Council Positions
Dr M J Allen began his first year as President of the Society. The following Society Officers were elected: Hon. General Secretary Miss R E Hill, Hon. Treasurer Mr N Light, Hon. Membership Secretary unelected as Dr W Penrice stood down before the election but Mrs R Payne very kindly continued in the role, Hon. Editor (Journal) Dr R Anderson, Hon. Editor (Mollusc World) Mr P Topley, Hon. Marine Recorder unelected as Dr J M Light resigned before the election and Dr S Payne and Dr S Wilkinson very kindly stepped into the role, Hon Non-Marine Recorder Dr A Norris, Hon. Conservation Officer Dr M J Willing, Hon. Programme Secretary Dr S Payne and Hon Webmaster Mr S B Wilkinson. New Ordinary members of Council were: Mr R Boyce, Dr J Fisher and Dr A T Sumner. Mr S Taylor, Dr W Penrice, Mr K Brown and Mrs C J Pain began their second year; and Dr M B Seddon and Prof R A D Cameron began their third year.
Publications
Two issues of the Journal of Conchology (Volume 41: 1-2) and three issues of Mollusc World (Numbers 28-30, March, July and November) were published. The Society’s website www.conchsoc.org provides up-to-date information on the Society’s news and activities and a new facility has now been fully enabled to notify users registered on the Conchological Society's website of news items and updates/changes to events and meetings. Any feedback about the content or organisation of the website is welcome.
Other Council Matters
Four Council meetings were held including a full day meeting in October. Amongst the matters considered by Council were: progress on a land snail identification leaflet for the British Isles; action to support a postgraduate biological recording course threatened with closure and which was subsequently taken over by a different institution; British mollusc reference specimens for the Angela Marmont Centre; filling vacant Society Officer positions; the composition and remit of Society Committees; and enthusing the next generation of conchologists.
Five applications for research grants were received, and grants of £1000 each were awarded to: Anna Holmes for work on the phylogenetics of British saddle oysters and to Paul Chambers on the significance of Calyptraea chinensis as a marker within the Holocene marine transgression of the Normano-Breton Gulf (English Channel) conditional on the applicant raising enough funding elsewhere to provide for enough dates for a secure dating framework for the offshore sequence.
The deaths of the following members or former members were announced at Indoor Meetings: Mrs Dorothy Cooper (former member); Mr Peter Negus, Vice-President and member since 1962; Prof L. Paraense, member since 1962; Mr Robert Pemberton, member since 1969; Mr Donald Pickrell (former member); and Dr Anthony South, member since 1979
I would like to thank all members of Council and Society volunteers for their valuable contributions to Society activities. If anyone would be willing to help in the running of the Society, particularly someone to deal with Sales of back publications, please contact the President or any of the Society Officers.
Rosemary Hill
Hon General Secretary
February 2013