by Ben Hanelt, Jimmy Bernot, and Kaylee Herzog
Valued ASP members, honored guests, Derek!
Whereas once again the traditional Resolutions Committee is crippled by one of its members serving as President to this Society, we have been elected to serve on the resolutions committee for a second term.
Whereas, our society gathered in the back yard of the internationally renowned Mayo Clinic in the inviting city of Rochester, Minnesota, [on the beautiful Caribbean beaches of Cancun, err… are these last year’s notes?] the banks of the Zumbro River, and held at not one but 2 different Hilton Hotels.
And whereas we all enjoyed the local co-op and not one but two pubs within 500 feet of the conference hotels.
And whereas we appreciated the downtown location, we were amazed by the skyway tunnels connecting almost any 2 points in town, but were often baffled by how to leave the skyway to see the light of day. As Margarat Atwood once wrote: “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze,”…and many of us have stayed inside the maze since arriving on Wednesday.
And whereas the program was assembled into 154 abstracts over a 4-day meeting and accompanied by a logo full of clinical parasites, while leaving just enough gaps to enjoy coffee, popsicles, fried cheese curds, and an endless private soda ((pop)) refrigerator.
And whereas we want to give a special thanks to program officers Herman Eure and Kelli Sapp for their years of selfless dedication to this task…. (standing ovation)
And whereas they will leave extremely large shoes to fill …. we hear John Hawdon has a lot of free time now…
And big feet.
And whereas we extend our gratitude to Bobbi Pritt, Bob Sorensen, and the rest of the local organizing committee for hosting a fantastic and successful meeting which included many new elements such as: an outstanding clinical parasitology workshop, meals with mentors, pallets and parasites, parasite pins, and an extended poster session
-- with beer!
And whereas we learned about different career options and looked to parasites for developmental guidance: from free-swimming trichomonads, to protected cysts, to information absorbing tapeworms, specialized nematodes, and finally developing into a pubic louse
And whereas we recognize the exceptional efforts of Kelly Weinersmith for monumentally amplifying the society’s social media presence, making parasite day a huge success, and providing a new field station we all look forward to visiting… ASP 2023 anyone?
And whereas John Hawdon took home the gold in the second annual Council Meeting Marathon
… (enter Susan)
“Now that I am aware some people don’t know what ‘stymied’ means, I realize they might also not know what ‘solace’ means, so I want to make is clear WHAT it is that I gave John Hawdon:
Solace – NOUN “comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness”
And whereas Matt Bolek set a personal record in length of talk with his stunning Ward Medal lecture.
And whereas we thank the session chairs and a/v volunteers who kept things running smoothly, but learned NOT to let Ash near the projector during talks…
And whereas we commend the high caliber of symposia, lectureships, and speakers on topics as diverse as….
Catfish, lionfish, and sunfish worms; cestodes with unusual sperms
Ordering butterflies from ebay; parasites of the cow-nosed ray
Protozoans in your favorite berry; bedbug diseases that might be scary
Parasitism in three acts; CT scans of testisacs
Malaria and nutrient deficiencies, schistosto-matid UCE’s
Tapeworms from the deep sea MEG, morphology of a monogenean egg
Dissecting a thousand ostracods, finding jobs against all odds
Turtles and their nematodes, photographs of angry toads
Host affecting Nematode spit, worms that make their fish less fit
Mosquitos suck on frogs that sing, many new monsters for Stranger Things
Female flies annoyed by males; FREP and acanths found in snails
Transgenic cow trypanosomes, parasites effect microbiomes
Lots of hosts with myxozoans, turtle eyes monogeans go in
Sticks in water as hairworm traps; helminths of Brazilian bats.
Tegumental rows of spines; creepy worms of different kinds.
For example, we learned about the
Earthworm
Gordian worm
Tapeworm
Skate worm
Eye worm
A database named WoRMS
Hairworm
Flatworm
Cecal worm
Whipworm
Heartworm, and
Hookworm
Enough to make a non-parasitologist’s stomach churn
Whereas we thank outgoing president John Hawdon who’s presidency was a towering success and we are confident knowing the society will be in capable hands of president Julian Hillyer next July
Whereas the auction was record setting, having raised over -----$10,000------ for student travel and included custom comics, prized patronyms, quintessential quits, and Campbell collectibles.
Whereas we loved everything the mayo clinic provided to this meeting, we are excited to see what the ketchup and mustard clinics have to offer
And whereas we look forward to bringing ASP back to the home of its first annual meeting site next year in Kansas City Missouri (seriously…. Check the back of your programs). We know next year’s meeting will be filled with bar-b-que, baseball, and boulevard beer.
Let it be resolved that the 94th annual meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists was a clinical-workshopped, land-locked, art-stocked, bar-hopped, hookworm-rocked, completely-over-the-topped success!
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