Annette Aiello and Don(ald) Windsor at STRI

[James Mallet]

Dear All,

Don Windsor and I go way back. Annette Aiello, too. She informs me she is a life member of the Cambridge Entomological Club, and I believe her because she is meticulous in her scientific work. She did not know of Don's seminar to our club, and would like to be put on the email list. Her email address is: AIE...@si.edu

Do you mind if I tell you a true story (sorry, a little long, but a good one!), and also make a request of the secretary of the Club?   

As a grad student, I applied to work with Bob Silberglied at STRI for a "short-term fellowship" in Panama I had devised on Heliconius hybrid zones. 

Silberglied had previously been an Assistant Prof. at Harvard Biology, and curator of Entomology at the MCZ, but did not get tenure, in those days when Assistant Professors almost never got tenure at Harvard. Silberglied was a member of the Cambridge Ent Club, and published in Psyche, the official journal of the Club (my records show at least twice).

Silberglied's partner, Annette Aiello, I think went with him from Harvard to Panama and worked with him on Anartia butterfly rearing for perhaps the first good study of hybrid sterility between species of butterflies. Annette later asked me to write up the genetics data they had gathered, and eventually, with several students, we did this. As Annette was previously at Harvard, she undoubtedly was also a member of the Cambridge Entomological Club.

While I was eagerly awaiting the decision about my STRI fellowship, at Xmas time, 1981, Silberglied attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington DC. Silberglied was extremely unfortunate, on his way back to Panama, to choose to fly on a particular plane and die in a notorious air crash. The jetliner iced up and unresponsive to aileron controls, crashed into the Potomac Bridge, killing most people on board and, if I remember rightly, many people driving across the bridge also. 

So for me, there was an inexplicable delay in whether I would be admitted as a short term fellowship, as Silberglied's awaited review was never received. For Annette Aiello, waiting in Panama, I think you can imagine that her feelings were much more intense.

In the end, I was told about the disaster, and chose another entomologist, Don Windsor, to be my supervisor/mentor for the short-term fellowship, which was granted. Annette was given a post at STRI, and as she worked exclusively on butterflies, she was also an extremely important mentor for me.

This Panama project, in which I used Bob and Annette's cages in Curundu, a suburb of Panama City, became the foundation for the future direction of my research, and indeed of my career as a whole.

So back to 2020. I wrote to Don Windsor congratulating him on his talk, and also thanking him for picking me up so many years ago. He replied, but copied in Annette. Annette then wrote back asking why she had not heard about the talk, given her life membership of the Club. 

So please put Annette on the email circulation list! Here again is her email address: AIE...@si.edu

Best wishes, Jim

[Rachel Hawkins Sipe]

I was able to add Annette's email to the list, Jim!

Rachel

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[James Mallet]

Thanks!

[Shayla Salzman]

Wonderful story Jim! I still receive the emails but was unable to attend the talk. I am hoping I can get a video recording of it. Of particular interest to me!

Hope you are all well,

Shayla 

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[Kim, Sang Il]

Amazing story indeed. Thank you for sharing, Jim!

Shayla – I will send you a video recording of the meeting. We did talk about beetles feeding on Zamia :)

Best,

Sang

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[Aiello, Annette]

Rachel,

  Thank you.

    Annette

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From: Rachel Hawkins Sipe <rachelh...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2020 8:50 PM
To: Cambridge Entomological Club <cambridge-ento...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: jasm...@gmail.com <jasm...@gmail.com>; Aiello, Annette <AIE...@si.edu>
Subject: Re: [CEC] Annette Aiello and Don(ald) Windsor at STRI

 

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