Autumn 2006 Newsletter : Secretary's File

At the Meeting of the WPSA Federation of European Branches Council held recently at the European Poultry Conference in Verona, The Election of Officers for 2006 – 2010 took place. It is with pleasure that I can report that the UK Branch’s nominees were all elected unopposed. The new European President is Prof Achille Franchini of Italy, Junior President is Dr Michelle Tixier-Boichard of France and the Senior and Junior Vice- Presidents are Dr Yves Nys of France and Dr Paul Hocking (see front page) of the UK and the Secretary/Treasurer is, once again, Prof Colin Whitehead also of the UK. Congratulations to all of these. We look forward to working with them for the next four years.

It is most disappointing that our plea in the WPSA Summer 2006 Newsletter for members to try to recruit a work colleague or contact as a new Branch member has yielded very little response!
However, it is evident below that at least one company is encouraging its staff to join and it is a pleasure to offer a warm welcome to the following new members, who have recently joined the Branch:
Mr Richard Hutchinson, BUT Ltd
Dr Carlo Norci, BUT Ltd
Dr Kenton Hazel, BUT Ltd
Mr Israel Pelumi, Adonai Livestock Centre, Nigeria.
And the following has re-instated his membership:
Mr Martin Shea, BUT Ltd
Regrettably the following member has resigned:
Mr Trevor Bray, Norfolk.
Please may I, once again, encourage members to help to recruit new members. An application form and full payment details are downloadable from the Branch website: www.wpsa-uk.com

Sad times

It is always sad to bring the news of the deaths of members and of old friends, but this time it is particularly sad to write about the loss of no less than four of these:
Dr David Sainsbury sadly died on 24 June after a short illness. A veterinarian of extraordinary talents, he was well known for his work at Cambridge Vet School, as a prolific author, a member of FAWAC and, later FAWC, and as a busy consultant. He was for a very long time a WPSA member and we offer our condolences to his wife and family.
Howard Hellig – another very busy veterinarian and consultant, who worked tirelessly for the poultry industry from his Essex base.
Charlie Wood – broiler pioneer, founder of J P Wood and Sons in Shropshire and an inspiring figure in the early commercial poultry industry.
Des Cole – Managing Editor of Nottingham University Press, who was responsible for the publication of a great many poultry titles.

WPSA UK Branch Summer Vacation Scholarships 2007
Enclosed with this Newsletter are details of next year’s scholarships. Please draw these to the attention of any students who might be eligible and would benefit from the £1000 grant! Also some members will receive a poster to display on a prominent notice board please.

The Amazing Egg
The book of the proceedings of the 3rd International Egg Symposium in Banff in 2004 is now available, edited by Jeong Sim and Hoon Sunwoo, 519 pages, hardback, price CAN$ 90.00 plus CAN$25 for shipping.
See: www.bookstore.ualberta.ca/index.cfm

Proceedings of the 28th Poultry Science Symposium
Unfortunately the publication of the proceedings of the Symposium “Avian gut function, health and disease” held in Bristol last September has been delayed until March 2007 owing to the late submission of review papers.