2022 Business Meeting Notes

Annual Business Meeting
Sunday, August 21, 2022; 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Local Time
Davenport Grand Maple Ballroom

1. Welcome – 3:35 start time
2. Introduction of Guests – Melissa acknowledged past presidents. Selina Heppell from NAUFWP provided a couple minutes to talk about the organization. Talked about the creation of the MOU, which should establish a partnership with the society. In the future, the organization will be working on housing for students, reduced rates, etc. Will have a booth at the tradeshow.
3. Comments by AFS Officers in attendance
   1. Brian Murphy – Provided comments from Leanne Roulson. The Hutton Summit – all Hutton scholars went to Bozeman. Participants (22 of 30 total) were there for 3 days and got to visit with federal biologists and faculty from Montana State.
      1. Revising of the procedural manual will be occurring in the upcoming year – if you are attached to some form of administration, you will be hearing from Leanne in the coming year.
4. Determination of a Quorum – 35 members
5. Approval of Agenda
   1. Joe Margraff motioned; Steve Lochman seconded. Motion passed
6. Approval of Minutes from 2021 Business Meeting
   1. Kyle motioned; Mark Fincel seconded. Motion passed
7. Treasurer’s Report (Marty Hamel)- No motion needed, but the report was accepted.
8. Division Representative Reports:
   1. No reps were present at the meeting. Melissa talked about a document that the reps Vaskar Nepal and Lisa Eby put together about what we can do if someone from the section passes away. We currently do not have anything in our procedures on how to navigate this. Three options were presented in the document and discussed in the meeting.
   1. Questions:
      1. Can all three options be adopted? It kind of depends on the person and the role that they had in their professional position.
      1. Mark Fincel commented that we do not make a formal document
      1. Christine Moffit – If the awards have no constraints, it would function better.
      1. Selina Heppell – think about what is best for our current awards and then think about what is most valuable to the family of the deceased.  
   1. Northeastern (Randy Jackson)
   1. North Central (Andrew Hafs)
   1. Southern Division (Vaskar Nepal)
   1. Western (Lisa Eby)

IX.       Committee Reports

1. Newsletter (Hadley Boehm and Sara Mueller)
   1. Hadley was not present. Melissa gave the report – Hadley and Sara are working to revitalize the newsletter. The editors wanted us to ask what folks want out of the newsletter.
      1. Kyle Hartman said we should do a survey to gauge what type of information they like
      1. What is being done in the Education scene and how is it impacting me as a student, faculty member, etc.
      1. Kyler, student highlight, early career professional highlight – interviews/bios
      1. Innovation corner
      1. Jeff Jolley – subunit updates are good (doesn’t have to be all inclusive)
      1. Chapter newsletter info can be inserted
      1. Education content across all the levels of AFS

• Web Page (Bryan Minihan)
  • No report

• Excellence in Fisheries Education Award (Dan Hayes)
  • Dan – not present
    • It is a society level award administered by AFS. This year’s winner is Dr. Derek Ogle.
    • New award – early career excellence in fish education. This was administered by the Education Section.
      • The winner (Josh Perkin) was not able to attend. Melissa read part of the award nomination.  
• Skinner Award (John Hargrove)
  • There were 6 professionals that reviewed applications. Only had 17 applicants from 14 universities and 2 different countries. The 10 winners and 5 honorable mentions were announced.
  • There was discussion about the merits of the award. Joe Margraff said he doesn’t like to nominate students who have the means to go, but then several people indicated that the award is more than just travel. The Skinner Award is merit based and encourages participation with AFS.

• Best Student Paper-Poster 2021 Awardees (Dan Shoup, Kyle Hartman, and Marty Hamel)
  • Information on previous winners were announced.
• Best Student Paper-Poster 2022 Symposia (Dan Shoup, Kyle Hartman, and Marty Hamel)
  • Talked about the number of applicants for this year’s award.
  • Melissa talked about the new format how it has gone virtually so that students can also participate at the meeting in whatever symposium they choose. The competition has run this way since 2020, and the number of applicants remains low.  Additional work to promote the award and application process were discussed.
• Early Career Professional Awardees (Dan Weaver, Mike Lawrence)
  • No report, not present.
• Membership & Early Career Professional Committee (Dan Weaver, Mike Lawrence)
  • No report, not present
• Undergraduate Travel Award (Mike Lawrence)
  • Not present, but Cortney Brown presented a report. She told us that the committee awarded 4 students for the Undergraduate Travel Award.
• Nominating (Trent Sutton)
  • Northeast and North Central division reps will be rotating off. NE will be filled by Joe Last name? and NCD will be Vaskar Nepal; therefore, SD will be filled by Hank Hershey.
  • Next year, will be looking for Western division and NCD reps.
  • For the executive committee, Trent will be rotating off this next year and Marty will roll into president. Will need new president-elect and secretary/treasurer nominees.
• Experiential Learning Committee (Amanda Rosenberger, Allison Coulter)
  • Not present – Ad hoc committee formed a few years ago. Previous committee members were tasked to write an article about internship experiences in Fisheries. They submitted it and got comments back, but then got stalled out. Allison and Amanda are currently revising the manuscript to be resubmitted.
• Education Section Sponsored Webinar Series (Kiah Wright, Andrew Carlson)
  • Not present – A few years ago, they surveyed to gauge interest in topics for Education Sponsored webinars. Kiah and Andrew revisited the topics to see what seminars haven’t been addressed yet. If you have any suggestions for seminar topics, email the committee chairs.
• AFS Student Writing Contest (Trent Sutton)
  • Opportunity for undergrad and grad students to write 700 words describing their research. Applications are in the spring. No submission this year, despite several people writing to ask questions about the contest. Need to think about some new ways to market/communicate the opportunity.
    • Questions/comments:
      • This opportunity could be paired with the Science and Communication section.
      • Does the writing have to be about the research? Expand about their education experience as a student. Maybe get more interesting essays and more participants.
      • What is the purpose of the award? Is it to reward writing, or communication of our research?
      • Is this advertised on social media? It has not because we haven’t had a strong social media presence (from the Ed Section).
      • The Section should do additional outreach to the academic advisors. Also, we could increase communication with the student subunits to get this information out.
      • We need to do a better job of active recruiting. Can’t rely on post and pray.

X.         Additional Reports

1. Student Subsection (Mike Lawrence)
   1. Cortney Brown – had a symposium at AFS but had to be cancelled. They supported some of the Western Division efforts to organize the student events. Victor (recipient of the undergraduate travel award) – been working with him to start a chapter in Nigeria. President will be stepping down and Taylor will be the incoming president. Have been trying to advertise these events with their social media channels – and more of that in the future.
2. Social Media (Amanda Bevans, Amber Staples, and Macey Rowan)
   1. Melissa mentioned earlier that they are developing a plan as part of the communications team to get our word out about opportunities, updates, etc.
3. Out-going Division Representatives and Officers (Trent Sutton, Melissa Wuellner)
   1. Trent already talked about who’s terms are expiring.
4. President Comments and new Division Representatives Installment (Melissa Wuellner)
   1. Melissa provided her plan of work last year and talked about how we have been making good strides. Melissa talked about our good financial state and how it is important to keep the progress going. Talked about the potential for growth in recruiting students.

XVI.     Funding Requests

1. Update on IFMNA4 (Mike Quist)
   1. No funding requests from this year
   1. Mike Quist – update from last year. Foresee some big changes in this edition. They have identified a steering committee made up of Ed and Fish Management section member, academics, and state employees. Have done a survey to decipher topics – had about 250 responses. This fall, come up with a structure for the book (identify authors). Have outlines by summer/spring. Next year, drafts done, revisions. Funds from the Ed. Section will be going to graphic artists. Different price points for students vs. professionals.

XVII.   Other Business

1. Discussion of Education Section Financial Information and Planning
   1. Marty Hamel provided an update on the financial status of the Section. Talked about investment strategies and financial planning for the future. 0
2. Posthumous Honoring Policies
   1. See above
3. AFS Student Recruitment/Support Inventory

XVIII.  Adjournment

            Adjourned at 5:35 PM