Dear GRC Members and Colleagues:
Please see the announcement below and attached. The Fourth International Symposium on Ranaviruses (ISR) will be held 7-10 June 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. Preceding the ISR (4-7 June) will be the International
Symposium on Viruses of Lower Vertebrates at the same location. Details can be found at:
http://kabafalvi.wixsite.com/isvlv-2017
In addition to the amazing location, the ISR is promised to be a professionally rewarding and fun experience – filled with three days of professional and student presentations, organized discussions, field
trips, and social interactions. Early registration ends 28 February 2017,
so please register as soon as possible.
All GRC members receive a 20-euro discount. The 2016 Memberships ended 31 December, so most folks need to renew their memberships, which can
be done here.
http://www.ranavirus.org/store/ ($15 USD for students, $30 USD for professionals)
If you want to receive the membership discount on ISR registration, please renew your membership prior to registering.
The GRC Board and its members have been very active over the past 3.5 years --- some accomplishments include:
1) Hosting the First International Course on Ranaviruses
2) Launching the Global Ranavirus Reporting System (GRRS)
3) Publishing the
First Book on Ranaviruses
4) Creating a
Website with Various Resources on Ranaviruses
5) Hosting International Symposia with
Professional Development Workshops.
Regarding the Ranavirus course that was instructed in 2016, there have been several inquiries about offering it again. The GRC Board is having
discussions about this possibility, and if approved, it will probably be in a slightly different format. All lectures from the 2016 course were saved as MP4 videos, so we are considering offering the course online, where the entire content or individual lectures
could be purchased. We’d also like to automate assessment with online testing, and as before, completion certificates would be provided for continuing education training. We will be discussing various options for the course at the 2017 ISR.
Also in 2017, the GRC will hold elections; an announcement for nominations will be forthcoming (in March). Elections will occur for the Associate
Director, Secretary/Treasurer, and each of the regional representatives (North America, South/Central America, Europe/Africa, Asia, and Australia). Here are our bylaws, which describe the role of each position:
http://www.ranavirus.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GRCBylawsFinal-1-8-2015.pdf (see sections 1-4)
Jesse Brunner (current Associate Director) will take over as the GRC Director at the 2017 ISR, and I will move into the Past Director position. Please consider running for a position on the GRC Board!
We look forward to seeing everyone at the first ISR held in Europe!!
All the Best, Matt
Matthew J. Gray, Ph.D., Professor
Director, Global
Ranavirus Consortium
Co-chair, PARC National Disease Task Team
Associate Director, Center for Wildlife Health
University of Tennessee
274 Ellington Plant Sciences Building
Knoxville, TN 37996-4563
865.974.2740 [ofc] [log in to unmask]
865.974.4714 [fax] http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/personnel/mgray.htm
For more information about Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries at UTK,
Please visit http://fwf.ag.utk.edu/ or
call 865.974.7126
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