User:Benbravery/International Society of Zoological Sciences

The International Society of Zoological Sciences (ISZS) unites scholars and educators with national and professional organizations to promote the integrative science of zoology. The society aims to promote the zoological sciences by improving communication between zoologists and zoological organizations; increase the availability of resources required to conduct research; and enhance the coordination and cooperation between different fields of zoology.

History
Zoology, the revolutionary science of Darwin, was among the very first disciplines to build an international organization. Congresses of Zoology started in 1889 on the initiative of the Societe Zoologique de France on the occasion of the International Exposition in Paris. Congresses were then held at regular intervals and attendance increased from congress to congress. From a few tens in Paris and in Moscow to 700 in Budapest in 1927. The London Congress set a target of 1000 and in Washington the number reached 2500. The growing popularity of the Congresses meant the task of the 'Comite Permanent' (the body behind the Congresses) was becoming more difficult.

The Congresses were also growing in complexity, resulting in part because of the emerging specialization of different fields of zoology. In London in 1958 there were eight to nine daily parallel sessions. In Washington an attempt was made to organize symposia instead and there were no less than 29: the problem of unifying subjects became more important than the numbers of participants.

The Washington Congress decided that the Board of the Division of Zoology of the newly founded IUBS, would assume in the future the role of the 'Comite Permanent' and would be responsible for ensuring the continuity of Zoological Congresses. This did not work. There was a bid from New Delhi which was later withdrawn for lack of funds. The new International Congresses of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (ICSEB) took over what in the view of many had been role of the Zoological Congresses.

A gallant effort was made in 1972 by Vaissiere and French colleagues to convene a XVII International Congress of Zoology in Monte Carlo. However, attendance was poor and proceedings were never published. A long hiatus then begun. An international focus became the problem of vanishing species. Instead, what followed in the next two decades was the vanishing of Zoology from the international academic agenda. In a return The names of university departments and research centers were rapidly changed in order to avoid use of the word 'Zoology'.

With the aid of modern communications and technology a reunification of the fractured specialties of zoology became possible. The concept of an integrative zoology, synthesizing data and results ranging from molecular biology to behavior, gained wide acceptance. The XVIII International Congress of Zoology was held in Athens in Greece in August 2000. The symposium program of the Congress presented a cross-zoological picture of the many levels of zoological inquiry, both horizontal and vertical. Attendance in Athens was far from the incommunicable thousands in the last congresses, but was considered by all as an unmitigated success.

Subsequently, the IUBS approved the (re)formation of an international zoological body, the ISZS and an Executive Committee was elected and charged with organizing International Congresses of Zoology and providing a global voice for zoologists.

The Modern ISZS
The ISZS is a membership-centered organization with over 600 individual members and 40 corporate members. Corporate members include national zoological organizations, universities, non-governmental organizations, and academies of science.

The Secretariat of the ISZS is located in Beijing at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science. The ISZS is managed by an Executive Committee of leading zoologists from around the world. They are:

President: Jean-Marc Jallon (France)

Vice Presidents: Zhibin Zhang (China), Abraham S. Haim（Israel）

Executives: Edwin L. Cooper (USA), Rosa Polymeni (Greece), Jürgen Heinze (Germany), Nils Chr. Stenseth (Norway)

Secretary General: Yan Xie (China)

Immediate Past Presidents: John Buckeridge (Australia), Dov Por (Israel)

New International Congresses of Zoology
2000 Athens, Greece

2004 Beijing, China

2008 Paris, France

2012 Haifa, Israel

2016 Osaka, Japan

Integrative Zoology
Integrative Zoology is the official journal of the ISZS and published by Wiley-Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons) and the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is a quarterly, peer-reviewed and multidisciplinary journal publishing original research, reviews, essays and opinion pieces on the zoological sciences. It presents a broad perspective of many levels of zoological inquiry, both horizontal and vertical, aiming to promote cooperation among different specialized fields of zoological sciences. In addition, Integrative Zoology encourages cooperation between zoology and other disciplines including, but not limited to, computer science, social science, ethics, teaching and the built environment.

www.globalzoology.org
The official online portal of the ISZS. This site is currently being redeveloped and will soon feature member contact information, zoological news, funding opportunities, fora and working groups.

International Symposia of Integrative Zoology
Held between Congresses, these Symposia provide a smaller and more intimate avenue for zoological exchange and research networking. They commenced in 2007 and are heavily supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

2006 1st International Symposium of Integrative Zoology

2007 2nd International Symposium of Integrative Zoology

2009 3rd International Symposium of Integrative Zoology: Biological consequences of global change

International Research Programs
The ISZS coordinates and funds a number of multidisciplinary and collaborative research programs. Currently, the society is undertaking an international research program titled 'Biological consequences of global change'.