Welcome to the Web page of the Cooper
Ornithological Society
from the COS President:
This is an exciting time to be involved as the Cooper Ornithological Society goes through a number of changes. The Cooper Ornithological Society will begin a new publishing partnership in 2008 with University of California Press to allow enhanced online presence, including early online article publishing, among other benefits. In addition, a new editorial structure for The Condor will be implemented in mid-2008 using a Board of Reviewing Editors. These Reviewing Editors will provide reviews of most of the submitted manuscripts to rival the very top journals of the world for speed of decisions and publication. We also are actively working to integrate students and young professionals (post-doctoral scholars) into these activities, and will even include traineeships in the editorial process. Finally, beginning in 2008, we will hold joint meetings with the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) in alternate years. If you wish to be involved in any aspect of the Society, please contact me or any officer or member of the Board of Directors.
The Cooper Ornithological Society seeks to advance the scientific study of birds and their habitats through its meetings, its sponsorship of symposia and workshops, and its publications. The Condor is one of the premier ornithological journals in the world, and Studies in Avian Biology serves as an outlet for both major monographic works and proceedings of symposia of broad interest to avian biologists. Recent issues of these publications are available to members of the society, libraries that subscribe to the publications, and for purchase. Recent issues of The Condor are also available in electronic format to all members, as well as through libraries/institutions that subscribe to BioOne and to University of California Press beginning in 2008. Archives of The Condor, Studies in Avian Biology, and Pacific Coast Avifauna (the precursor to Studies in Avian Biology) that were published before 2001 are available free of charge through SORA, the Searchable Ornithological Research Archive, that is hosted by to the University of New Mexico Library. Financial support for the archive project was authorized by the Board of Directors of the Cooper Society as a way of providing open access to scientific information about birds to ornithologists and others around the world.
Our annual meetings are fun and a productive time to share ideas and meet other ornithologists. Our next annual meeting will be held as a joint meeting with the AOU and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists from 6-9 August, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. This will be a large, active and exciting meeting! I encourage everyone to attend. Tentatively, the Cooper Ornithological Society will hold its 2009 meeting in Tucson, Arizona in March, 2009, and the following joint meeting with the AOU in March, 2010 in San Diego. The Cooper Ornithological Society actively supports student involvement by providing student travel awards, as well as awards for best presentations. The Board of Directors has recently increased travel funds to support more students (including Latin American students), at annual meetings. To further foster interaction with students, the Cooper Ornithological Society also supports student committees that organize events at annual meetings of interest to students. Students are encouraged to apply for these awards and to participate in the meetings.
If you are not already a member of the Society, I encourage you to join today. Membership offers a number of benefits. These include receipt of The Condor (online and/or print versions) and the Ornithological Newsletter published by OSNA (Ornithological Societies of North America), as well as access to the Society's exchange library where members can obtain copies of articles from a wide variety of hard-to-locate state, regional, and foreign ornithological journals. Membership also makes you eligible for: reduced registration fees at annual meetings, student presentation awards, annual meeting travel support for students, and candidacy for positions as an officer, a member of the Board of Directors, or a member of one of our many committees.
The need for active involvement in ornithology and production of strong science as a basis for the conservation of birds and their habitats is more critical today than ever before. I encourage you to become actively involved in the Cooper Ornithological Society to make your work on behalf of birds as effective as possible.
If you have any questions concerning the Society and its activities, please send me an e-mail (tom.martin@umontana.edu) or give me a call (406-243-5372).
Thomas E. Martin
President
Copyright© 2005 by the Cooper Ornithological Society