October 17, 2013
Dear Ciliate Research Community,
 It has been my great pleasure to have served as the chair of the inaugural Tetrahymena Research
Advisory Board (TetRA Board) this past two years. The Board has discussed many issues pertinent
to the ciliate research community, including arranging a formal affiliation with the Genetics Society
of America.  As called for in our charter, it is time for re-election of the members of TetRA Board.
Dr. Jeff Kapler will remain on the board as Chair-elect, while the other five seats are up for a vote,
with elected members expected to serve two-year terms.  I write to solicit your nominations of
individuals to fill those five seats.  Please check with the individual before nominating them, as
these are volunteer positions.  The board meets by teleconference for 1-1.5 hours once per
month. Nominations will be open until October 31, 2013.  After confirming all nomination, a ballot
will be sent out to initiate voting during the first week of November.

Please send you nominations to Doug Chalker: [log in to unmask] by October 31, 2013.

Thanks to all the members of the inaugural TetRA Board for their commitment to advancing ciliate
research the past two years.

Doug

I have copied a draft of the TetRA board charter for your information:

Tetrahymena Research Advisory Board or TetRA Board

The Tetrahymena research community is a vibrant collection of scientists that employ this ciliate as
a model system to investigate fundamental mechanisms of molecular and cellular biology,
genetics, ecology and evolution. Recognizing the need for greater integration and communication
to further members’ objectives, the community decided to establish an advisory committee
charged with identifying and promoting specific initiatives that could benefit the community as a
whole.

Election of officers
Six members of the board will be elected by a vote of the greater ciliate research community.
Terms will be 2 years in length.  The vote for the first selection of board members was held in
September 2011 via an on-line survey sent through the ciliate list-serve.  The six nominees that
topped the vote tally formed the inaugural committee. At the first meeting the board members
selected a chair and vice-chair to serve two-year terms, who are charged with setting meeting
agendas and communicating committee actions to the greater research community.  The board
also extended an invitation to a scientist from outside the Tetrahymena community, who joined the
board to offer a different, yet informed perspective.  Prior to selection of a new Board, the current
members will elect a chairperson for the next term.  The chair-elect will committee to serve in that
role for the subsequent two-year term.  All other seats will be up of election.  Current Board
members are eligible to stand for election for the next term.

Inaugural elected board members:
Douglas Chalker, Washington University, Chair 2011-2013
Geoffrey Kapler, Texas A&M, Vice-Chair 2011-2013
Theodore Clark, Cornell University
Robert Coyne, JCVI
Kazufumi Mochizuki, The Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Vienna
Carolyn Price, University of Cincinnati (resigned and replaced by Nicholas Stover in 2012)

Invited member:
Pamela Geyer, University of Iowa

The six elected members and the one invited member represent the official voting body when
issues are considered that require decisive action.  Nevertheless, the committee's discussion of
issues benefit from input from the entire community. Periodically, we will seek input from the
community through surveys or other communications.  Any member of the research community
can contact board members to recommend issues to consider. Representatives from the
Tetrahymena Stock Center, Tetrahymena Genome Database, and elected organizers of the Ciliate
Molecular Biology conference will be considered ex officio members whose advice will be sought
when their activities are relevant to committee actions.


The ex officio members:
Tetrahymena Stock Center
 Theodore Clark

Tetrahymena Genome Database
Nicholas Stover

Paramecium Genome Database
 Linda Sperling

Ciliate Molecular Biology 2013 organizing committee
 Aaron Turkewitz
Kazufumi Mochizuki
Eric Cole

Representative of Ciliate Undergraduate Education
 Emily Wiley


Committee activities
The primary functions of the committee are:
1. To act as advocates for the Tetrahymena research community, promoting community
interests and advising funding agencies of resource needs.
2. To seek out opportunities to increase the visibility of Tetrahymena research by connecting the
community with other scientific communities.
3. To promote enhanced interaction between the research community and central resources,
including the Tetrahymena Stock Center and the Tetrahymena Genome Database.
4. To work with organizers of the Ciliate Molecular Biology Conferences to ensure a successful
bi-annual meeting and explore options for future meeting organization.

Meetings
Meetings are held monthly as conference calls using SKYPE. Currently, meetings are the second
Friday of each month.