<font face="times new roman" size="3"><p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;">Dear Natural History Colleagues,</span></p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;">SPNHC is very excited about the following announcement for the 2018 SPNHC meeting, jointly held with TDWG in Dunedin, New Zealand from 25 August to 1 September 2018. Please be sure to remember these Key Dates:</span></p>
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<li style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;"> Call for abstracts, workshops, posters etc. for SPNHC will begin Wednesday, 20 December 2017</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;"> Deadline for all abstracts and travel grant submissions is close of business, your local time, Monday 12 March 2018</span></li>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;">I am also reaching out to remind you of the current ongoing Fundraising Drive to support the SPNHC Travel Grants program, which assists members with the costs of attending the Society’s annual meetings. With increased financial support, we will be able to award substantially more grants to more members, especially for the 2018 meeting</span></p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: #44546a;">You can donate by going to <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__spnhcnews.wordpress.com_2017_10_19_the-2Dtravel-2Dgrant-2Dprogram-2Dneeds-2Dyour-2Dhelp&d=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=gVbCijfDW7uYsec9_XEICJPoXAXgPHSM2565rsmAl84&s=AWRJ_3c7eMGBieL_dCW0TIPOK7hGc3e2msSmIBO8PFI&e=">https://spnhcnews.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/the-travel-grant-program-needs-your-help</a>, clicking the Donate button, and filling in the amount that you wish to donate. You can also donate when renewing your membership, so please remember SPNHC in your tax-deductible charitable gift donations for 2017!</span></p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">On behalf of SPNHC, we wish you the best for this wonderful Holiday Season, and look forward to an exciting New Year!</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em>Linda S. Ford, Ph.D.</em></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em>President, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections</em></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><em>Director, Collections Operations, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University</em></p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">NEW ZEALAND MEETINGS ANNOUNCMENT</p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The local organizing committee, a partnership between the Otago Museum and the University of Otago, is honored to host the 33rd annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, August 25 – September 1, 2018. For the first time the meeting will be held in the Southern Hemisphere in Dunedin, New Zealand. It will also be the first time that the meeting will be jointly held with the Biodiversity Information Standards community, TDWG.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">TDWG was formed to establish international collaboration among biological database projects and promote the wider and more effective dissemination of information about the World's heritage of biological organisms for the benefit of the world at large. Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) now focuses on the development of standards for the exchange of biological/biodiversity data.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The theme of the meeting is <strong>“Collections and Data in an Uncertain World”</strong> and we hope to explore strategies and practices that may mitigate risks to both the physical collections and the data derived from them. We invite both TDWG and SPNHC members to submit proposals for workshops and symposia, which can be organized around already established themes or emerging topics of interest. Priority will be given to proposals addressing this year’s theme and cross-cutting the goals and activities of both SPNHC and TDWG. Symposia are typically a series of talks (this year, 10 or 20 minutes in length in 80 minute sessions) and may culminate in a discussion. Workshops may have formal presentations but typically encourage more active engagement through training activities or facilitating a consensus around a key issue.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">SPNHC members may also submit proposals for abstracts and posters etc.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>Key Dates and Deadlines</strong></p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;">
<li style="tab-stops: list .5in;">The call for abstracts, workshops, posters etc. for SPNHC will begin Wednesday 20 December 2017</li>
<li style="tab-stops: list .5in;">The deadline for all abstracts and travel grant submissions is close of business, your local time, Monday 12 March 2018</li>
<li style="tab-stops: list .5in;">Speakers and travel grant recipients will be notified by 2 April 2018</li>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Please <strong>submit your proposals </strong>via the conference website: <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__spnhc-2Dtdwg2018.nz_abstract-2Dsubmission_&d=DwMFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=FVKOEghoXGQPzBlbBPGikWOjbQSQjv4ojKX_fCCWRDI&s=5NTFNfXRNq4Zjs-2z2xqx_n1iU8DAKFwmmulOVfWohM&e=">http://spnhc-tdwg2018.nz/abstract-submission/</a></p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">SPNHC will be awarding <strong>Christine Allen, Jean de Mouthe, </strong>and<strong> Fitzgerald Travel grants</strong> for the 2018 meeting. Please find eligibility requirements and application instructions on the SPNHC 2018 website:<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__spnhc-2Dtdwg2018.nz_&d=DwMFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=FVKOEghoXGQPzBlbBPGikWOjbQSQjv4ojKX_fCCWRDI&s=a7IQjXf9Hjetv5dJpoj8A8C1cVCNqAZ2yjVIOeEMqXY&e="> spnhc-tdwg2018.nz</a>. Please note that successful recipients are paid in US dollars by check or via PayPal.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The <strong>deadline </strong>for abstract and travel grant application submissions is your local time, <strong>12 March 2018</strong>.</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">See you in Dunedin</p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Robert Morris, Local Organizing Committee Chair</p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Shelley James, TDWG Program Co-Chair</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>Robert Morris </strong></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>Director, Collections, Research</strong></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>& Education</strong></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>Otago Museum</strong></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">419 Great King Street, Dunedin 9016,</p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;">New Zealand</p>
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<p style="margin:0;padding:0;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: #44546a; background: white;">SPNHC.TDWG Joint Conference<br /> 25 August to 1 September</span></strong></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) and the Taxonomic Database Working Group (TDWG)</span></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;font-family: times new roman; font-size: 12pt; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">More info: </span><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__spnhc-2Dtdwg2018.nz_&d=DwMFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=FVKOEghoXGQPzBlbBPGikWOjbQSQjv4ojKX_fCCWRDI&s=a7IQjXf9Hjetv5dJpoj8A8C1cVCNqAZ2yjVIOeEMqXY&e="><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://spnhc-tdwg2018.nz/</span></a></p>
<p style="margin:0;padding:0;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: #333333; background: white;"><br /> #</span><strong><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: #44546a; background: white;">SPNHC2018 #TDWG2018</span></strong></p>
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