https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.99.8

Vote now: 2015 Council elections

The Society has three vacancies on the Council of Trustees from July 2015. Trustees are legally responsible for the overall governance, management and policy of The Society, ensuring that the charitable objects for which it has been set up are met. The Trustees are also the Directors of The Society. Following a call for nominations earlier in the year, eight members are standing for election:

• Damian Bailey, University of South Wales
• Guy Smith Bewick, University of Aberdeen
• Jane Cleal, University of Southampton
• Raheela Khan, University of Nottingham
• Anthony Lewis, University of Portsmouth
• Frank Sengpiel, Cardiff University
• Holly Shiels, University of Manchester
• Francis Stephens, University of Nottingham

All candidates have been proposed by five Members or Honorary Members. The candidates’ proposers, supporting statements and instructions to vote can be found at http://bit.ly/councilelec15

All Members and Honorary Members are encouraged to vote for the individuals they wish to fill these vacant roles. You may vote for up to three candidates. Voting closes at noon on Thursday 02 July. Please note Affiliates, Associates and Undergraduates are not eligible to vote.

The Affiliate Representative 2015 elections are also open until Thursday 02 July and all Affiliates are encouraged to vote for the individuals they wish to fill these vacant roles at http://bit.ly/affiliateelec15

Report from the History & Archives Committee (HAC)

HAC is developing new projects aimed to increase the profile of physiology and physiologists. We are planning two seminar-style meetings to be held at Hodgkin Huxley House. One of the outcomes of the First World War was a development in physiological knowledge triggered by the circumstances of that conflict and the weaponry deployed. We are considering themes such as poison gases, fluid replacement after trauma and related areas. Another project seeks to enhance the representation of physiologists on Wikipedia. We aim to host a combined training and writing session with support and advice from those with Wikipedia editing skills and experience. Our routine work continues to add to the growing collection of Oral History interviews. Recent interviewees include Ron Whittam, Lynn Bindman, Andrew Packard, Charles Michel, Tony Angel and Linda Rimmer. An innovation this year was to make pdf versions of selected interviews available on the website (physoc.org/society-history under ‘Other Resources’). The current list of seventeen will continue to grow. Updates about these initiatives will appear on the Society’s website. Members with interests in these specific topics, or others within our remit, are warmly encouraged to email us at history@physoc.org

The squid and its giant nerve fibre

The Society now owns several copies of a DVD of The squid and its giant nerve fibre, a film made in the 1970s at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. It shows how recordings of the action potential and currents were done by Hodgkin, Huxley and colleagues, and other classic experiments on the giant axon in Plymouth over 50 years ago. These DVDs were made recently by the MBA and Wellcome Trust from the one good copy of the original 16mm film found at the British Film Institute. Members interested in borrowing this DVD for teaching should contact The Society at news@physoc.org

Members might also be interested in the book of the Plymouth course Microelectrode Techniques for Cell Physiology. This book is now a downloadable pdf at http://www.mba.ac. uk/microelectrode-techniques-for-cell-physiology/