Membership

At the end of 2001, our membership stood at 244. During the year we have recruited 7 new ordinary members and 10 new student members, and we have received 6 formal resignations. There are a number of outstanding subscriptions, however, and it is worth reiterating the policy adopted as from last year: those members whose subscription is not up to date do not receive the Journal or the Bulletin. Council urges all members to encourage new recruits; the Journal alone, especially in the new enlarged format, represents a significant benefit for all working on molluscs.

Meetings

The Society has held three scientific meetings during the year. The first, alongside the AGM, was a two-day conference on "Freshwater Bivalves" held at Cambridge on 19th and 20th March. This was a very lively and international meeting, of which there is a full account in Bulletin 37 (August, 2001). Thanks are due to David Aldridge and his colleagues for a meeting that attracted a remarkable range of speakers and topics.

The second meeting was the Molluscan Forum, held at the Natural History Museum, London, on 1st November. As in the previous year, this attracted an international gathering of undergraduate and research students, and post-doctoral researchers, and there was a full programme of talks and posters. Standards of presentation were very high, and we should note that many speakers at this forum, and at the previous one, also presented papers at the UNITAS Congress in Vienna last August, as did past Society prize-winners. Several participants at the forum were alerted to it by our publicity at Vienna. More than half the participants made IT-based presentations, and special thanks are due to Alex Ball for handling all the technology, as well as the on-site organisation. A full account of the forum is in Bulletin 38 (February, 2002).

The final meeting of the year, "Molluscs and Climate", was held jointly with the Linnean Society at Burlington House on 17th January. This two-speaker meeting brought malacologists and Quaternary scientists together, considering changes in the European fauna over the Pleistocene and Holocene. A full account is in Bulletin 38. Thanks are due to Richard Preece for arranging this meeting.

Many members attended the UNITAS World Malacological Congress in Vienna (19-26 August), and their collective contribution to the proceedings was considerable. An account of the Congress is in Bulletin 38.

Publications

Journal of Molluscan Studies

This year saw the launch of a new enlarged (216 x 279mm) format for the Journal, with a new cover design that was largely the work of David Reid. We are still having teething problems with the new format, and further changes to font size and layout will be made in 2002 for volume 68. The cover illustration will change each year.

Volume 67 contained 51 papers and research notes, totalling 510 pages. The provenance of the papers (country of first author) is predominantly European, with 45% of papers from continental Europe, 20% from the United Kingdom and Ireland, 14% from the USA and Canada, 8% from South America, 6% from Asia, and 4% each from Australasia and Africa.

The Editor is extremely grateful for the support and efforts of the team of Associate Editors- David Brown, Liz Harper, Peter Mordan, David Reid, and Mikael Thollesson. Their expertise and efficiency have ensured the continuing success and health of the Journal, and it has been a pleasure to work with them over the years.

The Bulletin

The August and February issues were mailed to all paid-up members on time, with 20 and 16 pages respectively. They covered Society meetings, and included news items, and reports on other meetings involving Society members. These included the IOBC (International Organisation for Biological Control) meeting in Lyon, and the Unitas Malacologica Congress in Vienna. Notices of forthcoming meetings were also given.

Thanks to Tony Cook in Coleraine, the Bulletin can be accessed on the Internet via the Society's web site.

The Society Website

The Society's website received 7,500 hits during 2001, an average of c.20 per day.

It now carries details of all the Society's activities, including details of forthcoming meetings. It is updated frequently, and members and others can get details of events in advance of their publication in the Bulletin. Thanks are due to Mark Davies for maintaining and developing the site for us.

The Society's Awards

Details of this year's awards will appear elsewhere. As last year, although Council is delighted with the quality of submissions received, we continue to be concerned about the number of submissions. Unlike awards made by some other Societies, ours are not conditional on membership, and we know from talking to past award -winners that the awards have significantly enhanced their chances of getting appropriate posts or further grants. In particular, we would like to see more entries for the Annual Award; these do not have to be in the form of PhD. theses: any evidence of an outstanding initial contribution to malacology will be considered.

Officers and Council

On behalf of the Society, I should like to thank our retiring Council members, Peter Skelton and Alex Ball, both of whom have served the Society in many and various ways, and, we hope, will continue to do so. Two of our Officers are also retiring.

Mark Davies, the first holder of the post of Membership Secretary, has transformed the administration of our membership data, and passes on to his successor a modern and efficient records system, and a firm policy on the payment of dues. The healthy state of our accounts owes much to his tenacity and sense of fair dealing.

John Taylor is also stepping down as Editor of our Journal, after a seventeen-year period of service. This record is worthy of acknowledgement beyond the scope of a formal report of Council, and will be a matter for separate report in our proceedings. The Journal of Molluscan Studies is now the premier journal in the field; its scope has broadened, and its size increased along with the quantity and quality of submissions.

In difficult times for specialist societies (and, often, for the disciplines they serve), the calibre of Officers is crucial. We have been favoured by a remarkable combination of talent and commitment, and sincere thanks are due to both retiring Officers.

Robert Cameron, President