Tardigrada Newsletter • Archival News

Archival News (2004-2019)

Date	News

11.08.2019	*Fundraising for a waterbear sculpture* "Want to join me in making a difference? I am raising funds to purchase a large tardigrade waterbear sculpture from a local artist for the front of the Bohart Museum building. This sculpture will advance the museum's educational role and will increase the museum's visibility. Any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me." Lynn Kimsey "I'm working with Lynn to be sure the tardigrade is 'anatomically correct' (maybe not exact, but identifiable) using SEM photos of Echiniscus. (It may have to have very short cirri A so not to pose a liability hazard!" Diane Nelson You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/waterbear-sculpture Sent in by Diane Nelson
01.08.2019	*Special Issue of Diversity* This Special Issue entitled “Tardigrade Taxonomy, Biology, and Ecology” will be a good platform to publish high-quality papers focused on a) tardigrade taxonomy (including integrative approach); b) different aspects of physiology (with special emphasis on cryptobiosis); c) ecology; d) diversity and distribution; e) biogeography; f) population dynamics; g) surviving in extreme conditions. Manuscripts can be either full length manuscripts (including original research as well as reviews) or short communications. Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818 is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal on the science of biodiversity from molecules, genes, populations, and species, to ecosystems. Journal IF is 2.047 (indexed by WoS and Scopus). Publication fee per article: 1200 CHF. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31.12.2019. Guest Editor: Dr. Łukasz Kaczmarek. Sent in by Łukasz Kaczmarek
01.07.2019	*PhD in Tardigrade Reproductive Biology* PhD Title: Sexual selection in tardigrades: sex-(in)dependent mechanisms Duration: January 2020 – December 2023 We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to join our new and enthusiastic research group led by Dr. Sara Calhim, at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). We investigate key themes in reproductive evolutionary biology using a little studied but charismatic group of organisms – tardigrades (a.k.a. water bears). These transparent, microscopic (<1mm), eight-legged animals are well known for their ability to survive extreme stressors in a cryptobiotic (i.e. ametabolic) state. However, they also have incredibly diverse but largely unexplored reproductive biology which makes them the ideal study system to tackle long standing questions in the field of sexual selection and reproductive trait evolution. Sexual selection is an important evolutionary force that acts on traits associated with the ability to access mates and/or fertilizations. It is well established that it can affect both sexes. However, most research uses study systems where the traits under sexual selection differ markedly between the sexes and/or the mechanisms by which they evolve are confounded by different aspects of the species’ biology (e.g. due to marked sexual dimorphism in morphology, behaviour, physiology or life-history. As a result, male and female phenotypes cannot be studied simultaneously or in a biologically relevant comparable way. Tardigrades have little sexual differentiation, short generation time, and tractable (mating) behaviour and development. Therefore, they are ideally suited for researching of sex-(in)dependent mechanisms of sexual selection (i.e. using equivalent measures and experimental protocols). This PhD project will make a valuable contribution to the field beyond increased scientific knowledge, through the development of tools for quantitative assessment chemical signals and parentage assignment in this phylum. Requirements: A Master’s degree in Evolutionary Biology, Ecology or Molecular Biology. Previous experience with handling microscopic organisms and/or using chemical or genomic laboratory and analytical tools are an advantage. The candidate must show considerable written and verbal communication skills in English, independent and creative thinking, and an ability to work collaboratively. The University of Jyväskylä promotes equal opportunities. Apply online (DEADLINE: 31.08.2019) at: https://rekry.saima.fi/certiahome/open_job_view.html?did=5600&jc=12&id=00007607&lang=fi Documents required: - A one-page cover letter where the motivation for applying for the position is outlined and relevant skills are described. The cover letter should clearly identify which project you are applying for (#6 in https://www.jyu.fi/science/en/bioenv/research/doctoral-programme/phd-posts/2020/call) - The cover letter should include the contact information for 1-2 referees. Note that reference letters should be made available at very short-notice request (or included in the application). - Curriculum Vitae (CV) - Degree certificates For more information contact Dr. Sara Calhim Email: sara.calhim@jyu.fi TT: @SaraFirebolt Sent in by Sara Calhim
14.09.2018	*Deadline for manuscript submission to XIV Symposium Proceedings postponed* The submission deadline will be the 1^st November 2018. Please could we remind you that the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society publishes papers on systematic and evolutionary zoology and comparative, functional, and other studies where relevant to these areas. Studies of extinct as well as living animals are included. The ZJLS also has a wide circulation amongst zoologists and although narrowly specialised papers are not excluded, potential authors should bear that readership in mind. A number of presentations at the Symposium based studies on cultured animals, and using laboratory strains for model organisms is becoming a common practice. However, we are discovering that several of the laboratory strains are not the ‘type species’ but are new or separate species. For example, the commercial isogenic culture sold as Hypsibius dujardini (Sciento strain Z151) is now Hypsibius exemplaris (Gąsiorek et al. 2018 Zootaxa 4415: 45–75). In some cases, we have a recognised strain, e.g. Ramazzottius varieornatus strain YOKOZUNA-1 (Horikawa et al. 2008 Astrobiology 8: 549–556). A good practice is to identify the origin of cultured organisms in a manuscript (i.e. commercial or local sample collection) and establishing an authentication reference for a particular strain (e.g. Ramazzottius varieornatus strain YOKOZUNA-1). It is also good practice to provide in the manuscript a GenBank accession number to the DNA barcode sequence (COI or/and ITS-2) for the strain that is the subject of the study. This is especially important if the strain has not yet been taxonomically verified. In such cases, we also strongly advise to explicitly show the taxonomic uncertainty by placing a “cf.” or an “aff.” between the genus and the species names. These actions would allow future researcher to relate studies and identify any changes to the taxonomic nomenclature of that species (e.g. see Table 1 in Kosztyła et al. 2016 Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 178: 765–775). We hereby encourage corresponding authors to send an email immediately to the senior Editor (Nadja Møbjerg) with information on the title, authors, and abstract for each manuscript they would like to submit. This will allow us to identify reviewers in advance and how many manuscripts we are to expect. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Symposium Proceedings Editorial Team. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts for the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society “Special Issue: Tardigrade Symposium”, and we also hope to be able to call on you to help with the reviewing process. With Regards, Symposium Proceedings Editorial Team Nadja Møbjerg: nmobjerg@bio.ku.dk Łukasz Michalczyk: LM@tardigrada.net Sandra McInnes: s.mcinnes@bas.ac.uk
22.08.2018	*Third Annual Meeting on Tardigradology in Japan* The Third Annual Meeting on Tardigradology in Japan will take place on the 9th of September 2018, in the Hiyoshi Campus of the Keio University. The meeting will be chaired by Professor Midori Matsumoto. The meeting will be in Japanese, official website of the meeting (also in Japanese): www.kumamushigakkai.net Sent in by Kazuharu Arakawa
12.08.2018	*PostDoc on Tardigrade Sperm Evolution* A two-year position starting in January 2019 at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, is now open for applications. This project is funded by an Academy of Finland Fellowship to Dr. Sara Calhim. The main objective of this position is to conduct comparative analyses to tackle major reproductive trait evolution questions, by compiling a phylogeny and gathering new and literature-based data on species-specific reproductive (morphological, behavioural) and ecological traits. Contact: sara.calhim@jyu.fi More information: https://rekry.saima.fi/certiahome/open_job_view.html?did=5600&jc=12&id=00006007&lang=fi Deadline: 30.09.2018 Sent in by Sara Calhim
07.08.2018	*København & Kraków* The 14th International Symposium on Tardigrada is now officially closed. The atmosphere was wonderful and the presentations were truly amazing. We would like to thank the Symposium Chair, Nadja Møbjerg, and all other organisers for such a great meeting! :-) Although it is sad that the Symposium is already over and it is now time to write up manuscripts for the Symposium Proceedings, we are happy to let you know that the next tardigrade meeting, the 15th International Symposium on Tardigrada, will be held in Kraków, in August 2021, so make a note in your calendars because we would very much like to see you all again in three years! :-) The TN section devoted to the København Symposium is under construction, but you can already see the Group Photo taken during the conference there - thank you Nadja for sending it to us so quickly :-) Talking about photos, we will be very grateful for any photos taken at the Symposium that we could upload on the TN website. Thus, if you would like to share your photos, please send them to us and we will upload them online (the best way for you to send us your photos is to upload them on a cloud, such as DropBox, and send us a download link or send them to us in a zipped folder via a file transfer service, such as SendSpace or WeTransfer). Once again thank you for København and see you in Kraków in three years! :-D Łukasz Michalczyk
07.07.2018	*Two meiofauna PostDoc positions at Ifremer* Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the Atacama and Kermadec trenches (Scientific Responsables: Daniela Zeppilli/Ifremer, Frank Wenzhöfer/AWI-MPI and Matthias Zabel/MARUM) Ecological connectivity and functional links between hydrothermal active and inactive sites in view of potential SMS mining in the deep sea (Scientific Responsables: Daniela Zeppilli, Lenaick Menot and Lucie Pastor/Ifremer) Details: https://wwz.ifremer.fr/en/Research-Technology/Scientific-strategy/Post-doctoral-research-positions-2018-2019 Deadline for applications: 10.09.2018 Contact: Daniela.Zeppilli@ifremer.fr Sent in by Nigel Marley
20.04.2018	*PhD studentship in tardigrade evolution* Fully funded 4-year PhD studentship in tardigrade evolution at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland) in the team of Dr. Łukasz Michalczyk. The main goal of the project is to test how reproductive mode and cryptobiotic abilities affect dispersal and, in consequence, speciation and extinction rates in tardigrades. Tardigrades are a phylum of microinvertebrates that dwell a wide variety of habitats throughout the globe. They are famous for their cryptobiotic abilities that allow them to withstand extreme conditions and are also thought to aid dispersal of individual species. Moreover, tardigrades exhibit a range of reproductive modes, including dioecy and parthenogenesis. Theory predicts that both asexual reproduction and cryptobiotic survival should increase dispersal potential. On the other hand, differences in dispersal abilities are hypothesised to affect speciation and lineage extinction rates. Thus, tardigrades are an interesting model to address some of the fundamental questions of modern evolutionary biology, biogeography and taxonomy such as mechanism underlying the evolution of biodiversity or evolution of sex. The successful candidate will be involved in fieldwork (sample collection), sample extraction, slide preparation, morphometrics and imaging in light microscope, processing specimens for scanning electron microscope, karyotyping, DNA extraction, amplification and multilocus sequencing (NGS), species identification, and taking care of tardigrade cultures. The student will also analyse data and prepare drafts of manuscripts, and will be involved in the promotion of results at seminars and conferences. The PhD programme in Biology at the Jagiellonian University is run entirely in English and includes some obligatory and facultative classes. The programme is open to all nationalities and there are no tuition fees. Depending on achievements and performance of the successful candidate, the tax-free monthly stipend will vary from 4 000 to 7 000 PLN (typically, cost of life in Kraków for a PhD student is ca. 2 500 PLN). Deadline for applications: 20th May 2018. Detailed information on the project, university, our team and the application procedure is available here: tardigrada.edu.pl/PhD.htm Łukasz Michalczyk
28.03.2018	*XIV International Symposium on Tardigrada - early bird deadline extension* The deadline for early registration and abstracts submission for the 14th International Symposium on Tardigrada will be extended until 20th April 2018 as a number of you have asked for a little more time to prepare abstracts etc. For those of you who are interested in acquiring Irwin Loops for tardigrade collection: Paul Bartels is currently making these – please contact Paul at pbartels@warren-wilson.edu if you are interested in acquiring an Irwin loop and he can bring them with him to the Symposium. Please forward this message to anyone who might be interested. Happy Easter! Best wishes, Sent in by The Local Committee Tardigrada2018
23.03.2018	*A funded PhD studentship in a project on rotifers and tardigrades* University of Plymouth, UK Group of Dr. Chiara Boschetti Please see the following links for further information: https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=96236 https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/student-life/your-studies/research-degrees/postgraduate-research-studentships/extremophiles-in-a-changing-world-the-mechanistic-bases-of-stress-resistance-in-rotifers-and-tardigrades http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BIK462/phd-research-studentship-extremophiles-in-a-changing-world-the-mechanistic-bases-of-stress-resistance-in-rotifers-and-tardigrades Deadline for applications: 06.04.2018 Sent in by Nigel Marley
01.01.2018	*XIV International Symposium on Tardigrada - the Second Announcement!* Dear Colleagues and Friends, We are very pleased to welcome you to the 14th International Symposium on Tardigrada, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 July - 03 August 2018. Information about the Symposium is available at the website: www.tardigrada2018.org Please note that the deadline for Early Registration and Abstract submission is 30 March 2018. Late Registration is open until 1 June 2018. Information about registration and abstract preparation etc. can be found at the Symposium website. We are looking forward to seeing you at the Copenhagen Symposium in 2018! Please forward this message to anyone who might be interested. On behalf of the Organising Committee, Chair of Tardigrada 2018, Nadja Møbjerg
01.01.2018	*Happy New Year!!!* Thank you very much for all the wishes you have been sending us over the holiday period. We also wish you all the best in 2018! :-) We hope to see you all in København this Summer! Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
17.07.2017	*XIV International Symposium on Tardigrada - the First Announcement!* Dear Colleagues and Friends, We are pleased to announce that the 14th International Symposium on Tardigrada will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 July – 3 August 2018. Tardigrade Symposia take place every three years and represent a unique opportunity for researchers, students and other tardigrade enthusiasts from all over the world to get together, discuss and promote research and scientific ideas on all aspects of tardigrade biology. Tardigrade Symposia represent the greatest scientific forum on tardigrades and the 14th International Symposium will provide a good option for an up-to-date perspective on a range of topics related to these enigmatic animals. Please inform your colleagues and students of this opportunity. The official website with detailed information on the Symposium will be available in the Fall. We look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen next summer! On behalf of the Organising Committee, Chair of Tardigrada 2018, Nadja Møbjerg
01.01.2017	*Happy New Year!!!* Thank you very much for all the wishes you have been sending us over the holiday period. We also wish you all the best in the New Year, but most of all - incredible tardigrade discoveries that will amaze the world in 2017! :-) Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
22.11.2016	*XIII Symposium volume published* We are very happy to inform you that the issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society containing selected papers presented at XIII Symposium has been published today. The papers can be downloaded from the journal's website. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
01.01.2016	*Happy New Year!!!* Thank you very much for all the wishes you have been sending us over the holiday period. We also wish you all the best in 2016! :-) Although there are no tardigrade meetings planned for this year, the XIII Symposium volume is to be published in June, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Given that such publications happen only once per three years and they are likely to shape the trends in tardigrade research for the next couple of years, we are looking forward to reading the ZJLS issue dedicated entirely to tardigrades. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
25.09.2015	*Postdoctoral position in Tardigrade Biology* A 2-year postdoctoral position is available in the group of Nadja Møbjerg at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), with start January 2016 or shortly thereafter. The position is part of the project “Advanced Life in Extreme Environments”, funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research. The deadline for application is 01.11.2015. More information on the Københavns Universitet website. Sent in by Nadja Møbjerg
06.09.2015	*XIV International Symposium on Tardigrada -* preliminary information It's been only a couple of months since the XIII Symposium in Modena, but we already have some information on the next Symposium that will be held in København, in 2018. The chief organiser of the Symposium, Nadja Møbjerg, kindly sent us the preliminary dates and the make up of the organising committees (yes, there is more than one this time). You can find all this info in the Symposia section of the Tardigrada Newsletter. Łukasz Michalczyk
13.07.2015	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada - TN section completed* The section devoted to the 13th tardigrade symposium is now open and can be viewed here. Big thanks to the chief organiser of the Symposium, Lorena Rebecchi, who provided the materials necessary for the completion of the section. If any of you who participated in the Symposium, took photos at the event and are willing to share them with the world, please send us an email and will upload them on the website. Currently we have photos kindly provided by Iza Poprawa (Poland), Nigel Marley (UK), Peter Degma (Slovakia), Ralph Schill (Germany), Vladimir Gross (USA). We would like to take this opportunity to thank once again all organisers of the Symposium as well as the participants for this extremely valuable event in our growing tardigrade community! :-) See you in København in 2018! Łukasz Michalczyk
13.06.2015	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada - conference programme* The programme of the XIII Symposium on Tardigrada has been announced. You can view it on the Symposium official website. Sent in by The Organising Committee of the 13th International Symposium on Tardigrada
01.04.2015	*Section for the VIII International Symposium on Tardigrada* The section is now open and can be viewed here. Big thanks to the chief organiser of the Symposium, Reinhardt Kristensen, who provided all the materials necessary for the completion of the section. If any of you who participated in the Symposium, took photos at the event and are willing to share them with the world, please send us an email and will post them on the website. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
05.03.2015	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada -* extended deadline for registration and abstract submission In response to a number of requests, the Organising Committee has decided to extend the deadline for registration with regular fees and the submission of abstracts to the 22.03.2015. Sent in by The Organising Committee of the 13th International Symposium on Tardigrada
21.02.2015	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada - the Third Announcement!* We are pleased to inform you that the Proceedings of the Symposium will be published as a special issue (i.e. one of the 12 normal issues) of the ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY (Impact Factor: 2.658; ISI Journal Citation Reports Ranking: 13/153 - Zoology). The manuscripts from both oral and poster presentations will be considered for publication in the Proceedings. Only registrants to the Symposium will be allowed to submit papers for the Proceedings. Each registered participant can submit one paper as submitting author, but he/she can also be included as co-author in other papers submitted by other registrants. Authors may be requested to make substantial changes to comply with the standards of the ZJLS, and the Guest Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts of poor quality. The Guest Editors will submit final, peer-reviewed manuscripts to the Editor in Chief of the ZJLS, who will take the final decision about the fate of each manuscript (accept, revise, reject). Please note that the ZJLS will not accept alpha taxonomic papers presenting only the description of new species. Further information on publication of the Proceedings, manuscript preparation and submission are available at www.tardigrada2015.it. The deadline for manuscript submission is 18.07.2015. After that date manuscripts will not be accepted. Sent in by The Organising Committee of the 13th International Symposium on Tardigrada
01.02.2015	*A 3D-print tardigrade* EricHo, a designer at the Shapeways 3D print company, has designed and printed a macrobiotid tardigrade. You can buy one here. Sent in by Alyson Lumley
01.01.2015	*Happy 2015!!!* Dear All, We would like to wish you a truly wonderful 2015 full of brilliant tardigrade discoveries! We hope to see you all in Modena this June! Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
25.11.2014	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada - the Second Announcement!* The Organising Committee of the 13th International Symposium on Tardigrada has just announced the official website of the Symposium. The website is in the making, but it already contains a lot of important information such as conference fees and submission deadline. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
01.11.2014	*Tardigrada Newsletter is ten years old! :-)* Dear Friends and Colleagues, It's hard to accept that time flies so fast... Believe it or not, but we're 10 this year! Thank you for being with us for the last decade - you're the reason why we're here. We hope to serve you another ten years and hopefully many more! :-) Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
28.03.2014	*The genome of Hypsibius dujardini sequenced and assembled!* Back in July 2007 we have informed you that there were plans emerging to sequence the genome of Hypsibius dujardini (Doyère, 1840). Finally, after seven years, we are very happy to inform you that the genome of H. dujardini has been sequenced and assembled by a consortium of three labs: Mark Blaxter's group at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), Aziz Aboobaker's group at the Oxford University (England) and Itai Yanai's group at Technion (Israel). Mark told us that he and his colleagues intend to publish a paper on the genome and its analysis in the future, but they are releasing these data now as a service to the tardigrade community. "If there are particular genes you are interested in, please do go and look for them." he says. He also invites collaborators: "If you would like to be part of a genome paper analysis group, do contact me." The genome data are available for browsing and download here. This is a very exciting time in the history of tardigrade research, when water bear genomes are being revealed. Last year, in a paper on DNA repair, Daiki Horikawa and his colleagues have announced that they have sequenced the genome of another parachelan, Ramazzottius varieornatus (however, their data have not been published yet). Also, Ralph Schill's group at the University of Tübingen has been sequencing the genome of an apochelan, Milnesium alpigenum. We hope that these new and important discoveries will enhance our understanding of tardigrade biology and will also stimulate research in all fields of tardigradology. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
25.02.2014	*XIII International Symposium on Tardigrada - the First Announcement!* Dear Colleagues and Friends, We are pleased to inform you that the 13^th International Symposium on Tardigrada will take place in Modena, Italy, from the 23^rd to the 26^th June 2015. Tardigrade Symposia take place every three years and represent unique opportunities for scientific researchers, students and other tardigrade enthusiasts from all over the world to get together and promote scientific exchange and friendship. The International Symposium on Tardigrada is the greatest scientific forum to provide an up-to-date perspective on all topics related to water bear biology. Please inform your colleagues and friends interested in tardigrades about this opportunity. We hope to see you in Modena, thirty years since the 4^th symposium on Tardigrada in 1985. The Organising Committee: Lorena Rebecchi, Roberto Bertolani, Tiziana Altiero, Michele Cesari, Ilaria Giovannini & Roberto Guidetti
14.01.2014	*Call for Comments: Taxonomic Practice and the Code* Doug Yanega (Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside) and Mark Harvey (an ICZN Commissioner) have published a brief note in the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. They inquire: "Are there, or are there not, circumstances - when the opinion of the community is that a work has been produced in a manner incompatible with standards of taxonomic practice and ethics - where names or nomenclatural acts in a work should be treated (as if they had never been published)?" They also ask for comments from taxonomists. Sent in by Sandra McInnes
31.08.2013	*Tardigrades in children's stories* Here are two children's stories featuring tardigrades :-) "Star Bear" and "Magical Creature Kayak" Enjoy! :-) Sent in by Michelle de Villiers and Colleen Mitchell
24.07.2013	*Proceedings of the XII Symposium published* Proceedings of the Porto Symposium have been published today. The entire issue can be downloaded from here. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the Symposium and the guest editors, reviewers and authors who all worked hard to produce this special issue of the Journal of Limnology. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
21.07.2013	*The Wild Little World* A brilliant computer animation starring a macrobiotid tardigrade on YouTube! :-) Łukasz Michalczyk
03.03.2013	*Zootaxa embraces DOI* Zootaxa joined the DOI club this year and the journal would now like to encourage authors to start adding DOI links to references cited in their manuscripts. Zootaxa production staff will check and add DOI's to manuscripts, but with authors' help the publication process will be faster. Sent in by Sandra McInnes
18.01.2013	*Tardigrades on Channel 4* Sent in by Tudur Evans
07.01.2013	Jeanne Renaud-Mornant passed away Dear All, We are very sorry to inform you that another tardigradologist, Professor Jeanne Renaud-Mornant, has passed away in 2012. Jeanne Renaud-Mornant (photo courtesy of Nikolaos Lampadariou, the editor of Psammonalia published by the International Association of Meiobenthologists). Jeanne Renaud-Mornant, a honorary director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, died on the 18.09.2012. She was born in 1925 and began her career working on meiofauna at the Marine Station of Arcachon in 1951. She published over a 100 papers on ultrastructure, taxonomy, phylogeny, ecophysiology, and ecology of interstitial fauna. She was a zoologist with very wide interests and knowledge on many meiofaunal taxa, including tardigrades. Actually, her international impact was mainly due to her contributions to Tardigrada phylogeny. She described or co-described 51 new heterotardigrade species and 20 new higher taxa within the Arthrotardigrada. She was also the first to identify the 'ghost larvae' of the phylum Loricifera erected by Reinhardt Kristensen, a discovery which allowed the Danish scientist to describe 3 types of larval cycles in Tardigrada. Many students, French, Spanish, Tunisian, Polish, Danish, and so on, have acknowledged her help by naming multiple new meiofauna taxa with the family name of Jeanne (e.g. Renaudarctidae and Renaudarctus). Sent in by Roberto Bertolani, based on a tribute in Psammonalia 158 by Guy Boucher & Pierre Lasserre.
01.01.2013	*Happy New Year!!! :-)* We hope that the New Year will bring a multitude of interesting tardigrade discoveries! We wish you and your families all the best in 2013!!! :-) Although this is a time of happy thoughts and wishes, it is impossible not to look back and remember the two of our fellow tardigradologists, Professor Clark W. Beasley and Professor Frank Romano III, who we have lost in 2012. Fortunately, the last year will be also remembered for the XII International Symposium on Tardigrada and the launch of the Tardigrada Register. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
07.09.2012	*Specimen Collections* The section with links to tardigrade collections has been moved to the Tardigrada Register. Given that specimen collections are strictly related to taxonomy, the TR is more suitable for such list. Łukasz Michalczyk
03.09.2012	*VI Symposium section is now open* We wanted to let you know that the section of the TN devoted to the VI Symposium is finished. We invite you to refresh your memories, if you were among the lucky ones who attended that meeting, or discover what was fashionable and on top those days if the Symposium was before you were into tardigrades :-) As usual, we need to thank the Symposium organiser for helping us with preparing the Section. Sandra McInnes was very kind to send us all materials that we needed, including scans of the original booklets and of some photos as well. Without her help, we wouldn't have been able to complete the task. Thus, thank you very much Sandra! Also as usual, we would be grateful for those who attended the VI Symposium to send us scans of photos they may have. We'll be very happy to upload them on the TN. We hope to open the remaining few not yet finished Symposia sections soon. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
19.08.2012	Frank Romano III passed away Dear All, We are very sorry to inform you that another of our colleagues, dr. Frank Romano III, has passed away. Below is an obituary by Professor Diane Nelson. Frank Romano III at his retirement party in May 2012. Dr. Frank A. Romano III, retired chair of the Department of Biology, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, passed away on 17 August 2012 after an extended battle with esophageal cancer. He is survived by his wife Elaine and three grown children. They will have visitation for Frank at KL Brown Funeral Home in Jacksonville on Wednesday, August 22nd at 5:00 PM followed by a memorial service at 6:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the JSU Student Research Fund. Details for donations will be posted on the JSU Biology Web page. Cards can be sent to their home address at 301 Macon Drive SE, Jacksonville, AL 36265. Photos and videos can be viewed on the JSU Biology Web Page (direct links: Friends about Frank, Outdoor Classroom and photos, JSU Biology obituary). A New York native with a PhD from Syracuse University, Frank joined the JSU faculty in 1989 and became chair in 2002. He retired in May 2012, due to his illness. Throughout his career, his professionalism and rapport with his students and colleagues were unparalleled. Among his recent accolades was his selection for the 2010 Meritorious Teaching Award given by the Association of Southeastern Biologists. In honor of his retirement, the “Dr. Frank Romano III Outdoor Classroom” was dedicated at Jacksonville State University. Frank had a unique ability to interest students in pursuing research, especially sharing his fascination and enthusiasm for working with tardigrades. Many of his students earned their Master’s degrees at JSU studying the ecology of limno-terrestrial and marine tardigrades, and several presented their research at our international symposia. One of Frank’s students, Dr. Brent Nichols, who went on to earn his PhD at the University of South Florida under Dr. Jim Garey, played a major role in organising the IX International Symposium on Tardigrada in Tampa, Florida, USA, and served as one of the Guest Editors for the symposium volume published in Hydrobiologia. Frank was the man instrumental in shaping the education and careers of his beloved students. This is what Brent Nichols says about Frank: “You go off to college with an intended agenda aimed at creating the foundation for your future. Then you meet a unique individual that just “gets” it, and somewhere along the way something happens and you realise that, along with thousands of other students, you have had the opportunity to learn from one of the greatest teachers to ever walk the JSU campus. However, there are a select few of us, those who dared to push harder and whose lives were forever changed by that One Man, his dedication and his belief in what we could accomplish. I Am One. Frank is My Teacher, My Mentor and My Colleague. Best of all, Frank is my Friend. I Will Miss My Friend!” Those of you who were fortunate to know Frank from his attendance at our international Symposia were blessed to have a friend and a colleague who shared his enthusiasm for life and tardigrades and his positive outlook, sense of humour, and pride in his Italian heritage. It’s been 20 years since Frank asked me at an ASB meeting to help him and his students study tardigrades. I am privileged to have had such a long friendship with this dedicated man, who has meant so much to so many people. Sent in by Diane Nelson
16.08.2012	*XII Symposium section and photo request* Dear All! Just wanted to let you know that the XII Symposium section in the TN is finished. The only things missing are the Proceedings and your photos. Whereas we'll need to wait for the Proceedings probably until the beginning of the next year, you can send your photographs now :-) If you want to share your photos, please send us an email and we'll let you know what to do next. There are already uploaded photos by Peter Degma and Joao Teixeira (the official Symposium Photographer). Also, there is the picture from the Calem Cellars, kindly scanned by Iza Poprawa. However, we'll be grateful for more! :-) We would like to thank the Symposium Organisers, especially Paulo Fontoura and Cristina Neves, and Joao Teixeira for all the materials and information they provided for the Tardigrada Newsletter. Without their help it wouldn't have been possible to complete the section on the XII Symposium. Thank you very much! Please remember that the deadline for submission of the XII Symposium manuscripts is the 15.10.2012. Please remember also to follow the Journal of Limnology instructions for authors when preparing your paper. Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
05.08.2012	*Tardigrada Register* - a new online service for tardigradologists At the XII Symposium we have presented the Tardigrada Register, a comprehensive data repository for tardigrade taxonomy. Now it's time for the World premiere! :-) We think that variance is vital in taxonomy. Variance in everything that characterises a species, i.e. in its morphology and morphometry, in its genetic makeup and finally in its geographic distribution. Unfortunately, raw data accompanying tardigrade descriptions are only occasionally uploaded on journal's websites (and very often are not freely available). That is why we decided to create a free online service for storing taxonomic data and digitising type series. The web design of the TR mirrors that of the TN, but the two services are independent and fulfil different functions. The TN remains a service that mainly provides latest tardigrade-related news and references, and that also serves as a platform uniting the community of tardigradologists by providing their current directories and keeping the track of our history in the section devoted to tardigrade Symposia. Tardigrada Register, on the other hand, is devoted entirely to data reposition. We invite you to explore the Register, to see how it's organised and how it works. The website is not fully finished yet, but we hope to open all subsections by the end of the year. Importantly however, the heart of the service, the Register itself, is open and ready to store your data (verbal descriptions, images, morphometrics, barcodes, geographic distribution). Moreover, we prepared morphometric Excel templates tailored for several higher taxa, that automatically calculate standard ratios and statistics. Currently, there are only three taxa listed in the Register, but our hope is that from now on all species descriptions and redescriptions will be accompanied with links to specific files in the TR. Also, to set an example, we'll subsequently add raw data for all species that we have described. We hope that the TR will be accepted by the community of tardigradologists and with time it will grow to become a considerable database, which will benefit not only the contemporary but also future researchers. The ultimate goal is that the TR will elevate the standards of the tardigrade taxonomic descriptions and thanks to stored data it will in the future allow more confident species identifications and delineations. Thus, please don't keep the valuable tardigrade data to yourself, but share them with the World and make a difference! :-) Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
05.08.2012	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada* Dear All! We hope you made it home alright :-) We also hope that you enjoyed the Symposium as much as we did! We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Symposium Organisers, especially Paulo Fontoura, for the enormous work they did to make this important event happen! The XII International Symposium on Tardigrada opened on Monday the 23rd July with a presentation dedicated to the memory of Clark Beasley, who passed away soon before the Symposium. The presentation was accompanied with a beautiful Fado song. The Symposium lasted four days (23rd-26th July, with the 26th being the excursion day). In total, 77 tardigradologists from 21 countries and 5 continents have attended the meeting. 36 talks (in 6 sessions) and 40 posters (in a single session) were presented. The topics discussed at the Symposium included taxonomy, phylogeny, morphology, biogeography, ecology, physiology, molecular genetics, genomics and life histories. The closing lecture on Wednesday the 25th wasn't a standard PowerPoint presentation, but a magnificent show by the one and only Diane Nelson. If we manage to get hold of the record, we'll surely upload it online, for everyone interested in tardigrades should be able to see it. We already know that the next Symposium will be held in Modena, Italy. It seems that the the XIV and the XV Symposia have their hosts assigned too. The 2018 meeting is to be held in Denmark and the 2021 conference in Poland (cities yet to be decided). Thanks for everything, especially for the brilliant, family-like atmosphere, and we hope to see you all again at the XIII Symposium in 2015 in Italy! :-) Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
26.06.2012	Clark Beasley passed away Dear All, We are very sorry to inform you that our dear colleague and friend, Professor Clark W. Beasley, has passed away. Clark Beasley at the X Symposium on Tardigrada in Catania, in 2006. Photo by Ralph Schill. Clark was recently taken to the hospital and he informed us that he had to cancel his trip to Porto. However, but his condition did not seem this serious and that is why his death came so unexpected. Clark was a very cheerful and a good person. We have been especially grateful to him for his great support to us and to the Tardigrada Newsletter. He was an author of scientific papers. He described one genus and ten tardigrade species from all over the world. However, he is most known for his brilliant English translation of the monumental "Il Phylum Tardigrada" (1014 pages), which is a must-have for any tardigrade taxonomist. Clark was also the Tardigrada Associate Editor for Zootaxa in years 2004-2010. Zootaxa is one of the largest zoological journals in the World and also the most popular among tardigradologists. As the Zootaxa Editor, Clark accepted over 60 tardigarde papers. We will always remember him, Łukasz & Łukasz
25.06.2012	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada: The meeting programme is now available!* As we informed you last week, the Symposium Programme has now been published. It should be available on the Symposium official website very soon, but the Members of our TN Mailing List received it today already. The Programme looks very exciting and we just cannot wait! :-) The Programme sent in by Cristina Neves
22.06.2012	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada: One month to go!* In exactly one month the majority of World's Tardigradologists will be arriving to Portugal to meet at the XII International Symposium on Tardigrada. In order to celebrate this special event, we enriched the TN logo in the XII Symposium motifs :-) We've been informed that the official Symposium programme will be published very soon, so keep checking the Symposium official website as well as the Tardigrada Newsletter! Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
01.02.2012	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada: Second call for papers!* The second call for papers has been announced by the Organising Committee of the 12th International Symposium on Tardigrada. More info on the Symposium official website: www.tardigrada2012.com. Sent in by: Paulo Fontoura
10.01.2012.	*Vladimir Biserov - in memoriam* A special issue of Invertebrate Zoology dedicated to the late Vladimir Biserov, a Russian tardigradologist, has been published. Papers can be accessed for free from the journal's official website (all papers are also listed in the TN). Łukasz Michalczyk & Łukasz Kaczmarek
31.12.2011.	*Happy New Year!!! :-)* Thank you very much for all the wishes you're sending us. We also would like to wish you all the best in 2012. We hope that the New Year will bring many interesting and groundbreaking tardigrade discoveries :-) We also hope to see you in July in Porto at the XII International Symposium on Tardigrada! Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
25.11.2011	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada: Call for papers!* The organising committee of the 12^th International Symposium on Tardigrada invites you to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations. All topics will be considered, but the abstracts will be reviewed for pertinence and quality of the contribution. Abstracts will not be edited, so the authors are requested to be rigorous to avoid undesirable errors. Abstracts must be submitted electronically (info@tardigrada2012.com) by the 30^th March 2012, in English, and must conform to the guidelines and format of the abstract template model. The submission of an abstract is equivalent to the author's consent for the abstract publication in the Symposium Abstract Booklet. Only abstracts accompanied by the payment for the registration fee will be accepted. Each participant at the symposium may give one or more presentations, but only one manuscript per participant (or two with a collaborator who is also a registrant of the Symposium) will be considered for publication in the proceedings. More info on the Symposium official website: www.tardigrada2012.com. Sent in by: Paulo Fontoura
22.09.2011	*XII International Symposium on Tardigrada: The First Announcement!* We are pleased to invite you to the 12^th International Symposium on Tardigrada, which will take place in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, from the 23^rd to the 26^th of July 2012. Tardigrade Symposia take place every three years and are unique opportunities for tardigrade scientific researchers, students and other tardigrade enthusiasts from all over the world to get together and to promote scientific exchange and friendship. The XII International Symposium on Tardigrada represents the greatest scientific forum to provide an up-to-date perspective on tardigrade biology including taxonomy, biogeography, ecology, genetics, molecular biology, physiology, developmental biology, ethology and other topics. Your attendance at the Symposium will be much appreciated. Please forward this announcement to anyone who might be interested. Further information will be available soon at the official website of the Symposium: www.tardigrada2012.com. Sent in by: Paulo Fontoura
16.08.2011	*A play about tardigrades and tardigradologists! :-)* The play is being put on as part of the Philadelphia Live-Arts/Fringe Festival and is a bit of a spoof on 80's fantasy movies like "Labyrinth" or "Neverending Story" mixed in with a bit of Sci-Fi. Two separate stories unfold - the tardigrades, who live happily on moss until one day they are kidnapped and placed on a spaceship and are being chased by a giant cannibal Milnesium tardigradum who wants to eat them. The other story is that of the tardigradologists - a young upstart who heads the experiment and her former mentor, who has gone mad and lost her thumbs. The official blurb is: Voyage from the cosmic to the microscopic with WATER BEARS IN SPACE Can life exist in the vacuum of space? Are we human without our thumbs? Just what are water bears, and why should we send them to space? A team of puppets, scientists, musicians and dry aquatic invertebrates band together to discover the answers. Join them as they journey from a mossy kingdom to the depths of outer space and the limits of what is necessary for life to exist. The show will be played on the 03., 05., 12., 14. and the 16. of September at Circle of Hope, 1125 South Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia PA 19147. Tickets only $10, available at the door or through the Live Arts and Philly Fringe Box Office, or online at www.livearts-fringe.org The artists promised that after the show they will put up videos on their website: http://www.waterbearsinspace.weebly.com Sent in by: Kennedy
29.04.2011	*Tardigrades in space again* In addition to astronauts, Endeavour will carry a legion of microscopic passengers, including water bears, in the Planetary Society's Shuttle LIFE experiment. The space shuttle launches on its last flight today. Read the full story here. Also, some tardies will be flying on this mission within the Italian project BIOKIS. Update: Due to unfavourable weather conditions the shuttle launch was rescheduled for the 16.05.2011. Sent in by: Jack Fisher
21.04.2011	*Proceedings of the XI Symposium published* Proceedings of the Tubingen Symposium have been published today. The entire issue can be downloaded from here (subscription required). Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
20.03.2011	*Two new additions to the Symposia section* We're very happy to announce two new Symposia sections: the 5^th and the 7^th Symposium section. We're extremely grateful to the organisers of these Symposia, Diane Nelson and Hartmut Greven, for their invaluable help. Without their input it would not had been possible to complete the work on these sections. We hope you'll enjoy these two new additions to the TN and that they will bring back many nice memories to those that were lucky to attend the meetings. Lukasz Michalczyk
01.01.2011	*Happy New Year!!! :-)* Thank you very much for all the wishes you sent to us. We also would like to wish you all the best in 2011. We hope that the New Year will bring many interesting tardiscoveries :-) Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
19.10.2010	*XI Symposium Proceedings in 2011* The publisher of the Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Tardigrada informed that they will be published in January 2011. Sent in by: Ralph Schill
05.03.2010	*The IX Symposium section opened* We're happy to let you know that the section devoted to the IX International Symposium on Tardigrada is now completed. We're extremely grateful to Jim Garey (one of the Symposium organisers) who kindly sent us all the materials we asked for, including also some photos from the conference. We invite you to have a look at the section and also encourage you to email us your pictures from the meeting. We'll then upload them to the online Symposium album. We decided to gather all Symposia photos in one place and we'll be adding new albums when sections for other Symposia are opened. Given that now there's only one picture in the II Symposium album, we'd be grateful for any photos from that conference! Currently there are four Symposia sections completed (the II, IX, X and XI Symposium). This also means that there're still seven to go, but with your help we should have no problems with finishing the task! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk
03.03.2010	*Tardies on TV* A short PlanetopiaTV documentary, apart from water bears starring also Ralph Schill, is available on YouTube :-) Sent in by: Ralph Schill
14.02.2010	*Tardigrada Newsletter Archives extended to the beginning of the XXI century* We decided to add tardigrade references for years 2001-2003, so that the Archives start with the beginning of the current century. Most likely we missed some of the papers, thus if you know of any references not listed in our Archives, please let us know! Lukasz Michalczyk
03.02.2010	*A fluffy tardigrade* A plush doll Hypsibius dujardini is available in the Giant Microbes online store. Sent in by: Bob Goldstein
02.02.2010	*Change in "Zootaxa" tardigrade editorship* Clark Beasley is retiring this year from his university and he also decided to resign from the tardigrade editorship in the international journal of zoological taxonomy "Zootaxa". We would like to thank Clark for his work that he has done for the tardigrade community as the Zootaxa editor. We wish him a lot of fun during his well-deserved retirement, but we also hope his adventure with water bears has not finished yet! :-) The new Editor for Tardigrada is Sandra McInnes. We'd like to wish Sandra a lot of satisfaction from the new job. "Zootaxa" is one of the largest zoological journals in the World and also the most popular among tardigradologists. Since 2001, when the journal was launched, over 17% of all tardigrade papers have been published in its volumes, making it the top journal in tardigrade publishing within the last decade. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
01.01.2010	*Happy New Year!!! :-)* Thank you very much for all the wishes you sent to us. We also would like to wish you all the best in 2010. We hope that the New Year will bring many interesting and groundbreaking tardigrade discoveries :-) As a New Year gift we prepared a new section with tardigrade icons for computer folders. We also created a photo album for the XI Symposium. Peter Degma already kindly uploaded some of his photos (link available here). Please follow his example and upload your pictures too (please email us in order to obtain the password required to upload/delete pictures). Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
01.11.2009	*Our 5^th Birthday :-)* It may be hard to believe, but the time goes by so quickly and the TN celebrates its 5^th birthday today! This is a good occasion to look at some stats for the first five years of TN activity (i.e. 2004-2008): We noted 32 thousand hits. As can be seen from the graph below, the number of visits increased with each year (a slightly better result for 2007/2008 was due to a general increase in interest in tardigrades caused by the publications on the survival of tardigrades after the exposure to the outer space conditions). The total number of tardigrade and tardigrade-related papers published between 2004 and 2008 amounted to 248. The number of papers on Tardigrada did not vary much across the five years (blue bars in 2006 and 2007 represent the IX and X Symposia volumes, respectively): The most popular subjects of tardigrade papers were definitely taxonomy, biogeography/faunistics and ecology: Of all papers, 84% were dedicated entirely to Tardigrada and in the remaining 16% water bears were only a part of larger assays. As much as 93% were research papers whereas only 7% were reviews. Almost all papers were written in English (98%, the remaining 2% were published in German, Italian and Polish). 120 new taxa were described (117 new species and 3 new genera). Of all taxonomic papers, 90% described new taxa and 10% were devoted to redescriptions. Nearly a quarter of all papers were published in 'Zootaxa', making it the most popular journal for tardigradologists in the last five years. Currently the Newsletter consists of eleven sections encompassing 40 pages, whereas in the beginning there were only 6 sections with 13 pages. There are 48 tardigradology experts listed in our Directories, and almost 130 email addresses on our TN Mailing List. Of all listed papers only 42% were sent in by their authors (this includes the Symposia volumes sent in by their editors and papers published by us). Once again we would like to thank you for your cooperation and support. We hope that the TN will survive another five years (and more!). Also, one of our wishes is that more of the TN users not only visit the website, but also send in their papers. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek PS ...and they said we wouldn't last... ;-)
06.10.2009	12^th International Symposium on Tardigrada We were just informed that the next International Symposium on Tardigrada is going to be held in the Summer of 2012 in Vila Nova de Gaia/Porto, Portugal. The conference will be organised by Paulo Fontoura of the Faculty of Sciences University of Porto and with the cooperation of the "Parque Biologico de Gaia". That's all the details that are known for now, but keep checking the TN section devoted to the XII Symposium as it will be updated as new information flows in. Sent in by: Paulo Fontoura
18.08.2009	11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada in the 'Symposia' section of TN We hope everybody who attended the last Symposium in Germany safely returned home. We'd like to thank Ralph O. Schill, Heinz-K Kohler, Hartmut Greven and Karin Hochberg for organising the Symposium! It's always hard work and cannot be underestimated, especially given how rarely the tardigrade meetings are held. No decisions regarding the XII Symposium have been made yet, but as soon as we hear anything on the subject, we'll let you know via the TN Mailing List. For now we'd like to invite you to have a look at the section of TN devoted to the XI Symposium. There're only two things missing there: the proceedings (for which we'll have to wait a bit) and your photographs. Thus, please choose some of your pictures, zip them, upload here and send us the download link. We will then put them all on our website. Last, but not least - big thanks to Ralph who provided materials for the TN section devoted to the Tubingen Symposium! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
26.07.2009	11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - in just one week :-) Surely you're all getting ready and excited about the XI International Symposium on Tardigrada which will open next Sunday in Germany. Unfortunately this time only one of us will be present, but to express our support for this very important to all tardigradologists event, we prepared a special banner with eleven copies of the Symposium logo walking around in the TN banner. We also updated the Symposia section with some information about the II Symposium, including the never-published-before group photo! :-D Have fun in Germany and good luck with your talks and posters! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk
26.05.2009	11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - The final call for abstracts! Please take note that the abstract submission deadline is the 31.05.2009.! You can find the abstract submission procedures, deadlines and further conference information on the Symposium official website (for abstract submission alone your First Name/Last Name is enough). We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium in Germany this Summer! The Organizing Committee: Ralph O. Schill (Universitat Stuttgart), Heinz-R. Kohler (University of Tubingen), Hartmut Greven (University of Dusseldorf), and Karin Hohberg (State Museum of Natural History Gorlitz)
15.04.2009	*SYMPOSIA - a new section of the TN* Given that the tardigrade Symposia are extremely important events in our small community, we decided to devote a separate section of the TN to them. We also thought it'd be good to have a single place in the Net with information on all tardigrade conferences. For today only the X and the XI Symposia have their sites ready, but we'll be working backwards on all other meetings until we reach the I Symposium. Since we are not able to find all the information by ourselves, we'll be asking the organisers for their help. We hope the new section will not only be useful as a source of information on tardigrade papers and the history of tardigradology but that it'll also have some sentimental value :-) We are grateful to all who already did and to those who will help us with building the Symposia section. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
22.03.2009	11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - The Second Announcement To register for the 11th International Symposium on Tardigrada in Tubingen, please use the registration form. You will find the bank account number here. Please transfer the early bird rebate registration fees before the 1st of April 2009. The Organizing Committee: Ralph O. Schill (Universitat Stuttgart), Heinz-R. Kohler (University of Tubingen), Hartmut Greven (University of Dusseldorf), and Karin Hohberg (State Museum of Natural History Gorlitz)
10.03.2009	*New* server A couple of days ago we informed you about the server change. We decided to buy some space on a commercial server in order to be completely independent and to make sure we can keep extending the Newsletter. The server change went quite quickly, with only some minor disturbances and we hope the service will work as it should. The www address remains the same (i.e. www.tardigrada.net) and the only difference is that the logo 'Hosted by UEA' is not visible anymore. The first www address (www.uea.ac.uk/~b444219) is no longer available. Please add the domain @tardigrada.net to your safe-sender list in order to prevent your email system from classifying our emails as spam and deleting them. Just to make sure everyone on the TN Mailing List receives this information, it was sent from both the old (L.Michalczyk@uea.ac.uk) and the new email address (Newsletter@tardigrada.net). Thus, if you received only one instead of two emails, the domain tardigrada.net was rejected by your system. All future emails concerning Tardigrada Newsletter will be sent from the new address only (Newsletter@tardigrada.net). Please note that we also have new email addresses (although the old ones work too): Lukasz Michalczyk: new: LM@tardigrada.net old: agnostic@poczta.fm or: L.Michalczyk@uea.ac.uk Lukasz Kaczmarek: new: LK@tardigrada.net old: kacztar@poczta.fm or: kaczmar@amu.edu.pl Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
08.03.2009	*Server change* We decided to move Tardigrada Newsletter to a new server, thus there may be some problems with the service during the week. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and the move won't cause you any inconveniences. Lukasz Michalczyk
01.03.2009	*Search Tardigrada Newsletter* In order to aid finding the references you're looking for, we added a within-TN Google^TM search engine in the Archives section. Lukasz Michalczyk
28.02.2009	*The* *"Systematics" BioSystEU* 2009 The combined 1st meeting of BioSyst EU, 7th Biennial Conference of the Systematics Association and 11th GfBS-Jahrestagung will be held in Leiden, Netherlands, 10-14 August 2009. Participarting societies include: GfBS - Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik (Germany), NOBIS - Network of Biological Systematics Austria (Austria), SFS - Société Française de Systématique (France), Swiss Systematics Society (Switzerland) and The Systematics Association (UK). Further information is available here. Sent in by: E. F. Smets
09.02.2009	*The 10^th Central European Workshop on Soil Zoology* The Workshop will be held in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, 21-24.04.2009. The first announcement with further information is available here. Sent in by: Karel Tajovsky
12.01.2009	*Tardigrada Checklist* An up-to-date list of all known tardigrade species put together by Peter Degma, Roberto Bertolani and Roberto Guidetti can be downloaded from here (the link is permanently available in section 'Links'). Sent in by: Peter Degma
03.01.2009	*New Year* Hello Everybody!!! We'd like to wish you all the best in 2009 both in professional and private life. We also thank you for all the greetings we received from you recently as well as for all the support we have been receiving throughout the year. The last year was relatively quiet in our small tardigrade world, which was also reflected in a low amount of news published in the Newsletter. The only exception was the report on tardigrades in space which gained a lot of attention and publicity not only in the scientific community but also in popular science media. Even though there have been only 43 papers published in 2008 so far (which is less than 70% compared to 2007) we noted as many as 11 thousand hits on our website (only 7.5 thousand in 2007), which suggests that Tardigrada Newsletter's popularity is slowly, but systematically growing, and that - of course - makes us very happy ;-) Given that this August the XI International Symposium on Tardigrada is being held, you should expect much more activity on our website. Also, we'll be celebrating our 5th birthday in November and we plan to open a new section devoted entirely to tardigrade symposia. We hope to see you all in Germany later this year! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
25.10.2008	11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - The First Announcement We are pleased to announce the 11th International Symposium on Tardigrada to be held in Tubingen, Germany on August 3-6, 2009. This is the only conference focused on tardigrade ecology, taxonomy, biogeography, physiology, developmental biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology and has the potential to attract a stimulating and cohesive group of researchers, from all around the world, who work in these and closely related areas. We thank you for your personal attention and we look forward to giving you more information soon. If you are interested in participating in the Symposium, please use the 'Expression of Interest' form available on the official symposium website. We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium in Germany 2009, The Organizing Committee: Ralph O. Schill (Universitat Stuttgart), Heinz-R. Kohler (University of Tubingen), Hartmut Greven (University of Dusseldorf), and Karin Hohberg (State Museum of Natural History Gorlitz)
01.04.2008	*Archives 2008* The section 'Archives 2008' has been opened today. If you visited the Archives recently you may have noticed the new buttons that we put there to facilitate the navigation in the growing pile of references. Actually, we had to refurbish all the buttons in TN as they seemed to be a bit threadbare. Well, it shouldn't be that surprising since you've been clicking them quite a lot - our hit counter has shown nearly 16 000 visits...! :-) OK, enough of showing off, lets get back to the references... The beginning of 2008 was quite good in the tardigrade paper publishing business: twenty-one papers were added to the Newsletter in the first three months of this year. Even though this number includes eight papers dated for 2007 that have been published with a delay, it is still a very nice number giving hopes for a very fruitful year in tardigrade research! There were as many as 58 papers published in 2007 and despite the fact that 24 of them were published in the X International Symposium volume it is still an impressive result. The number of papers on tardigrades seems to increase slowly, but consistently with each year. There are 31 references listed in Archives 2004, 48 in 2005, 56 in 2006 and 59 in 2007... Please let us know if we overlooked any references from 2007 and, of course, keep sending in references of your brand new papers! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk
10.03.2008	*The First International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology (ICIM-1)* The Congress will be held in Copenhagen (Denmark), 17-21 August 2008. The deadline for abstract submission is the 01.05.2008. For detailed information on the meeting see the official website: www.ICIM-1.dk. Sent in by: Diane Nelson
24.12.2007	*Season's greetings* Thank you for all warm greetings we received from you recently as well as for all the support we receive throughout the year. We also wish you all the best in coming year 2008! :-) Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
02.11.2007	*Tardigrades In Space (TARDIS)* A month ago the first ever tardigrades that were sent into outer space returned to Earth and now they are going to be analysed. The coordinator of the project is Ingemar Jonsson of the Kristianstad University, Sweden. You can find out more about TARDIS on the project's official website. Sent in by: Ingemar Jonsson
01.11.2007	*Our 3^rd birthday! :-)* As usual, we would like to thank you for all the support and wishes you're sending to us. It's been three years that you've been with us. Our hit counter shows nearly 12 000 visits and we plan to open a new section of the Newsletter soon. Thanks again, and we hope you'll keep enjoying Tardigrada Newsletter. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
07.07.2007	*Tardigrade genome to be sequenced!* National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has announced that the tardigrade genome is going to be sequenced. Hypsibius dujardini (Doyere, 1840) was chosen as the first ever tardigrade species which genome will be described. The date and the lab where sequencing will be done is not known yet. You can find the project proposal here. Sent in by: the Bob Goldstein Lab
30.06.2007	*Proceedings of the 10^th* International Symposium on Tardigrada We are glad to inform you that the Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on Tardigrada are available on-line on the web site of the Journal of Limnology. The proceedings contain 24 scientific papers on tardigrade morphology, taxonomy, phylogeny, faunistics, biogeography, ecology and methodology. Traditionally, there's also a photograph of all Symposium participants. The printed version will be available very soon. Sent in by: Lorena Rebecchi & Giovanni Pilato
04.06.2007	*Conference break* The summer has arrived and it's time for a small break. We're going to be away for nearly a month (conferences that need to be attended...) and the next Newsletter update will be in the very end of June. Don't worry, everything that you send us while we're away, will be published (just with a little delay). Talking about conferences - it's been almost a year since we've seen you in Catania! Diane and Jack have recently added their photos to the X Symposium photo album. A good reason to refresh nice memories! :-) Lots of sun, Lukasz Michalczyk
01.04.2007	*Archives 2007* The section 'Archives 2007' has been opened today. The first quarter of 2007 was extremely poor regarding tardigrade papers publishing: only five papers were added to the Newsletter in the first three months of 2007, including four dated for 2006. Hopefully, the rest of 2007 will be more productive, however it will be very hard to beat 2006, in which 55 papers were published! It's a nice number, even though it's overstated by the IX Symposium volume (15 references). Please let us know if we overlooked any references from 2006 and, of course, keep sending your brand new papers as well! :-) Cheers, Lukasz Michalczyk
20.03.2007	*Annual stats summary* It's time for the annual stats summary. Two years ago we introduced the stats system which records the visits to the Tardigrada Newsletter. During the last 365 days we noted 6400 hits which gives 17.5 visits per day on average. This is nearly 8 times more than in the last stats year (837 hits)! Thank you for visiting the web and we hope that the Newsletter will become even more popular in the next stats year. Lukasz Michalczyk
07.01.2007	*A wee improvement* Following a suggestion of one of our users, we have put the date of the last update in the upper part of the most frequently updated pages. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
19.12.2006	*Wishes :-)* Dear All! We would like to wish you all the best in the New Year!!! This is the last update in the Old Year, but the next one will be in the very beginning of 2007. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
01.11.2006	*Our second birthday & the Newsletter extension! :-D* Dear All! Tardigrada Newsletter is two years old! :-) We are very happy to inform you that with each month we note a higher number of hits, which means that the website is more and more popular. For example, during October 2005 only 77 people visited the Newsletter, while during October 2006 we noted nearly ten times more hits (732). On the occasion of the second birthday we have added three new sections to the Newsletter and also enriched the graphics by adding six new background tardigrade photographs. When we started the Newsletter it was thought to be a website mainly for professional tardigradologists, but now we know that the website is visited also by people from outside of our water bear community. For them we created a little section 'Tardigrades' which shortly explains what water bears actually are. The second of the new extensions is the section of 'Mailing lists'. Finally, in the third of the new sections ('Goodies') you will find the Newsletter banners and wallpapers. As always, we are open to your suggestions and offers of cooperation. We would also like to thank you for all the support and interest you have shown during these first two years and we hope that the Newsletter will get much older than that... :-) Lukasz Michalczyk
05.09.2006	!!! NEW MAILING LIST !!! We decided to update our mailing list since many of the addresses seem not to work anymore. We tend to send a few emails per year (usually dealing with the technical issues of the Newsletter). The next group email is planned for the 1st of November 2006, when we are going to inform you about changes in the TN being made on the occasion of the TN's 2nd birthday. THUS, IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM THE TARDIGRADA NEWSLETTER, PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL (YOU DON'T HAVE TO WRITE ANYTHING, YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS SUFFICIENT). The next group email will be sent only to those who provided us with their current email addresses. You can send us an email with your address anytime (there's no deadline) and we'll add it to the list when we receive it. Lukasz Michalczyk
31.08.2006	*"Il Phylum Tardigrada" in English* For a number of years Hartmut Greven and Clark Beasley have discussed having the English translation of Ramazzotti & Maucci’s monograph ("Il Phylum Tardigrada" 1983) published. They are especially concerned that the volume be available to new workers in the future. Having it published by an institution would establish a relatively permanent source for new workers after some of us have retired, and also facilitate copies being deposited in libraries. The problems have been resolved and it is possible to publish the monograph as a supplement to ACTA BIOLOGICA BENRODIS. Only the species descriptions section of the monograph would be included; the general biology section in the first part of the monograph is badly out of date and does not seem to warrant publishing. A minimum of 50 copies (at a cost of $60 each) is needed. It would be valuable if each of us would place a copy in our institutional library, in additional to any personal copies. If you can support this cause and subscribe for one or more copies, please email Hartmut Greven. Don’t forget to specify how many copies you would like to buy. The deadline for this is 01.01.2007. Sent in by: Clark Beasley
08.08.2006	*11^th International Symposium on Tardigrada* The official website of the 11th International Symposium on Tardigrada that is going to be held in Germany in 2009 has been launched. The link to the website is available in the section links. The Symposium will focus on the taxonomy, physiology, genetics and biochemistry of tardigrades. Lukasz Michalczyk
05.08.2006	*Proceedings of the 9^th I*nternational Symposium on Tardigrada Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Tardigrada held in St. Petersburg, Florida in August of 2003 are available for purchase. The cost is $50.00 USD for the volume and $10.00 USD for shipping. Total cost is $60.00 USD. Shipping for orders with multiple copies can be combined. For more information please contact Dr. Brent Nichols. Sent in by: Brent Nichols
01.07.2006	10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada & The Symposium Web Photo Album The 10th International Symposium on Tardigrada is over. It was a very nice Symposium and we are glad we could meet many of you in beautiful and hot Catania. We hope to meet you all again in Germany, in 2009 at the 11th Symposium! :-) For those of who were taking pictures at the Symposium and would like to share them with others we set up a special web photo album. We have already put some of our photos there. If you would like to do the same, please email me for the details/instructions on how to put your photos online. The photo album is open, which means that anyone can view (and also download) the pics and videos (yes, you can publish short movies too). This way not only the Symposium participants will be able to exchange their photos but also guys that couldn't be with us in Italy will have a chance to see what all the fuss was about ;-) Cheers, Lukasz Michalczyk
11.05.2006	10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - *Programme* The programme of the Symposium is now available here. The Organizing Committee: Giovanni Pilato (University of Catania), Roberto Bertolani (University of Modena & R.E., Maria Grazia Binda (University of Catania), Dr. Roberto Guidetti (University of Modena & R.E.), Dr. Oscar Lisi (University of Catania), Professor Lorena Rebecchi (University of Modena & R.E.)
03.04.2006	*Archives 2006* The section 'Archives 2006' has been opened today. It contains articles published in the beginning of 2006 (currently published articles are moved from the 'Recently published' to the 'Archives' after three months). Lukasz Michalczyk
18.03.2006	*Annual stats summary* Exactly a year ago we introduced the stats system which records the visits to the Tardigrada Newsletter. During last 365 days we noted 837 hits which gives 2.2 visits per day on average. Thank you for visiting the web and we hope that the Newsletter will become even more popular in the next stats year. Lukasz Michalczyk
01.03.2006	WWW.TARDIGRADA.NET New address for Tardigrada Newsletter Tardigrada Newsletter has finally got a proper web address (www.tardigrada.net). The old one (http://www.uea.ac.uk/~b444219) is still working, but the new one is surely much easier to remember! :-) Please update your links to the Newsletter. Lukasz Michalczyk
05.01.2006	10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada *- Fourth Announcement* The fourth announcement has been made. The link is available in the section 'Tardigrada links'. The Organizing Committee: Giovanni Pilato (University of Catania), Roberto Bertolani (University of Modena & R.E., Maria Grazia Binda (University of Catania), Dr. Roberto Guidetti (University of Modena & R.E.), Dr. Oscar Lisi (University of Catania), Professor Lorena Rebecchi (University of Modena & R.E.)
05.01.2006	9^th International Symposium on Tardigrada - the symposium volume has been published Chosen papers form the 9th International Symposium on Tardigrada have been published in a special issue of 'Hydrobiologia'. All the references are listed in the 'Recently published' section and here is the link to the whole issue. The symposium volume is dedicated to Nigel Marley. Lukasz Michalczyk
07.12.2005	10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada *- Third Announcement* The third announcement has been made. The information on the registration fees, abstract submissions, deadlines and accommodation in Catania is now available on the 10th International Symposium on Tardigrada official website (link available in the section 'Tardigrada links'). The Organizing Committee: Giovanni Pilato (University of Catania), Roberto Bertolani (University of Modena & R.E., Maria Grazia Binda (University of Catania), Dr. Roberto Guidetti (University of Modena & R.E.), Dr. Oscar Lisi (University of Catania), Professor Lorena Rebecchi (University of Modena & R.E.)
01.11.2005	*The 1^st birthday! :-)* Dear All! Tardigrada Newsletter is one year old! :-) We would like to thank you for all the support and interest you have shown during the first year and we hope that the Newsletter will get much older than that... :-D Keep visiting our website and keep sending references of your papers! Remember that on average TN is updated once a week and we note ca. 50 hits on the web each month. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
01.05.2005	*After six months* Today six months passes since the Tardigrada Newsletter was launched. We would like to thank you for all the interest and support. We hope that the Newsletter will remain helpful to you and also that more people will contribute information to the website. Here are some numbers and statistics: Number of pages in the Tardigrada Newsletter = 18; Number of Tardigradologists who provided their directories = 21; Number of references listed (both in 'Recently published' and in 'Archives') = 45; Updates have been made once a week on average; We have noted one visit per day on average. Today we also start a new section 'Collections' in which we would like to provide addresses and links to Tardigrada Collections in the world. We start with five, but hopefully the number will increase with time. If you would like to provide us with some addresses, we will be happy to put them on the web. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
07.04.2005	*Archives 2005* The section 'Archives 2005' has been opened today. It contains articles published in the beginning of 2005 (currently published articles are moved from the 'Recently published' to the 'Archives' after three months). Lukasz Michalczyk
15.02.2005	10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada *- Second Announcement* All interested in attending the 10th Symposium can download the Pre-Registration form from the Symposium website (link available in the section 'Tardigrada links'). The deadline for pre-registration is 10 April 2005. The Organizing Committee: Giovanni Pilato (University of Catania), Roberto Bertolani (University of Modena & R.E., Maria Grazia Binda (University of Catania), Dr. Roberto Guidetti (University of Modena & R.E.), Dr. Oscar Lisi (University of Catania), Professor Lorena Rebecchi (University of Modena & R.E.)
19.01.2005	*Two week break* I'm going to be away for the next two weeks, so there will be no updates during that time. Of course you are most welcome to send us any info for the Newsletter - it will just be put on the web in the beginning of February. Lukasz Michalczyk
15.01.2005	*The first update in 2005* We start the New Year with a new section: 'Archives'. In the archives you will find the complete list of references for 2004. References from the section 'Recently published' will be moved to the archives after three months, thus after some time in the archives there will be also a full list for 2005 etc. We are also happy to inform that we have added three new persons to the directories, four new papers published in 2004 and the first paper from 2005. Please let us know if we have overlooked any papers in the archives from 2004! Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
17.12.2004	*The last update in 2004...* Dear All!!! We would like to wish you all the best (which includes also lots of fascinating Tardie discoveries, of course!) in the coming New Year!!! :-) This is the last update in the Old Year, but you won't have to wait for another one too long, as it will have place around mid January 2005. We plan to put the complete list of Tardigrada references for 2004 and we would of course appreciate your help - thus, if you have published any papers on Tardigrada in 2004 that are not included in the current list, please let us know. Cheers! Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek
10.12.2004	*10^th International Symposium on Tardigrada* We have just received the information that the next International Symposium on Tardigrada will be held in Catania (Italy), 18-23 June 2006. More information can be found on the Symposium official website (link is available in the section 'Tardigrada Links'). The Organizing Committee: Giovanni Pilato (University of Catania), Roberto Bertolani (University of Modena & R.E., Maria Grazia Binda (University of Catania), Dr. Roberto Guidetti (University of Modena & R.E.), Dr. Oscar Lisi (University of Catania), Professor Lorena Rebecchi (University of Modena & R.E.)
07.12.2004	*After one month...* We are very happy that the Newsletter was warmly welcomed by most of Tardigradologists who wrote to us. After one month we've got eight Tardigradologists directories, references to eight published papers and three which are currently in press. We hope that more of you will provide the addresses and other info to the directories and references (with links) of your papers. We are also open to any suggestions and new ideas. Thanks for your co-operation :-) Lukasz Michalczyk
06.12.2004	*The computer's death* Due to the problems with my computer (= death of the hard drive), the Newsletter wasn't updated for more than a month. I'm sorry for that - the update will be made tomorrow and all the sub pages will be available. Lukasz Michalczyk
01.11.2004	*Tardigrada Newsletter starts! :-)* Today is the first day of the Tardigrada Newsletter existence. The web is not completely finished, but the sections which are currently under construction will be ready soon. We hope that this website will remain alive and will help in your research. We also count on your co-operation and sending us any references of papers that you are publishing or have recently published. Lukasz Michalczyk & Lukasz Kaczmarek