Spring 2005 Newsletter : WPSA Annual Meeting and AGM

For another year we return to the excellent campus facilities of the University of York for the fourth successive year for our Branch Annual Meeting. Attendance at the previous ones is a sure indication of what members feel about the venue and the scope of the meeting. The fact that about one third of members regularly attend the Annual Meeting is a terrific compliment to the Programme Committee and a strong recommendation to those still unsure about joining in. We have a very conveniently situated venue, ideal for our purposes and, once again, we will be joining both BSAS and ISAE, whose annual meetings run concurrently with our own. Last year about 100 delegates registered for the WPSA meeting and we look forward to another successful event in 2005.

The Programme for this year's meeting includes no less than 24 original communications and 37 posters.

The opening session on the first morning will concentrate on nutritional topics and will be followed by a poster review session, allowing a number of the authors briefly to describe their work. After lunch there will be an important WPSA/BSAS Joint Session entitled "The chicken genome and its application to our science" with three excellent invited speakers, and this will be followed after tea by a poultry health session. 

The 2005 Gordon Memorial Lecture will take place at 5pm, when Prof Kirk Klasing of the University of California will discuss "The care and feeding of the immune system of poultry" and this will be followed by the Gordon Memorial Reception. 

Breaking with tradition, the 2005 Annual Dinner will be held outside the University, in the magnificent surroundings of St William's Hall (see below) for which coaches will leave at 7.15. This will be good - don't miss it! 

WPSA (UK Branch) AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Branch will take place at 8.45 am on Wednesday 6 April in Room L001 of the Exhibition Centre. This is a real opportunity for members to contribute their views to the running of the Branch and an important issue this year is the proposal by Council to make changes, one of them quite radical, to the Branch Constitution. A vote on these will be held and members are urged to attend. This year we also have three Council Members to elect or re-elect. You will also be receiving further information on the arrangements for the 28th Poultry Science Symposium to be held in Bristol in September 2005, which is entitled "Avian gut function, health and disease". Please come along to the AGM, early as it is in the morning, and be involved in the running of the Branch.

Final papers and posters

The morning then continues with a further nutrition session and then, after coffee, with an invited paper on egg shell quality. We conclude the Meeting with a session of original communications on a variety of topics and, finally, with the presentation of the President's Prizes (see below). Please give the Programme Committee, under its Chairman Dr Paul Rose, the support which they undoubtedly deserve in putting together another excellent programme.

Addendum
The abstracts from this year's meeting will be published in their own dedicated journal British Poultry Abstracts, a companion publication to British Poultry Science.  All meeting delegates will receive a copy as part of their attendance.