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Colleagues,
I’ve just returned from the SWS mid-year board meeting in San Francisco and would like to get some of this information out to the Chapter members while it’s still fresh in mind. First, those that attended the business meeting in Seattle are probably aware that the cost of operating the SWS has increased significantly during the past several years. Last year the board made some severe budget cuts to reverse this trend but the bottom line is that we need to increase revenues if the Society is to remain in the black past 2010. Therefore we voted to increase dues starting in 2006. I believe the annual cost of the regular membership is going to go up to $100 while student memberships will only increase modestly. I voted for this increase and hope that the membership will support it when it comes up at the business meeting in Charleston.
In other news the SWS has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to increase diversity within the Society by funding minority student travel to the annual meeting. One requirement of the NSF is that the student must present a paper or poster at the conference. As of yet we have only had a couple of applications for these grants. If you know of any students who might be interested in taking advantage of this opportunity see the latest issue of the SWS Bulletin for the details. Also the South Atlantic Chapter will be funding six $500 travel grants for graduate and undergraduate students to attend the national meeting. Go to the Chapter or meeting website for details on how to apply.
The SWS Board has voted to place a student member on the executive board for a period of up to three years. Although at this point, the exact responsibilities of this student board member are not well defined, the individual selected will be a voting member of the board and will have their travel expenses to the meetings picked up to a large degree by the society. This is an excellent opportunity for a student and I encourage anyone interested in wetlands and in the Society to apply. Remember—next year the annual meeting will be held in Australia! If interested contact, Kathy Ewel, the SWS president with some information about yourself and why you would like to be appointed to this post. I’m not sure the process or time frame for appointing this student board member but I sure would like to see it go to a student member of the South Atlantic Chapter!
The Board also passed a draft 2005-2010 Strategic Plan for the Society. WE owe a lot of thanks to Frank Day for his monumental efforts on this project. In the near future the vision, goals and objectives detailed in this plan will be posted on the Chapter web page. I will be assimilating the comments on this plan submitted by South Atlantic Chapter members for presentation to the Executive Committee. The plan should be posted by the end of February and comment summaries will be sent to the Executive Committee around the first week of May. The final plan will then be voted on by the membership at the annual business meeting in Charleston. It’s your Society so get involved with this planning effort!
For those who haven’t kept up on the annual meeting progress visit the web site link. Will Connor and all the volunteers have done an OUSTANDING JOB in putting this meeting together. But as with all endeavors of this size they can still use help. If any of you are interested contact Will and join in the fun.
We are also still accepting abstracts for the estuarine meeting in Pensacola. The new dates for this meeting are March 31-April 2. This was the joint meeting with the South Central Chapter and the Gulf Estuarine Society that got blew off the map by Hurricane Ivan. As of now we have about 90 papers submitted and more than 120 people planning on attending. See the chapter website for details.
As a final note—we will be holding elections for a new Chapter Chair this spring and if any of you are interested in serving the Society let one of the Chapter officers know. Hope to see you all in either Pensacola or Charleston!!
Steve
Miller
Chapter Chair
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