Fall 2009 —The British Phycological Society offers an annual award (currently £150) for a photograph on a phycological theme that best combines the informative, technical and aesthetic qualities that Hilda Canter-Lund brought to her photomicrographs of algae. They welcome entries for the 2009 competition from all (not just BPS members). Photographs can be of a micro- or macroalga, marine or freshwater, taken by any photographic medium and should be submitted by November 31, 2009. Full details of the competition, including details on how to submit entries and the competition rules are available at the BPS website.
John West and Bruce Parker win Awards of Excellence
Summer 2009 — Congratulations to Bruce and John who were honored with the Phycological Society of America's Award of Excellence at the PSA meeting in Hawaii for lifetime achievements! Sincere thanks to our colleagues in Hawaii who provided for a wonderful, well-organized and rewarding PSA Meeting: Alison Sherwood, Kimberly Conklin, Akira Kurihara, Kimberly Peyton, Heather Spalding, Cheryl Squair, Matthew Lurie, Erin Cox, David Spafford, Daniel O'Doherty, Celia Smith, Eric Conklin, Gernot Presting, Coleman Connelly .
Advanced Biology Training Course in Antarctica
Spring 2009 — This National Science Foundation sponsored course will be held in Antarctica at the United States' McMurdo Station for one month, starting January 2010. This is an international course, open to all nationalities. Applications are invited from graduate students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty who are interested in the study of extreme environments and the biology of Antarctic organisms.. The emphasis of the Antarctic Biology Course is on integrative biology, with laboratory- and field-based projects focused on biological adaptations in an extreme environment, with an emphasis on rapid climate change in polar regions.
Greta Fryxell Honored
2008 — PSA member Dr. Greta A. Fryxell was honored by the publication of a Festschrift (“a volume of writings collected on honor of a scholar”) recognizing her long record of scientific achievement in the fields of phycology and oceanography. Greta received the PSA Award of Excellence in Phycology in 1996. The current issue of the European scientific journal Nova Hedwigia, Beihefte (Beiheft 133, 2008) includes articles by colleagues and former students that are dedicated to her and which recognize her many achievements both in teaching and in research. Dr. Fryxell is Professor Emerita of Oceanography at Texas A&M University and also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, the University of Texas at Austin. She now lives in Claremont, California, where she resides with her husband, Dr. Paul A. Fryxell.
A formal presentation of the Festschrift was made at a dinner held in her honor in Claremont on February 14, 2008 when many of her former students, who received M.S. or Ph.D. degrees under her direction, were present, several coming from overseas. A unique feature of this Festschrift is that it will include invited papers from each of her three children, Dr. Karl J. Fryxell (George Mason University), Dr. Joan E. Fryxell (California State University, San Bernardino), and Dr. Glen E. Fryxell (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) in their fields of biology, geology, and chemistry, respectively.
Note added by the Editor: You can read a review of the special issue dedicated to Dr. G. A. Fryxell “Phytoplankton Evolution, Taxonomy and Ecology” by A. Zingone in the Journal of Plankton Research 2009; 31(1): 119-120.