Invitation Letter - World Association of Copepodologists

UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPOFaculty of Science and AgricultureDepartment of BiodiversityPrivate Bag x 1106, Sovenga, 0727, SOUTH AFRICATel: +27 15 268 3112, Fax: +27 15 268 2976Email: susan.dippenaar@ul.ac.zaDear Invited Participant12 June 2012Danny Tang, Julianne Kalman Passarelli and I are in the process of organizing the SecondInternational Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda (IWOSC) to be held from 30 June – 5 July 2013 at theUniversity of Limpopo, Department of Biodiversity, Mankweng, South Africa (for more informationabout the University of Limpopo, visit http://www.ul.ac.za). The University of Limpopo (UL) is situatedabout 30km from Polokwane in the Limpopo Province. Polokwane has an airport with daily flights betweenPolokwane and OR Tambo Airport near Johannesburg. Additionally, Polokwane is situated about 200 kmfrom the Phalaborwa Gate of the Kruger National Park.The workshop is a follow-up of the first IWOSC, held during December 2010 at Cabrillo MarineAquarium, U.S.A., and still aims to combat the declining number of experts in our field. Thus, we want totrain and recruit more young scientists to maintain the scientific legacy of our smaller, but important, groupwithin the global copepod community. This workshop differs from the one offered a week prior to thetriennual International Conference on Copepoda (ICOC) by the World Association of Copepodologists(WAC) to selected young scientists, as it is organized independent of WAC (but with their consent) and willexclude the free-living copepod groups. It focuses on symbiotic copepods and includes collecting methodsfrom different host groups, methods of working with and identifying the material, as well as using computersoftware methods for organizing illustrations into plates. Students will have the opportunity to interact withpeers as well as well-known copepodologists such as Prof Ju-Shey Ho and will have the opportunity tobring their own material to the workshop to receive assistance with problems encountered. As with theprevious workshop, participants will have the opportunity to submit the presented paper (see preliminaryprogram) for publication in the international journal Zoosymposia (which is the sister journal of Zootaxa).

Since it is necessary to compile a preliminary mailing list of student participants for this workshop(currently there is a limit of 20 – 30 students), it is important for us to know about researchers and students,from your laboratory, who are interested in attending the workshop. A registration fee of R1000 (SouthAfrican Rand) will be required from all participants, which will be used partly to cover costs for the welcomereception dinner, morning and afternoon tea, lunches and daily transport from Bolivia Lodge to theUniversity and back. It is thus recommended that all participants reserve accommodation at Bolivia Lodgein Polokwane. Bolivia Lodge is walking distance from the Mall of the North and offers a range ofaccommodation (single accommodation, ¾ bed @ R550.00 per night; shared accommodation, 2 x ¾ beds@ R650.00 per night; shared accommodation, 1 x double bed @ R750.00 per night; sharedaccommodation, 1 x double and 1 x ¾ beds @ R750.00 per night; shared accommodation, 1 x queen bed@ R750.00 per night) and provides breakfast (@ R105.00 per person) and dinner (@ R130.00 per person)if desired. More information about Bolivia Lodge can be obtained from their website,http://www.bolivialodge.co.za/.The preliminary workshop program is as follows:‣ Sunday 30 June 2013: Arrival, registration and welcome reception dinner at Bolivia Lodge.‣ Monday 1 July 2013: Research presentations (oral and poster) and discussion at UL.‣ Tuesday 2 July 2013: Introduction to the morphology of symbiotic copepods found oninvertebrates. Workshop on copepods associated with marine invertebrates (including examiningpossible hosts for infection, collection and preservation, dissection of a copepod and using keys topreliminary identify a copepod and curating of collected and dissected material).‣ Wednesday 3 July 2013: Introduction to the morphology of symbiotic copepods found on marinevertebrates. Workshop on copepods associated with marine vertebrates (including examiningpossible hosts for infection, collection and preservation, dissection of a copepod and using keys topreliminary identify a copepod and curating of collected and dissected material).‣ Thursday 4 July 2013: Introduction to the morphology of symbiotic copepods and branchiuransfound on freshwater fish. Workshop on copepods and branchiurans associated with freshwaterfish (including examining possible hosts for infection, collection and preservation, dissection of a

copepod/branchiuran and using keys to preliminary identify a copepod/branchiuran and curating ofcollected and dissected material).‣ Friday 5 July 2013: Workshop on methods and techniques used in preparation of manuscripts (e.g.using of different software programmes and preparing line diagrams etc.). Farewell dinner.‣ Saturday 6 July 2013: Departure.We would really appreciate if you could respond by 30 September 2012. A website with updatedinformation will be created in due course following feedback from you and fellow zoologists from all over theworld. If you require further details or a formal invitation to this workshop to facilitate procurement ofuniversity travel funds in advance, please do not hesitate to contact me.Regards,Prof SM DippenaarDepartment of BiodiversitySchool of Molecular and Life Sciences