The Systematics Association (SystAss for short) is a charitable organisation based in the UK founded in 1937 for the promotion of the study of

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic t ...

and

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

. It publishes research, organises conferences, and provides competitive research funds for systematics research.

History

The society arose from informal meetings held between

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

John Innes Horticultural Institute The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

(Merton) staff, leading to the formation of a joint zoological and botanical "Committee on Systematics in Relation to General Biology" on May 3, 1937. The council then changed the name of the organisation to its present form. The original founding council included:

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthes ...

(Chairman),

Hampton Wildman Parker Hampton Wildman Parker (5 July 1897 – 2 September 1968) was an English zoologist. Parker was Keeper of Zoology at the Natural History Museum from 1947 to 1957. He is the author of several works on snakes and frogs: Parker discovered a new s ...

(Zoological Secretary), and J. S. L. Gilmour (Botanical Secretary).

Functions

It publishes book volumes on a variety of related topics in the ''Systematics Association Special Volume Series'' and a

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

for members called ''The Systematist''. An annual meeting especially for young researchers is usually held in the UK under its auspices as ''The Young Systematists' Forum''.

Structure

Membership of the society is open to all by subscription. The Association's affairs are managed by a Council consisting of officers and members elected at annual general meetings. The officers are a President, a Secretary, a Meetings Secretary, a Grants & Awards Secretary, a Membership Secretary, a Treasurer, the Editor in Chief, a Newsletter Editor, and a Webmaster.

References

{{authority control British biology societies Charities based in the United Kingdom 1937 establishments in the United Kingdom Learned societies of the United Kingdom

History

Functions

Structure

See also

Further reading

References