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Business Meeting August 8, 2017

ESA Policy Section Business Meeting: August 8, 2017

** If you have suggestions/thoughts on the following topics discussed at the business meeting please email us at policysection.esa@nullgmail.com! We’d love to hear from you! **

Key Dates:

  • September 22: Deadline for Nominations for Policy Section Officers
  • Mid-September (estimated): Proposals for Symposia, Organized Oral Sessions, and Organized Poster Sessions
  • Early October: Policy Section elections (newly elected members take office immediately – Fall 2017-Summer 2018 term)
  • Early November (estimated): Proposals for Long-Range Planning Grants
  • November 17: Proposals for Ignites, Workshops, Special Sessions, and Field Trips

 

  1. Attendance

Kara Pellowe

Justin Brice

Charlotte Levy

Astrid Caldas

 

  1. Section Update
  • Budget $3,091 ($2651 rollover from last year + $840 this year memberships – $400 student travel award)
  • Members: 168 (as of 6/30/17), up ~ 24 from last year
  • Partnered with the Public Affairs office at ESA to organize happy hours in DC. First one happened in May.
  • The Policy Section also submitted and received a $800 Long Range Planning Grant for 2017, which provides funding for materials to promote the section at the Annual Meeting in Portland. These materials include promotional items, postage for letters/postcards to policy makers, and printed handouts with information on policy opportunities, all of which will be handed out in collaboration with the Mid Atlantic Chapter.
  • The Long Range Planning Grant was also intended to fund a regional mentoring/networking event. At the 2017 Annual Meeting the Policy Section will host a special session titled: “Local Ecology-Policy Connections in the Pacific Northwest and Beyond”.  Here, panelists from the area will facilitate a discussion of how they came to work in the Ecology-Policy nexus, what their jobs entail, and the importance of policy grounded in sound ecological principles. After the panel, in a networking period that is part of the session, panelists will engage session attendees in a discussion about ecological policy.

 

  1. Officer Elections (Solicit nominations for officers, and talk about elections – so far we have one nomination for Chair)
  • All of the section officers are up for election
    • Chair – one year term (Fall 2017 – Fall 2018)
    • Chair-Elect – one year term (Fall 2017 – Fall 2018, becomes chair Fall 2018-2019 when new chair-elect is elected)
    • Secretary – one year term (Fall 2017-Fall 2018)
  • Nominations Due September 22, 2017
  • Serving as a section officer is a great way to get more involved in the section, and all section members are eligible to run for a position, regardless of career stage or length of previous section membership.
  • A full description of officer duties can be found in our section bylaws. If you would like to talk more about the duties of any of these officers, can contact Astrid Caldas (astridcaldas@nullgmail.com).

Section Awards

  • New to the Policy Section this year was a Student Travel Award ($400), which provided funding to students presenting a policy-related poster or talk at the Annual Meeting. This year’s award was given to Kara Pellowe whose talk is titled: “How seasonal variability shapes the social­-ecological resilience of small­-scale fisheries: A case study from Baja California Sur, Mexico”.
  • In 2018 we will again offer ESA travel awards to one undergraduate student and one graduate student.
  • Need to set up an Award Committee to be ready when first abstracts are due in February 2017.

Planning for ESA 2018 in New Orleans, LA

  • Field Trip(s) to visit districts/fisheries would be a great Section event in New Orleans. Idea is to visit areas that are being affected by climate change, sea level rise, and encroachment, with a climate/environmental justice lens.
  • Elected board officials will try to contact a state senator office for support/presence
  • Astrid Caldas will contact Human Rights Network ED Colette Pichon-Battle to try to co-organize climate justice-oriented event.
  • Proposals due mid-November.

Engagement throughout the year

  • Mentorship Program – informally started last year
    • Organize google hangouts (those can lead to subsequent one-on-ones, organic)
  • Increasing online presences: Website, Social Media, and More
    • Website: Determine what type of platform (WordPress?) in order to get a volunteer to update. Opportunity for a webmaster and contributor to esa.org/policy
    • Other content ideas for the website: highlight issues in ecology for policymakers; list of fellowships and deadlines
    • Opportunity to manage or contribute to facebook.com/ESApolicy
      • Provide updates about section activities, alert members to policy-related opportunities within ESA, and post stories about the ecology-policy interface. Contributions appreciated.
  • Newsletter – once every 2 months, will have both asks & gives:
    • Call for volunteers (always!), member contributions, announcements, opportunities
    • List of resources: webinars, google hangouts, other (not organized by us but resources in general)
    • List of fellowships and application deadlines. These will also go on the Policy Section website, or coordinate with ESA for broader coverage.
  • Liaisons from other sections
    • Attend both business meetings, and coordinate with officers of each section, identify opportunities of mutual interest and collaboration (Charlotte Levy will lead, Kara Pellowe will consider being student liaison?)
  • Other opportunities to contribute to conversations about ecology and policy within the Society: collaborate more with Public Affairs office for joint policy info and events list (to be on our newsletter). Webinar on the ecology – policy interface hosted by ESA Public Affairs?
  • We have a hashtag!!! #engagedESA