President's Letter - Marge Holland, Winter, 2003

For the next four months our chapter will continue the momentum developed over the last couple of years as we continue to prepare for the 2003 international meeting in New Orleans. Many intriguing Symposia have been organized, a record number of abstracts have been received, and an outstanding social schedule has been orchestrated for the meeting. Lisa Gandy, general chair, and the subcommittee chairs have been working diligently to make this a very successful and memorable meeting! Meeting updates are posted on the SWS website (www.sws.org). If you are interested in helping with any aspect of the meeting, please do contact one of the subcommittee chairs, or contact Lisa directly, and get involved! At the very least, make plans to attend the meeting because it will be a rewarding experience, both professionally and socially.

The South Central Chapter (SCC) held its annual Fall Meeting and workshops October 9-12, 2002 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. I thank Dr. Andy Nyman and his assistants at Louisiana State University for planning and hosting this enjoyable event. One workshop (Ecology, Silviculture, and Management of Bottomland Hardwood Forests) was held Wednesday and Thursday, and was attended by 25 people. The first “Teach the Teachers” workshop, organized and sponsored by the SWS Education and Outreach Committee, was held Thursday; the purpose of this workshop was to instruct teachers in methods to help their students develop entries for the student poster session at the annual meeting in June 2003. On Friday the general meeting began with a program that included four invited speakers who provided various perspectives on mitigation banking. These talks were followed by a general chapter meeting, a field trip, and an evening social. On Friday and Saturday mornings, thirteen students presented results of their research projects in the annual Chapter competition for a stipend of $600 to attend the spring annual International SWS meeting. All presentations were excellent, and Sonja Oswalt of the University of Tennessee was judged the winner of the travel award. Take a look at our chapter web link for a recap of the chapter meeting and also please recognize the many sponsors and volunteers who helped to make the meeting so successful! Also, please make plans now to attend the Fall 2003 meeting, which is slated to be held at The University of Oklahoma Biological Station at Lake Texoma.

As chapter president, I have come to value the dedicated, enthusiastic, energetic, and capable people who handle the affairs of the chapter. I thank Secretary/Treasurer, Rebecca Howard; assistant Secretary/Treasurer Shannon Holbrook; immediate past president, Ron Boustany; president-elect Paul DuBowy; and board members Scott Jecker, Liz Kirkpatrick, Andy Nyman, and Megan LaPeyre for their hard work and commitment to our Chapter. The Chapter has made it a top priority in the past few years to fully develop our chapter weblink on SWS.org. We owe a huge thanks to Darrin Dantin (from the EPA Gulf Breeze Lab) for agreeing to continue as volunteer webmaster for another year. Darrin has done a terrific job of updating the website and maintaining it in a manner where chapter information can be readily found on the site within days of its development. We can now use our website for online election of chapter officers and board members, although we will continue mail-in ballots for the time being. An annual Chapter spring Newsletter is envisioned to give SCC members biographical information on candidates, ballots, and general information for the chapter. Please watch for this Newsletter and vote in our spring election.

Prepared by Marge Holland, President, SWS/ South Central Chapter mholland@olemiss.edu
29 January 2003