We're pleased to welcome Dr. Susan Bandoni Muench to this project.  Some of you may remember Susan's excellent 1990 - 1995 work on allozyme divergence in Biomphalaria with Eric Loker at the University of New Mexico and Peg Mulvey at the Savannah River Ecology Lab.  After several years of unremitting toil in the service of undergraduate education at SUNY Geneseo, she wrote me last week with the good news that she has been awarded a sabbatical.  She reports that she finally feels free to turn her attention back to research.

Susan would like to work on species-level phylogenetic relationships in North American Helisoma.  Excellent choice!  Within that general framework, she has four ideas for a focus:
a)  intraspecific variation in Helisoma trivolvis, which has at least four described subspecies;
b)  relationships among the different shell morphs in H. duryi in Florida;
c)  Carinifex newberryi, because it occurs in an interesting biogeographic region (although she "recognizes that planorbids are generally expected to be biogeographically boring.")
d)  Helisoma campanulata, because she thinks that it might be possible to work from museum specimens.

Which of these four subtopics she actually pursues will be determined by, among other things, the availability of specimens.

This is where the FWGNA group comes in.  I'll bet just about everybody on this list has seen Helisoma around his area.  So if you could help Susan with a collection or two in alcohol, would you please respond to her directly?  Zap her at:
bandoni@geneseo.edu

But I don't think Susan needs anybody to send specimens at this point.  As soon as she sees what resources may be available to her, she'll be able to narrow her focus a bit and get back in touch with us individually, with preservation instructions and shipping address.

Thanks one and all!  And keep in touch,
Rob