a day...which was also hotly debated. It was interesting to see just how tied to tradition some society members were during this discussion. The society, like its parent society, seemed very concerned with complaining about low student membership and participation. However, a suggestion for change that could potentially increased the number of students able to participate was met with much resistance. In the end, no decision was made concerning whether the conference should remain scheduled for the weekend after labor day or pushed back a week attempt to increase attendance. However, if student membership remains low or drops next year, perhaps the issue will be revisited.
The meeting concluded with the passing of the gavel to our new president, Dr. Karl Reinhard, and the election of our new president elect, Dr. Rich Clopton. Those who were able to stay behind took part in a group photograph just outside of the Goodall Lodge, with CPBS's own Jon Garbisch behind the camera.
All in all, this was a great conference! The posters and presentations were informative and exciting, as were the memorial lectures. It was wonderful to see so many parasitophiles (lovers of parasites) walking around, discussing parasites, networking, and catching up with old friends. Speaking of parasitophiles, CPBS released a special edition RMCP t-shirt that was black with white lettering. The t-shirts read "Parasitophile" in bold letters with Rocky Mountain Conference of Parasitology in a smaller font underneath. The back of the shirt donned the CPBS logo. Over 2/3rds of the shirts ordered were sold during the conference. If anyone would like their own Parasitophile shirt, they can be purchased for $10 by contacting Jon Garbisch!
Thanks to all the officers, students, and faculty who attended RMCP at the CPBS this year! We hope you enjoyed the food, lodging, and general atmosphere. We look forward to serving you again next fall!
