Welcome from Local Hosts:
Welcome to the 20th biennial congress of the International Society for Human Ethology! We are especially glad to have the congress in Madison since Russ and his wife Susie retired here and Glenn is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin. Please forgive us for our expressions of blatant attachment to this wonderful town.
Thanks to you researchers, we have a full program of outstanding talks and posters. Our keynote speakers are outstanding scholars whose work represents the range of methods and disciplinary perspectives characteristic of human ethology. David Buss is an evolutionary psychologist who has conducted cross-cultural research on mate choice, jealousy, conflict between the sexes, and other topics. Applying observational methods, Heidi Keller analyzes biocultural influences on the development of attachment. Patricia McConnell is an ethologist who investigates dog behavior and training. Toni Ziegler, a neuroendocrinologist, studies paternal hormones in marmosets and tamarins. The work of this array of speakers neatly represents Tinbergen’s four levels of behavioral analysis: ontogeny, proximate mechanisms, comparative analysis, and function.
Planning the congress has been greatly eased by Patti Thompson and Deb Curry of the University’s Pyle Center and their staff, who have been extremely helpful. ISHE also continues to be indebted to the late Owen Aldis, whose bequest has allowed us to provide financial support to student researchers and to stage conventions with more than minimal amenities. We are also grateful to George Mealey for his sponsorship of the Linda Mealey Fund in his daughter’s honor. We are delighted that he will be joining us here to present these awards.
Also deserving mention are the members of the Program Committee, Wulf Schiefenhövel, Chair; Astrid Jütte; John Richer; and Russell Gardner. Maryanne Fisher, Lisa Oberzaucher, Patrick Stewart, Jhanna Rosenberg, and Dan Kruger helped with publicity. Carol Weisfeld served as Advisor to Students. Zeina Hamie designed the T-shirt. We also thank those Madison area artists whose work is on display in the Pyle Center. Lastly, John Richer and the ISHE officers have worked tirelessly to draft a revision of the ISHE constitution, to be proposed at the general assembly on Thursday. This effort should benefit the society for years to come.
The Pyle Center staff, and we ourselves, will be on hand to answer questions or deal with any problems as they arise. The staff can help with planning a tour of other cities and sites in the Midwest.
Although we were warned against mentioning this before people decided to come to Madison, we can now reveal that this city has the largest number of arachnids in the country. But true ethologists should not have been deterred by their presence, and in fact should revel in it.
Enjoy the congress! And if you do, please tell your colleagues about ISHE.
Russell Gardner, Jr.
Glenn Weisfeld