33rd ANNUAL ORTHOPTERISTS MEETING 7th November 2012

Dear Fellow Orthopterist,

This year we will be meeting at the Natural History Museum, London on Wednesday, 7th November from 14:00 to 20:00. Details of the venue at the museum will be sent out with the draft programme in September.

The meeting will be convened as a special interest group of the Royal Entomological Society and everyone is very welcome to attend whether to present research or just to listen and meet other orthopterists. This year, as last, we are aiming to put together a programme which will have a mixture of presentation lengths. Both initial results and ideas, as well as completed research are welcome. You can offer talks or posters on grasshoppers, crickets and related groups (cockroaches, earwigs, stick insects, mantids).

There will be space to display posters and other exhibits as usual, and computer projector facilities will be provided. To date, we are expecting talks on cockroaches of the genus Ectobius new to Britain, the mobile phone Orthoptera key, the new Orthoptera atlas, and communication in Speckled Bushcrickets (Leptophyes punctatissima).

The copy date for the next issue of the RES magazine Antenna is 31st July and while we realise that this is very short notice, if you know you would like to present something please let us know as soon as possible so details can be included.

The total cost will be £12 per person to cover tea and biscuits during the afternoon and a cold buffet with wine at about 18:00.

We hope that you will be able to attend the meeting. Please see below for registration details.

Yours sincerely,

David Robinson
d.j.robinson@open.ac.uk

Björn Beckmann
orthoptera@ceh.ac.uk

Registration

Please reply providing the following details by 25th October 2012 (talk titles as soon as possible please):

• the title of any talk or poster you would like to give, details of specimens you will bring with you, etc. Please also let us know about any particular display equipment etc. that you require.
• your title, first name, surname, institution (for name badge)
• any special dietary requirements

Payment

£12 to include tea and biscuits and a cold buffet with wine.
either

Send a cheque made payable to the Royal Entomological Society to:
Ms Kirsty Whiteford, Senior Administrator, Royal Entomological Society, The Mansion House, Chiswell Green Lane, St Albans, Herts, AL2 3NS.

Pay by bank transfer:
Royal Entomological Society, sort code 30-97-25, account number 01921533.
Please ensure that you include your name and “Orthoptera SIG” for reference.

Pay by debit or credit card over the phone. Please phone Kirsty on +44 (0)1727 899387.
(Please note that there will be a 2% admin charge payable on all credit cards)
Overseas visitors will probably not be charged or can pay on the day.

Part Time e-taxonomy Support Specialist, Natural History Museum (closing today)

Become part of an expanding team of developers and informaticians working at the cutting edge of information and biodiversity research. The Natural History Museum London is recruiting an e-Taxonomy support specialist (14 month, part time, £16,403 per annum, pro rata equivalent to £27,339) as part of a major effort to help researchers share and manage biodiversity data on the Web.
Key tasks and responsibilities include:

• Run the Scratchpad helpdesk, respond to user queries
• Develop training courses and assist in their delivery
• Maintain the on-line, context-sensitive help system
• Develop a personal Scratchpad on a taxonomic topic

The successful applicant will manage the help system for Scratchpads, be the primary point of contact for user enquiries, assist in the development of user support functions and engage in outreach and promotional activities. As part of this work we encourage the successful applicant to develop a Scratchpad for their own project research using taxonomic content they have acquired through research activities. This post would ideally suit a taxonomist with practical experience managing taxonomic data and an interest in eTaxonomy. This is a part time post equivalent to 3 days per week.
For job specific enquiries contact vince@vsmith.info. For a full job description and to apply online please visit the Natural History Museum website. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs

Absolutely, Positively, Strictly - NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES. Closing date: 9th July 2012

Two new Drupal developer posts (closing today)

Become part of an expanding team of developers working at the cutting edge of information science and biodiversity research. The Natural History Museum London is recruiting two junior/mid-level Drupal developers (18 month contracts, £34,508 per annum plus benefits) as part of a major effort to help researchers share and manage biodiversity data on the Web.
Key tasks and responsibilities include:

• Development and support of Drupal Modules and Themes
• Data parsing and content construction
• Supporting users in the development of their sites
• Interfacing with the user support team

Applicants should be able to work on their own initiative and be proficient in theming, coding, configuring and quality assurance. Mentored training and support will be provided. Successful applicants will work with members of the developer and user communities to manage and parse biodiversity data, in addition to helping with the design, construction and testing of Drupal modules and sites.  The project includes opportunities for international travel as part of the development team.
Applicants should have at least 1-2 years experience in Drupal development (version 6 & 7) with hands on experience configuring Views, CCK and other contributed Drupal modules. This includes working with PHP, MySQL, SQL, XML, HTML and CSS. If you have a profile page on Drupal.org, please make reference to this within your application along with Drupal websites you have developed.

For job specific enquiries contact vince@vsmith.info. For a full job description and to apply online please visit the Natural History Museum website. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs

Absolutely, Positively, Strictly - NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES. Closing date: 9th July 2012