SSS: Swiss Systematics Society
The Swiss Systematics Society used 2019 to strengthen its role as a platform for exchange for Swiss systematists working on all groups of life. The main event last year was the annual meeting on Nov 8th at the Natural History Museum in Basel, where we heard two invited talks, one about virus taxonomy (which received unfortunate timeliness just a little while afterwards) by Prof Stuart Siddel from Bristol, and about the use of X ray computer tomography in elucidating evolutionary patterns in flowering plants, by Dr Yannick Städler form Vienna.
We also continued our efforts to make the work of systematists more visible, by publishing a list of new species described by Swiss researchers online (New Species Swiss Made, https://naturwissenschaften.ch/organisations/swiss-systematics/new_species_swiss_made). In 2019, the list included 94 new species across various groups in the tree of life, from which we elected an alpine bee as the emblem of the society for 2020.
The board of the society has seen a few changes, which were confirmed at the general assembly on Nov 8th, 2019. Alice Cibois, president of the society for six years, passed on that position to Seraina Klopfstein, but will still support the society in the vital position of treasurer and webmaster. We thank her warmly for her committed, creative and inspiring work for the society!
We have published three newsletters (numbers 37 to 39), which were sent out in March, July and December to our members.
The SSS supported the Biology19 meeting in Zurich on February 7-8, which was preceded by an outreach activity on February 6.
The yearly scientific meeting of the society took place on November 8th at the Natural History Museum in Basel. It included eleven scientific talks and the general assembly of the society. Two invited speakers have travelled to the meeting from abroad. Prof Stuart Siddel from the University of Bristol presented us with a captivating introduction into the complex taxonomy of viruses and the issues faced by systematists when trying to reconciliate phenotypic and molecular classification systems. Dr Yannick Städler from the University of Vienna elaborated on the power of micro-CT approaches in reconstructing the internal anatomy of flowers in three dimensions and in using these models to study phenotypic evolution in a quantitative context. Nine more talks were delivered by our members, six of which by PhD students. Jeannette Kneubühler, the winner of this year's SSS award for the best master thesis, presented her work on the phylogenetic relationships of Otalini snails, which combined molecular and morphological aspects.
In 2019, we aimed to encourage young systematists through three actions:
Student travel grant: The active participation in international conferences is supported by the SSS, if the student presents a talk or poster about a topic with a strong link to systematics. In 2019, the grant was awarded to two students. Jeannette Kneubühler (PhD student at the University of Bern and the Natural History Museum Bern) presented the research based on her master thesis at the "World Congress of Malacology 2019" in Monterey, USA. And Mathilde Ruche (PhD student in Life Sciences at the University of Geneva & Conservatoire and Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève) made a poster presentation about her PhD project at the International Association of Bryologists "Bryology19" Symposium in Madrid, Spain.
Best master's thesis award 2019: The SSS award for the best master thesis in systematics in Switzerland went to Jeannette Kneubühler, who presented her findings at the SSS Day.
Free travel to the SSSDay for students: Once more, several students took the opportunity to get free travel to the annual meeting of the society, and most of them also presented their work at the meeting.
In order to raise awareness for the work of systematists in Switzerland, we once more compiled an online list of new species described by Swiss researchers in 2019. The list featured 94 new species, including lichens, beetles, bats, flowering plants, turtles, mayflies, spiders, fishes, frogs, cestode parasites, plant-lice, flatworms, trees, and even an extinct mammal. Some of the extant and fossil species were found in Switzerland, but most came from all over the world: China, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Chile, Myanmar, Kenya, France, French Polynesia, and so on. The new alpine bee Andrena amieti, described by Dr Christophe Praz from the University of Neuchâtel and co-workers, has been dedicated to the renowned Swiss bee researcher Felix Amiet. It was chosen at the annual meeting of the society as the emblem for the year 2020, which was announced in a press release in February 2020 (the magazine "Terre&Nature" has already picked up this news).
The year has also seen a lot of planning for our next large outreach event, the National Day of Natural History Collections, which is planned for November 2020. Behind the scenes, preparations are already in full swing: 24 institutions have already confirmed their participation, and an application to the SNF fund for outreach activities (AGORA) has been submitted, which will hopefully cover the expenses for creating short online videos that will be used to advertise the event on social media (a decision is expected for May 2020).