Call for Papers. From Alaska to Chiapas: The First North American Parasitology Congress. Announcing

Transcription

1 From Alaska to Chiapas: The First North American Parasitology Congress Call for Papers Announcing the First North American Meeting of American Society of Parasitologists, sociedad Mexicana de parasitología, & Parasitology section of the canadian Society of Zoologists Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel, Mérida, Yucatán México June 21 25, 2007

2 2 CALL FOR PAPERS From Alaska to Chiapas: The First North American Parasitology Congress The American Society of Parasitologists (ASP), the Sociedad Mexicana de Parasitología (SMP), and the Parasitology Section of the Canadian Society of Zoologists (PS-CSZ) announce a North American Meeting to be held at the Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel in Mérida, Yucatán, México, from June 21 25, Members and non-members are invited to submit abstracts for papers they intend to present as an oral presentation, poster or, if you are an invited speaker, as a contribution to one of our symposia or plenary sessions. For all types of presentations, abstracts must be received on or before the deadline: March 23, The Program and Abstracts booklet will be prepared from the abstracts received and will be available on-line to members in early May. Everyone registered (either in advance or on site) for the meeting can pick up their copy of the Program and Abstracts booklet at the meeting s Registration desk in the Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel. Additional copies of the Program may be purchased ($10.00 U.S. per copy) at the Registration desk at the meeting. Please read and follow all instructions carefully to reduce confusion and save time and stress. Thank you! Registering for the Meeting To register and pay your registration fees, please access the Congress website at and follow the simple directions. If you have any questions contact Victor Vidal-Martinez, Chair, Local Organizing Committee, vvidal@mda.cinvestav.mx Costs: On/Before May 25 After May 25 ASP/SMP/PS-CSZ Member $200 $240 Student Member Non-Society Member Accompanying Person Banquet (Sunday 24th) Non-members (both post-graduate and students) may join ASP ($75 and $35, respectively); the application form can be found at click on the Join the ASP link on the left, download the form, complete it, and mail it to John Janovy, Jr., ASP, School of Biological Sciences, UNL, Lincoln NE USA. If you want to join SMP contact: flisser@servidor.unam.mx. Must be accompanied by a Certification of Student Status Form (go to Hotel Registration All sessions will take place at: Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel Ave. Colón esq Calle 60 Mérida, Yucatán, México Tel.: , Fax: merid.reservations@hyattintl.com The Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel is the official hotel for the ASP/SMP/PS-CSZ meeting and a block of 520 rooms has been designated for our members during the meeting. Twenty rooms have been designated especially for student occupancy at the reduced rate of $ per room with quad occupancy. Hotel reservations must be made using the link for Hotel Registration when you access Our group number is Early registrations rates (on or before February 27, 2007) are $105 (+ 17% tax) for a standard single/double room. On or after February 28, the rate increases to $120 plus tax, so register early! Convention rates for the ASP/SMP/PS-CSZ meeting are not available by online wholesalers (e.g., Priceline.com) and you jeopardize fulfilling our guaranteed room block by doing so. Note: You must register on or before Friday, April 27, 2007 to receive our group rate. Students sharing quads: Ask the Local Committee (see Congress web site) to match you with a student from another country! The Hotel The Hyatt Regency Merida is a modern and elegant hotel located at the heart of Mérida s business and commercial district. Mérida is the capital of the State of Yucatán, an historically rich region, home to the ancient Mayan culture. The hotel is a few minutes from downtown Mérida and 10 km from the international airport. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Thursday, June 21 st ASP Council Meeting, 8:00 a.m. Noon ASP SMP Presidents Addresses, 2:30 4:00 p.m. ASP President s Symposium, 4:30 6:30 p.m. Welcoming Reception, 7:30 10:30 p.m. Friday, June 22 nd 4 Concurrent Symposia, 9 11 a.m. Plenary Session I, 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Posters & Lunch, 12:30 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Oral Paper Sessions, 3 4 p.m. Eminent Parasitologist Lecture, 5 6 p.m. Auction Preview & Auction, 7:30 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23 rd 4 Concurrent Symposia, 9 11 a.m. Plenary Session II, 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Posters & Lunch, 12:30 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Oral Paper Sessions, 3 6 p.m. Folkloric Ballet, 7:00 8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24 th 4 Concurrent Symposia, 9 11 a.m. Plenary Session III, 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Posters & Lunch, 12:30 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Oral Paper Sessions, 3 6 p.m. Banquet, 7:00 10:00 p.m. Monday, June 25 th H.B. Ward Medal Lecture, 9 10 a.m. ASP Awards & Business Meeting, 10:00 a.m. Noon ASP SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM CHAIR Donald W. Duszynski Department of Biology, MSC University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM / , eimeria@unm.edu SMP Scientific Program CHAIRs Ana Flisser Faculty of Medicine, UNAM, Mexico flisser@servidor.unam.mx Guadalupe Ortega-Pierres Dept. of Genetics & Molecular Biology CINVESTAV, México gortega@cinvestav.mx Patricia Talamás-Rohana Dept. of Experimental Pathology CINVESTAV, México ptr@cinvestav.mx STUDENT LIAISONs Elizabeth Thiele (ASP) Dept. of Biological Sciences, Lilly Hall, Purdue University, 915 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN, eathiele@purdue.edu Juan Sandoval Gío (SMP) Laboratorio de Inmunología y Biología Molecular CINVESTAV-IPN, Unidad Mérida Mérida, Yuc., México sandoval@mda.cinvestav.mx

3 SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS Abstracts must be submitted online at where you will find all the instructions for your submission(s). The deadline for receipt of abstracts is Friday, March 23, Everything in the joint meeting Program and Abstracts booklet is entered, formatted, edited, and produced electronically at The University of New Mexico. Please read the directions below carefully, and follow them. Acceptance/Scheduling of Abstracts Most abstracts, except those designating new taxa, will be accepted. Multiple papers by one author may be restricted to 2 or 3 with the remainder designated as posters at the discretion of the Program Officers. Notification of acceptance and/or scheduling of your paper is not automatic. If you need a letter to present to your administration stating that your abstract has been accepted, please be sure to check that box on the Web submission page. If you need to know the time and date that your paper is scheduled, please the ASP Scientific Program Officer for this specific information, but not before May 18, 2007, or you can check at or Preparing Your Abstract(s) All abstracts MUST be submitted in English. When writing your abstract, both the title and the content are important components. The TITLE should be short, concise, and indicative of the abstract; omit the wherever possible. Avoid general words like Studies on or Investigations on. Use words with index retrieval value. On the Web abstract-submission page, you will be asked to indicate the presenting author of the paper or poster, which will be indicated by an asterisk (*) in the Program and Abstracts. The CONTENT should be a single paragraph of no more than 2,100 characters (including spaces, punctuation and website HTML coding) containing a concise statement of: (1) the problem under investigation; (2) the experimental methods used; and (3) the essential results obtained. The text should cite quantitative data from representative experiments or summary data. Scientific names should be written in full when first used, but on repetition abbreviate the genus name with the first letter of the genus only. Italicize all scientific names (as instructed on the Web abstract-submission page). We do not desire to prevent discussion of new taxa, but abstracts and/or titles which constitute the first designation of new taxa will not be accepted. Thus, do not use genus and species names of new taxa anywhere in your abstract. Submitting Your Abstract(s) Submit your abstract(s) via the Web page: where there is a link to the Congress web page. Log-in as asp and use parasites as the password. Follow all directions, fill in all the boxes, and press Submit. You will receive confirmation and a copy of your submitted abstract via a confirmation Web page; please print out this page so as to have your confirmation number. Note: Your abstract will be limited to 2,100 characters (not just letters, but also punctuation, spaces, and HTML codes). Also note that the function to write/correct your abstract(s) and related information will be disabled at midnight on Friday, March 23, MS PowerPoint is the presentation standard for this meeting. Presenters must use the PC computer provided in their session. The use of personal laptops of any kind (PC or Mac) will not be allowed. Speakers should bring their presentation stored on CD-R, USB Flash Drive, or USB Pen Drive only; other storage formats may not be supported. Presenters must download their files to the PC of their session at least 30 minutes before the start of their session. Presenters are encouraged to save their presentation using the Pack and Go feature of PowerPoint, especially if digital MPEGs or special fonts are used (detailed instructions for this procedure are in PowerPoint Help ). To ensure that each packed presentation is functional, before you leave home, you are encouraged to unpack and run the presentation on a different computer than was used to create the presentation. Mac users can use the in-house systems if their files are saved with the Pack and Go feature. The onus will be on presenters to verify the compatibility of their files with the computers in use at the Hyatt Regency Mérida Hotel. There will be a computer available in the Speakers Ready Room on which you can test your files. ORAL & POSTER PRESENTATIONS Electronic Presentations MS PowerPoint The standard presentation is 12 minutes plus 3 minutes reserved for questions and answers, unless otherwise indicated by the moderator. A Laser pointer will be provided by the session moderator. One last word about PowerPoint presentations: project your presentation and then view it from where the audience sits. If you can t read it, neither can they. Use contrast to your advantage, especially in labels. Blue or red letters in black boxes cannot be seen! White backgrounds are considered by some professionals to be the best. If you must use the diazo blue background, then consider lettering in bright white or bright yellow. Most other colors will not show up well. Keep the number of text lines to 9 to 10 or less per slide. If you have to make the disclaimer, I know you can t see this, but..., then omit it!!! Last, you are not obligated to use every font, color or feature that Microsoft puts in its program. Use fonts, colors and features both consistently and judiciously. Your audience will thank you and, if you are giving a student presentation, it will improve your presentation. Remember, your computer skills are not on display, your science is. Oral presentations can be given in the mother language of the speaker (English/Spanish) with the text on your slides in the opposite language. Poster Presentations The poster session provides an additional means of substantive discussion of papers for members attending the meeting. No competing activities will be scheduled during the poster session (unless absolutely unavoidable). Papers scheduled for presentation in the poster session are grouped by category, numbered, and listed with an abstract in the Program and Abstracts booklet. Each numbered poster will be allotted a correspondingly numbered 4' x 4' space (122 x 122 cm). Indicate the abstract number, title, and name(s) of the author(s) at the top of the poster so that it may be identified easily; the lettering for this heading should be at least 1 inch (72 points) high. A copy of your abstract should be posted in the upper left-hand corner of your poster. Please Note: Posters can be in the mother language of the presenter (English/Spanish), but the abstract posted in the left-hand corner of your poster must be in the other language. For help with translation (English to Spanish) see the directions on the Congress web pages ( and get your request for help to flisser@servidor.unam.mx before June 10,

4 MÉRIDA, MéXICO From Alaska to Chiapas; The First North American Parasitology Congress History & Cultural Attractions of Mérida Mérida, or The White City, as it is better known, is the state capital of Yucatán and the cultural and intellectual center of the Yucatán Peninsula; it has a population of 725,000. Up until 500 years ago, it was the ancient Mayan city of T ho or Ichcaanshiho ( Face of Infinity ). Mérida was founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo, El Mozo (The Younger), who named the city after the Spanish city. As a colonial town, it was laid out in a symmetrical grid of streets and squares in the Old Castilian and Andalucian styles. The town s square, once known as the Plaza Mayor, was renamed in 1812 as Independence Square ( Plaza de la Independencia ), but is now known as the Main Square ( Plaza Grande ). Around the square were placed the main civil (the royal palaces and the town hall) and religious buildings (first the Great Church, then the Cathedral). The Cathedral of San Ildefonso, built in the second half of the 16 th century, took 40 years to construct. On the south side of the Main Square lies the House of Montejo ( Casa de Montejo ), an example of Spanish Renaissance architecture, but which has some Elizabethan gothic characteristics as well. It was built in the 1540s by El Mozo for his family. During the 17 th century, seven stone archways were erected to mark the city limits and separate it from new outlying areas. Continued urban growth has overtaken all but three of these archways: only San Juan, Dragones, and El Puente remain. During the 19 th century, the city s growth continued at a fast pace. Haciendas appeared as a result of the emerging heneken-fiber industry, which then led to further economic development which, in turn, spurred the restoration and construction of public buildings, temples, and private homes that still remain on the city s most beautiful avenues. On the north side of the Main Square is the Government Palace, completed in September It contains several murals by local artist Fernando Castro Pacheco, who is considered to be one of the most important Yucatán artists. The murals depict the life and history of Maya from the Conquest to the Caste Wars. Also located north of the Main Square is the Olimpo Cultural Center of Mérida, which houses a new planetarium. Other city attractions include traditional Montejo Avenue ( Paseo de Montejo ), the site of the Canton Palace with its magnificant Italian Renaissance architecture. The palace is now the Museum of Anthropology and History. Also found on this avenue is the imposing Monument to the Nation, which tells the history of Yucatán and México in its sculptured stone. Throughout the city are countless museums of anthropology, archeology, antiques and popular art. There are also many enjoyable parks, fountains and gardens throughout the city. Two notable ones are Centennial Park (opened in 1910 to celebrate A Hundred Years of Independence and containing, among other attractions, a lake, an open-air theatre, a zoo, and a children s area) and the Park of the Americas (with a monumental Mayan-style fountain, exhibition hall, library, open-air theatre, and gardens). The city s bullring is located in the Plaza de Toros, where many other kinds of events are held, too. At night, the tropical heat dissipates, and romance, Yucatán s distinguishing characteristic, flourishes. The city s night life is full of live music, dance, and theatrical shows and events. Every night in Mérida s parks and squares there are free shows. Other entertainment includes handicraft and food stalls, open-air cafes, discotheques, bars and nightspots. Outside Mérida, there are beaches and haciendas to enjoy, and in the Maya cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal, there are light and sound shows that bring to life in the moonlight the mysticism of their ancient inhabitants. Yucatán is internationally reknowned for its music, known as trova, which is played by troubadours or trios. The Maya cultivated a genre of pentaphonic music known as xtole; after the Spanish conquest, this music became imbued with rhythms like the seguidillas and fandango accompanied by guitars, castanets, violins and flutes and melodies with short verses known as bombas, resulting in the Yucatecan Jarana. The infusion of African, Cuban and Columbian influences resulted in the Yucatecan Trova. Notable cultural events include The Day of the Dead, when families erect altars decorated with flowers, candles, crosses, personal photographs, and effects of the dead, to honor their deceased members; Carnival, when people dress up and sing and dance in the streets among decorated floats; and the X matkuil Fair, an annual agricultural event featuring artisans, traders and ranchers promoting their products and cultural events like shows and bullfights. Area Attractions Mérida is an ideal departure point for excursions to main archeological sites, cities and colonial towns. The Emerald Coast, stretching 378 km from Celestun to Rio Lagartos on the Gulf of México and home to several important ports, features exotic natural scenery of white sands and palms, migratory birds, and superb food prepared from the sea s catch of the day. You can enjoy sailing, wind-surfing, and kayaking. A subterranean paradise sacred to the Maya can be found in the spectacular, intertwined limestone tunnels and caves with imaginatively named formations. Interesting legends explain the origins of the caverns or describe the fantastic creatures that live there. Some caves show evidence of ancient human settlements with stone grinding blocks and artifacts, rock paintings, bones and other remains of now-extinct mammoths, bison and cat species. Other caves show evidence of Mayan occupancy and use, such as human and deer bones, altars, grinding stones, arrowheads, sea shells, ceramics, dishes and pots. The rainwater that created the subterranean caverns also created cenotes (sinkholes), which are unique formations providing important sources of fresh water in forests. Cenotes vary in size and shape, from being open lakes or pools, to being half-hidden in the caverns, to being completely enclosed within the caverns, accessible only via underground water passages (cave diving). The water is cold and clear, and supports a rich ecosystem of flora and fauna. Cenotes were important for the development of the Mayan civilization, with communities growing up around them, and thus were sacred places 4

5 WELCOMING RECEPTION Area Attractions continued to the Maya. Abundant offerings, jewelry, and religious ceramic remains and utensils have been recovered from the cenote floors, making them important archaeological sites. There are a number of ecological nature reserves full of unique flora and fauna. These variously feature an enormous lighthouse, aquatic birds among the mangroves and their estuaries, fishing villages with fresh-fish and shellfish restaurants among their wharves, fishing touraments, a petrified forest, and habitats containing white-tailed deer, alligators, pheasant, and hundreds of bird species. There are, of course, the world-famous archaeological sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal. Other sites are Ek Balam, Ruta Puuc, Dzibilchatun, Ake, Xcambo, Mayapan, Oxkintok and Yaxunah. Yucatán & Mérida s Weather The Yucatán is generally wetter than the Pacific Coast and northern México. Along the coast, it can rain any time of the year, but the official rainy season runs from June through October. From June through August, expect hot temperatures, high humidity and monsoon-like downpours in late afternoon and evening. Ocean breezes help keep summers tolerable. Inland jungle regions are more humid with even higher temperatures; in this region, it tends to rain almost every day, but at the same time of the day for a short period. The hurricane season runs from late June through October in the Caribbean, but plenty of advance warning is given for these types of storms. The average precipitation in Mérida in June is 5.8 inches, so bring light ponchos for rain gear. The average temperature in June is 84 F / 28 C (the average high temperature is 94 F / 34 C; the average low temperature is 75 F / 23 C). Most of the information provided here about Mérida and Yucatán is from the web site. Please see this web site for more detailed information about Mérida and Yucatán and the archeological sites mentioned above. ur Welcoming Reception O will be held around the swimming pool, third floor of the Hyatt Hotel from 7:30 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 21 st. This is an informal reception with Yucatecan appetizers, local beer, wine and trova yucateca music. Bring your swimsuit or dress lightly, as it will be still fairly hot at this hour. We expect that the presidents of our societies will make a welcoming toast and that you will enjoy the food and the music. The concert at the Peon Contreras Theater (Center Downtown) will be held from 7:00 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 rd. This will be a very special event organized by the Yucatán State Government and University of Yucatán. We will enjoy a show by the Folkloric Ballet of the University of Yucatán, one of the best groups in the country with much international experience. Using folkloric music and dancing, they will take us on a trip through the indigenous and Spanish melding that is the Mexican Culture. After the concert, we will have wine at the outdoor mezzanine of the theater. The Congress Banquet will be held on the Quinta Montes Molina (behind Hyatt Hotel) from 7:00 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 24 th. The banquet will be in a large adjoining garden, with Yucatecan food, local beer, wine, trova yucateca and music for dancing. Summer evenings in Mérida are quite tropical, so bring light clothes and be ready to dance the night away. SCIENTIFIC ATTRACTIONS hree plenary sessions will host speakers from Canada, the U.S.A., Tand México, who will talk about topics as diverse as parasite signaling, host-parasite co-speciation, and global warming. The ASP President s Symposium, Global Warming and Its Effects on Parasites and Parasitic Infections, promises to feature speakers from NASA and non-governmental, global health organizations. There will be a dozen other symposia on parasite genomes, freshwater fish parasites of North America, signaling, drug resistance and chemotherapy, proteomics, innate immunity, malaria vectors, water-borne parasites, paleo-parasitology, parasite problems in wild, domestic or cultured hosts, the 39 th Coccidiosis Conference, and a symposium (TBA) organized entirely by our parasitology student colleagues. The names of the Eminent Parasitologist, the Bueding and von Brand Lectureship, and the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal recipient for 2007 have not yet been announced, but the 2007 recipient of the Clark P. Read Mentor Award is Dr. Raymond Kuhn, Wake Forest University. Dr. Kuhn will present a short talk about his mentoring philosophy. 5

6 Tourist information CULTURAL INTERMINGLING In Mérida and Yucatán, the majority of people speak Spanish and some speak Maya. Some people also speak English, although those who do are mostly younger and may be shy about trying out their English (so be patient). We recommend that you bring along a Spanish phrase book and a bilingual map from the Tourism Office ( which you can show people when asking for directions or information. Remember that the presence of foreigners outside the downtown and north part of the city is unusual, and that if you visit these areas, you may be conspicuous. If you visit the nightclubs in the south and east of town, we recommend you do so with a guide. With the exception of immigration officers, most Mexican government officials do not speak English. Again, a phrase book can be very useful, as will a bit of patience. Even with the difference in language you will find that Yucatecans are a warm, welcoming people and ready to introduce you to their culture. Take this opportunity to learn about Yucatán s unique culture and enjoy this very special part of México. STAYING AFTER THE MEETING If you plan to do some touring before or after our meeting, we recommend that you visit the following web site: Short trips Dzibichaltún There are several lovely places to visit in one day trips. One is Dzibichaltún (a place with Mayan language writing on stones), a small Mayan ruin and a cenote (= sinkhole) in which you can safely swim. It is located 10 km from Mérida, on the way to Progreso Port. There is also a small but very nice museum showing different crucial times in the history of Yucatan. The cenote is a nice experience, like swimming in a fish tank, but be prepared that there is no place to change into your swim suit or our of your wet clothes, so plan accordingly. After Dzibichaltún, you can go to X canatún for lunch ( stone fountain in mayan), a lovely Hacienda-hotel ( eng-hacienda-hotels.htm). The restaurant and the cuisine are gorgeous and the hotel is beautiful and quiet. The price, however, is expensive ($280 USD/ night). Celestun Another possible one day trip is to Celestun, a coastal lagoon about 100 km west of Mérida. There are 2 ways to get there: 1.) by bus; know that if you choose the bus, you will have a sweaty day; and 2.) by car, either drive your own or hire one (see Transportation Information, p. 8). To reach Celestun, drive south from Mérida towards Umán. At the traffic light of the main plaza in Umán, take the Y to your right. Drive 2 blocks and turn right on road No. 281 to Kinchil-Celestún. When you reach Celestun you will see 6 Cenote Samulá, Yucatán the coastal lagoon and you will be driving on a white bridge. At the end of the bridge, turn left and you will see the tourist information center. Take a boat to the water springs (Yahaa and Baldiosera) and swim there if you wish. Note the freshwater coming out from the bottom of the lagoon. If you like bird watching, this is the place for you! Ask the guide to take you to see the flamingos and Bird Island (1 hr trip). Go back to town and ask for the playita. In our opinion, this may be the best place in the world for red crab claws, cebiche mixto and filete relleno. Flamingos in Ria Celestun

7 Tourist information continued If you want to stay longer in Celestun, go to the Ecoparaiso Hotel. Take the road that runs parallel to the seashore, go right, and drive 6 miles north of the village until you reach the resort. Visit the following web site for more information, Hacienda Temozón, Yucatán Uxmal This is one of the most representative Mayan archeological sites in Yucatán. It is a relatively large place, but there are many good written guides that provide a lot of information on the architecture. They are open from 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., they have a light and sound show that tells a tale about the reason the Mayans left this city. The show uses lamps with different colors and a voice recording to describe the tale. The show is in Spanish, but there is a wireless translation service to English ($ 60 pesos/$ 5 USD). Uxmal is 70 km from Mérida, south toward Campeche, and can be reached by bus or by car. If you drive, go toward Campeche and take the diversion to Uxmal. You can reach Uxmal in min. The company TURITRANSMERIDA can give you a reasonable price and good quality service. To ask for a tour, visit the site: El Adivino pyramid, Uxmal Yucatán Loltún cave, Yucatán LONGER trips There are many more places with Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza, and Tulum on the Mayan Riviera. Then, of course there is Cancun, and Playa del Carmen and others for trips of several days to weeks. For more information please visit these web sites: For information about Yucatán: and For Quintana Roo: For Campeche: 7

8 Student Paper CompetitionS ASP students are eligible for the Best Oral Student Paper award, while SMP students are eligible for the Best Poster Student Paper Award. Applications for the respective societies competition and the specific directions are on each societies web pages (ASP: SMP: The deadline for Student Paper Competition applications is Friday, March 23, For ASP students competing in the oral paper competition, remember that both the ASP Scientific Program Officer (Duszynski) and the Chairman of the ASP Student Awards Committee (Barger) must receive one copy of your Application Form (copy from and your abstract. Student Travel Grants Applications and directions for grants are on the ASP web page: The deadline for Student Travel Grant applications is Friday, March 23, The chair of this year s committee is Dr. Mike Barger, Department of Natural Science, PO Box 10, 600 Hoyt St., Peru State College, Peru, NE A Student Student Social Social is being planned and the date and time will be announced at the meeting. TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION Visas Citizens of Canada and the U.S.A. do not need a visa to enter México. All that is needed is a valid passport and a tourist form, which will be provided on the flight to México. Airport Direct international flights are available to Mérida (Manuel Crescencio Rejon International Airport) from the U.S. cities of Houston (Texas), Mobile (Alabama), and Miami (Florida). There are also frequent flights from México City and other Mexican cities. After disembarking, go through the immigration checkpoint (have your passport and tourist form ready) and then proceed to baggage claim. Once you have your luggage, take it to the Customs checkpoint, turn in a small Custom s form provided on your flight, and then you will be asked by a Customs official to press the traffic light button. This is a red light green light system that randomly selects arriving passengers for a more detailed baggage inspection; green means you may go, red means your baggage will be opened and inspected. If your baggage is heavy, porters in the baggage claim area offer their services for a fee and will help you take your baggage to the local ground transport services area. When you pass through Customs, you will enter a reception area where one of the LOC members will be waiting for you with a Yucatecan flag (see the illustration) and a sign: ASP/MSP 2007 Congress. A reception desk also will be open at the airport s main entrance, which is easy to find as it is not a very big airport. If you have a problem with Customs, please immediately contact Victor Vidal (cell phone: ) or Leopoldina Aguirre ( ). To return to the airport after the Congress has concluded, either take a taxi or catch one of the airport shuttle buses provided by the Congress. Before leaving for the airport, be sure to clear your bill at the hotel s front desk. The airport shuttle buses provided by the Congress will leave every hour on Monday, June 25 th and Tuesday, June 26 th until 8:00 p.m. (final departure). To take a taxi, ask a bellboy to hail one; he will take you to the taxi and open the car door for you (a tip is expected). Say to the taxi driver, Al aeropuerto, por favor. There is no need for an address since Mérida has only one airport and every taxi driver knows where it is. Taxi fare to the airport should be no more than $100 pesos ($10 USD). Ground Transportation Shuttles from the airport to the hotel will be available for all Congress attendees and is included in the Congress registration fee. Special Congress buses and/or taxis will be ready upon arrival to take you to the hotel. Depending on the number of attendees arriving at any one time, there may be a minute wait. If you choose to hire a taxi, fares depend on distance to the destination. Fares from the airport to downtown Mérida should be from $50 $60 pesos ($5 6 USD), and to the Hyatt Regency, the fare should be from $ pesos ($8 10 USD). Rental cars are available at the Mérida airport, but it is highly recommended that you make reservations well in advance to reserve a vehicle and determine rental prices and conditions. Car rental companies at the airport include Alamo (tel , , , , Avis (tel , ; Budget (tel , , budgetcarrentalmerida@ grupodc.com.mx; and Executive (tel ; Arrival at the Hotel When you arrive at the Hyatt Regency, you can carry your own luggage or choose to have one of the bellboys help with it (a $2 3 dollar tip is expected). Bellboys and hotel reception staff are fluent in English and are good sources of information for restaurant, nightlife and other entertainment options. The registration desk will be open Noon-7:00 p.m., Thursday, June 21, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the 22 nd and 23 rd, and from 9:00 a.m.-noon on Sunday, the 24 th. Getting around Mérida Mérida is one of the safest cities in México and very tourist-friendly. Public transport are yellow and green buses; charge is $5.00 pesos ($0.50 USD) one way. You can find them on 60 th Street, and all will take you Downtown; they will leave you at 59 th Street, where you can take it on your way back (remember that in Merida, even-numbered streets run perpendicular to odd-numbered streets). The safest parts of the city are Downtown and the neighborhoods in the north. If you are interested in visiting other parts of the city, especially at night, please ask for information at the Congress registration desk or one of the LOC members and a guide can be arranged for you. This is particularly important if you plan to visit the nightclubs and bars along what is called the Periferico. 8

9 IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES Friday, March 23, 2007 % Receipt of all abstracts via the WWW. % ASP Marc Dresden Student Travel Grant and Student Paper Competition applications. Friday, April 27, 2007 Hotel reservations must be made using the Hotel Reservation Form available on the Congress website. ( Friday, May 18, 2007 % Inquiries about scheduling/acceptance of abstracts may be made to the ASP Scientific Program Officer. Friday, May 25, 2007 % Early Meeting Registration forms. Please follow all directions when submitting abstracts and when registering for the meeting and the hotel on-line. GET INVOLVED IN OUR JOINT MEETING! A Call for Volunteers to Chair Paper Sessions If you have never actively participated in one of our annual meetings, but would like to, here is an opportunity to do so. (It might help you secure funding from your administration to come to Mérida.) Please let us know if you are interested in co-chairing one of our scientific sessions of oral presentations. You don t have to be presenting a paper in the session you chair; in fact, it would be better if you weren t presenting and chairing at the same time. Paper sessions will be organized into different 10 areas, listed here. Choose one or two that you would be comfortable chairing and let one of the Scientific Program Officers (Duszynski, eimeria@unm.edu or Flisser, flisser@servidor.unam.mx) know of your desire to participate. And thank you! Biochemistry, Physiology Cell Biology Chemotherapy & Drug Resistance Ecology Genetics & Molecular Biology Host Parasite Interactions Immunology Life Cycles & Epidemiology Taxonomy, Systematics, & Phylogeny Vector Biology ASP/SMP STUDENT AUCTION Yet again, we are asking you to search your attics, basements, out-buildings, or (dare we hope?) coffers or safety deposit boxes for donations to our Annual Auction to raise funds for student travel. Serious, humorous... whatever you come up with... it s all grist for the auction mill and will be much appreciated. You may bring your donation(s) with you to the meeting and turn it/them in for documentation when you register, OR you may send it/them ahead of time to: ASP SMP Auction c/o Dr. Victor M. Vidal Martinez Laboratorio de Parasitologia CINVESTAV-IPN, Unidad Mérida Antigua Carr. a Progreso Kme Cordemex C.P Mérida, Yucatán, México If you send auction items, send them by FedEx, UPS or DHL. Larger items (e.g., paintings) should be identified as gifts and all items mailed should be sent AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to assure they arrive on time. Contributions made by those not planning to attend the meeting also would be greatly appreciated, and may be sent to the above address. We will provide a receipt upon registration or by mail. We will NOT accept donations sent with C.O.D. charges attached. If you have any questions about the auction or about items you may wish to donate, please contact: Dr. Kelli Sapp Ms. Lee Couch High Point University Department of Biology 833 Montlieu Avenue MSC High Point, NC University of New Mexico 336/ / ksapp@highpoint.edu lcouch@unm.edu If you are mailing your donation, please complete the following information and include it in the package: Name: Item(s) (be specific): Estimated Value of each item: (Please don t tell us priceless, though it may well be.) 9