Minutes of the Meeting of the Southeastern Chapter of the Ecological Society of America, April 12, 2002 at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

The meeting was called to order by Chair Niki Nicholas at 12:55. Forty-one members were present.

The minutes of the April 6, 2001 meeting were approved.

Vice Chair Pat Parr presented the list of candidates for election of Chair and Secretary-Treasurer (2002-2004). These were: for Chair, Patrice Cole, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Paul Schmalzer, Dynamac Corporation, and for Secretary-Treasurer, Yetta Jager, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Elected were: Paul Schmalzer, Chair, and Yetta Jager, Secretary-Treasurer. Terms of the new officers will begin after the 2002 Ecological Society of America (ESA) Meeting in August.

Report of the Chair (Niki Nicholas)

The national office of ESA asked for input from Chapters on a recommendation to raise Chapter dues from $2 to $5. Discussion followed. Questions included: size of the increase, reasons for the increase, possible uses for additional funds, whether more than $2000 could be held by the Chapter in its operating account, and potential effects on membership. A vote was taken that indicated that the majority was opposed to a dues increase of this size.

An editor, Sue Silver (suesilver@esa.org), has been chosen for the new ESA journal (name not yet determined). The ESA national office has requested that Chapters send recommendations for members of the editorial boards of its journals. Anyone interested in serving as a member of an editorial board should send a resume to Chair Niki Nicholas.

Report of the Secretary-Treasurer (Paul Schmalzer)

Membership: 1999 - 498, 2000 - 503, 2001-433. As of Dec. 31, 2001, 265 members had renewed membership for 2002. Chapter newsletters have been published quarterly on the Chapter web site and in the ESA Bulletin. The Annual Report was published in the ESA Bulletin (Jan. 2002 issue). Minutes of the April 2001 meeting were published on the web site and summarized in the newsletter

Note: The ESA Bulletin will stop publication in hard copy in the near future when ESA's new journal begins publication. Whether this new journal will publish Chapter and Section news remains to be seen.

Details of the financial report were given in handout (Elizabeth Biggs ESA). Balance as of Dec. 31, 2001: General - $1,711.65, Odum Award - $6,284.83. Anniversary Celebration Costs: $1,802.11. Odum Award Expenses: $586.05. ESA lost money on investments over this period due to the market decline; this affected the balance of the Odum Fund.

Committee Reports

Odum Award Committee (Mike Held, committee member)

There were 13 candidates for the Odum Award this year. Several additional candidates failed to complete all requirements. Candidates need to follow directions to be considered. The committee believes its membership should be increased from three to four to handle increased numbers of applications. This will require revisions to the Bylaws. Revisions to the Bylaws must be supplied to Chapter members at least 60 days before the annual business meeting.

Bylaws Revisions Committee (Scott Franklin, chair)

Revisions to the Bylaws were proposed last year, discussed at the 2001 meeting, and published on the Chapter web site.

Old Business

Revisions to the Bylaws, as proposed last year, were adopted.

New Business

Poster Award. Discussion began at the ESA 2001 brown bag lunch about a possible poster award to be presented to a student at the Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) Meeting. The award may be named for a female ecologist. Chair Niki Nicholas asked if the Chapter wanted to pursue this. A motion to that effect was adopted. An ad hoc committee was established with Jim Fralish (Southern Illinois University) as chair and Debbie Moore, Jim Hull, and Phil Robertson as members.

Odum Award Committee. Jake Weltzin, University of Tennessee, Knoxville was appointed as the new committee member.

Symposia and Field Trips. The 2003 ASB Meeting will be held April 9-12, 2003 in the Washington, D.C. area with Howard University as the host. Symposia proposals are due to ASB by September 15, 2002. To be considered to be sponsored by the Chapter, symposia proposals must be sent to Chair Niki Nicholas by August 1. A symposium on conservation biology may be under consideration but no details were available.

The 2003 ESA Meeting will be held August 3-8, 2003 in Savannah, Georgia. Symposia proposals are due to ESA by September 15, 2002. To be considered to be sponsored by the Chapter, symposia proposals must be sent to Chair Niki Nicholas by August 1.

Biographies of Naturalists. Howard Neufeld, Appalachian State University, suggested that the Chapter initiate a project to document biographies of early naturalists of the Southeast. This might result in a book. One or more symposia at ASB or ESA might be developed. A motion was adopted to establish an ad hoc committee to develop these ideas. Howard Neufeld was appointed committee chair. Andy Ash, University of North Carolina Pembroke and Bill Martin, Eastern Kentucky University, agreed to serve as committee members.

The Chapter will have an informal brown bag lunch meeting August 6 at the 2002 ESA meeting.

Attendance: Southeastern Chapter of the Ecological Society of America

April 12, 2002, Business Meeting

Posted June 7, 2002