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Next article FreeAnnouncementsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreLetter from the Italian Society for Evolutionary BiologyThe Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection is the unifying principle of the biological sciences. Unfortunately in the Italian academic system, evolutionary biology is not acknowledged as an independent research area, so no faculty positions in “evolutionary biology” can be established, and most students hear only a brief summary of evolutionary theory in the final hours of their introductory zoology, paleontology, or genetics courses. To make matters worse, during the past two years, several creationist organizations have been publicly attacking the teaching of evolutionary theory. These events convinced many Italian scientists, working both at home and abroad, to take action. Consequently, in June 2004, a group of evolutionary biologists launched the “CoEvol” initiative (Coordinamento Italiano dei Biologi Evoluzionisti—Italian Committee of Evolutionary Biologists).The goals of CoEvol are both scientific and educational. We are planning to strengthen collaborations between researchers in Italy and those abroad, to both improve the teaching of evolution in Italy and to increase the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in evolutionary studies. One of our first acts has been a “cyber‐journal club,” which allows researchers and students working everywhere in the world to discuss recent papers on evolution by e‐mail. We are also organizing an International Evolution Meeting, which will take place at the University of Ferrara (Ferrara, Italy), August 24–26, 2005, to formally announce the constitution of an Italian Society for Evolutionary Biology, which so far has been missing from the landscape of Italian academic societies.We envision this new society as a lobby group that will foster collaboration among Italian evolutionary biologists in Italy and abroad and represent our interest in making evolutionary biology a priority in the Italian educational system. We seek the support of all colleagues, at home and abroad, Italian or not, to achieve these goals. We believe that a well‐coordinated, strong Italian community of evolutionary biologists can only represent a significantly positive contribution to international science.We invite you to learn more about us by visiting our website: http://www.coevol.org, where all the information on the meeting and on our activities will be available.Authors of the letter: Giorgio Bertorelle ([email protected]), Universita di Ferrara, Ferrara; Ivan Scotti ([email protected]), INRA Kourou, French Guyana; Stefano Mariani ([email protected]), University College, Dublin; Francesco Santini ([email protected]), MNHN, Paris. A full list of signatories is available at http://www.coevol.org.8th World Wilderness CongressThe 8th World Wilderness Congress (WWC) will be held from September 30 to October 6, 2005, in Anchorage, Alaska. For the first time since 1987, the Congress will be held in the United States; this is a unique opportunity to join over 1,000 delegates from approximately 40 countries, representing many perspectives and professions. The theme of the WWC is “Wilderness, Wildlands, and People: A Partnership for the Planet,” and topics will include climate change, local communities, traditional knowledge, photography and the arts, tourism, and natural resource use and management. For more information and registration, see http://www.8wwc.org/ or e‐mail [email protected].New Type of Article: SynthesesIn keeping with its mission to support “the conceptual unification of the biological sciences,” the American Naturalist invites submission of a new type of article, the synthesis. Syntheses will analyze and synthesize recent findings in the biological sciences that are of interest to the readership of the journal. These articles should review recent work, but more important, the article should present a new and synthetic perspective of those results.Submission of syntheses follows the normal route via the Web Peer Review system of the journal. Before writing the synthesis, potential authors should contact the editors via the journal office with a proposal for the article, including a detailed outline and a statement of the novel goals and perspective of the article. Authors of successful proposals will be invited to submit their syntheses, which will then go through the same process as other submissions to the journal, with normal peer review. Syntheses should be at most the length of a normal article in the journal, and they should be accessible for a broad academic audience. Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The American Naturalist Volume 166, Number 2August 2005 Published for The American Society of Naturalists Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/444364 Views: 104 PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.