It is time to cast your vote for new members of the National Drosophila Board of Directors. The Board plays an important role in the Drosophila research community, so please take a few moments to learn about the Board and participate in this election. The Board's duties include overseeing community resource centers and addressing other research and resource issues that affect the fly community. The Board also administers the finances for the annual North America Drosophila Research Conference and its associated awards, and it chooses the organizers and the site of the annual meeting. The Board includes 13 regional representatives: 8 from the U.S. and one each from Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia/Oceania, and one representative for primarily undergraduate institutions, all of whom serve 3-year terms. The Board is led by elected officers including President-Elect, President, Past-Presidents and Treasurer. In addition, the Board has ex officio members, including meeting organizers and representatives of the Drosophila community resource centers. For more information about the Board and the summaries of the annual Board meetings see: http://flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase:Fly_Board.

This year we are electing the President-elect, who will serve as President starting after the fly meeting in 2018. We are also electing representatives for the Mountain and New England regions, an international representative for Australia, a representative of Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, and a Treasurer, each of whom will serve 3-year terms starting with the fly meeting in March 2017. If you are a Drosophila researcher, Please participate in this election. This is your opportunity to choose the individuals who will help set priorities and secure support for community resources. In order to record your vote please go to the following URL and follow the instructions on that page.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2017FlyBoardElection

Only scientists who use Drosophila as a research organism are eligible to vote. Please remember you may vote for candidates in ALL categories even though you do not reside in the region represented by the candidates. Balloting will end November 30, 2016.

New This Year : Trainee Representative. We are adding a trainee representative to the Fly Board. The trainee representative should be a PhD student or Post-doc, and will be expected to serve a 2-year term. Interested candidates should self-nominate by sending to Ken Irvine (irvine@waksman.rutgers.edu) 1) a current CV, 2) an ~1-2 page statement describing your qualifications and interest in serving on the fly board, and 3) a letter of recommendation from your current mentor, which must include a statement confirming financial support for your attendance at Fly meetings while serving on the board. The trainee representative will be selected by the elections committee from amongst nominations received by Dec 1^st 2016.

Thank you for your participation in this election. Sincerely,

Drosophila Board Election Committee:
Ken Irvine (Chair)
Helen McNeill
Ela Serpe
Mark Peifer
Justin Kumar