2003 Final Business Meeting, Cincinnati, OH
Chair John Heraty called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm on October 29, 2003, with 43 members in attendance. Heraty called for a reading of the minutes of the Section A Preliminary Business Meeting by Secretary Brian Wiegmann. Several corrections were noted regarding dates, details of some names mentioned in the minutes, and details from the governing board preliminary meeting, Thomas Say publications preliminary meeting, and strategic planning committee meeting. A motion was made by Chris Thompson to approve the minutes pending further revisions to be sent to Wiegmann by members; Nathan Schiff seconded the motion, which was approved.
Reports
Governing Board report, Jackie Miller
Jackie Miller reported from the Governing Board that the current meeting total attendance was 2138 registrants. The Governing Board has been canvassing the membership, including regular members, students, and emeritus members for feedback on ways to improve the society and meetings. Feedback has been good and is helpful. Jackie thanked members on behalf of the Governing Board for their forbearance with troubling issues regarding hotels and reservations during the Cincinnati meeting.
There was great participation in the Linnaean games and the student reception following the final. Governing Board is encouraging improvements to the games.
The ESA headquarters building in Lanham, MD, is sold (applause). It was stated that Paula Lettice should be thanked heartily for her efforts through the sale effort.
Work is continuing on streamlining the budget. Expenditures for relocation and sale of a property that were in the 2003 budget will not be needed in 2004. Expecting to pay a 3-year lease on office space for society business.
Other recommendations being addressed by the Governing Board: Re-affiliation with the Coalition of Scientific Society Presidents, because it is addressing complexities of publication, property rights and revenue stream. There is a growing debate over public ownership of work conducted using public funds. John Oswald has been appointed to chair a presidential committee to explore issues of web products and recognition. Chris Thompson urged that the committee clarify the details of the ownership of publications debate as holding a copyright shouldn't affect the revenue stream. Mike Ivie and Jackie Miller pointed out that the issue is not one of copyright protection.
Mike Ivie added that we should recognize the excellent representation and hard work of J.E. McPherson, who is leaving the Governing Board after many years of dedicated service (applause and standing ovation by all members in attendance).
Program Committee, Peter Cranston
Cranston announced that efforts are underway to have a 2004 program symposium honoring the career of Dick Vane-Wright. Other symposia also are being discussed, namely bee phylogenetics, ALAS and honoring Steve Wood. Chris Thompson suggested that the Section nominate Dick Vane-Wright as a fellow of the society. Catherine Duckett moved thus, Nathan Schiff seconded. The motion passed.
Peter Cranston suggested that it be recommended to the Program committee that the announcement of student presentation awards be moved forward in the meeting. The student mixer following the Linnaean games could be an appropriate venue. Sue Weller pointed out that student competition will be Monday morning and so there would be sufficient time for judging by Wednesday evening. Students asked about the possible change were very supportive.
Jeremy Miller asked whether the Section A student paper competition could be staggered to avoid overlap. John Heraty and Peter Cranston said that this is impossible given programming constraints. Chris Thompson asked whether "special symposia" (e.g., informal conferences) could be spread over several days to allow members to attend multiple groups. Jackie Miller responded that this would conflict with university mixers and other social events. She also mentioned that an additional constraint is that we pay for space in rooms for these events.
Publication Council, Barry O'Connor
Barry O'Connor reported that a Thomas Say monograph committee was set up to consider symposia. If publications were to be taxonomic monographs only, the other sections' participation was in doubt. O'Connor stated that poor quality reprints was a one-off issue, unlikely to be repeated. The issue of provision of supplemental material (such as extensive distributional information) on the web was discussed, with costing issues amongst matters to be resolved - costing in the next year.
Thomas Say Editorial Board, Joe McHugh
The new narrower focus of Thomas Say publications (see above) requires changes to the editorial board. John Brown was applauded as his editorial term ended. Joe McHugh announced his cessation in 1 years time. There were no new submissions in the past year, 1 prospective publication, 1 Monograph and 1 Proceedings, 4 mss in preparation. Time from submission to publication was estimated at 5 years under current finances. Discussion of the finances of Thomas Say ensued (including Oswald, McHugh, Thompson), with some confusion as to whether expenditure on new publications arose directly from sales, or whether there was a role for endowment income/interest. New rep. requested to clarify for membership.
Systematic Resources Committee
Mary Liz Jameson and John Oswald reported minimal activity, with some uncertainty about their charge, and whether a role as liaison between ECN and ESA was in order. Possible roles of committees and branches in preparation of lists of institutions and collections were raised (discussion about utility and openness to abuse followed). Ivie explained that roles of Standing Committees and their charges were established and shouldn't be changed without Governing Board notification. Noted that all Standing Committee roles up for review. Jack Miller asked if Systematic Resources committee knew its role - answer in affirmative. Jay McPherson clarifed some issues, and the Committee were thanked.
Publications Council, John Oswald
Most publications, except for Annals, have seen increases in submissions. The budget allotment for Annals is down and the journal is thin. Oswald urged Section A members to consider submitting to Annals as it is a Section A-subject-oriented journal. Benefits of submission to Annals include a page-charge reduction for members -- page-charge reductions or waivers can be applied for with funds coming from the C.P. Alexander Fund.
Changes in style requirements for Annals were approved. These were: (1) titles of journals can be spelled out in full, and (2) differential type styles can be accommodated in "Material Examined" sections of papers.
Mike Ivie and John Oswald clarified issue raised in preliminary meeting concerning accommodation of media in publications; these files can be submitted as supplementary information in publications. These are submitted along with the original manuscript for review. Digital color photos can be added this way.
The Publications Council is also exploring the possibility of digital submission and publication to the Thomas Say Monographs to increase throughput and lower cost. If serious, this proposed change must be received from the editorial board and publications council as a formal proposal with fully specified details. Composition of the Thomas Say Editorial Board was also discussed. To change the Section-based representation on the board would require a formal proposal.
The Publications Council is also exploring the issue of whether former members who purchased electronic journal access retain that access after lapsed membership. This may become controversial as currently there is no mechanism to provide continued access.
(From Nathan Schiff). Environmental Entomology currently needs to add subject editors, especially an editor for the field of sampling. There were 225 manuscripts last year, and there are already 260 this year. The acceptance rate is 48% with two to three appeals. Subject editors are finding it difficult to find sufficient numbers of qualified reviewers. Time to publication is approximately nine months. A suggestion has been made to generate a database of reviewers with details about areas of expertise. A question was raised this year concerning whether a manuscript that was informally posted on the web could still be accepted by the journal for publication.
Committee on Education and Youth, Dave Furth
The committee is involved in addressing three main charges: (1) finding sources of external funding targeting work on improving K-12 science education; (2) establishing new guidelines for the Linnaean games; and (3) better defining the committee's charge and relevance to the Society.
Two grants were submitted and funded this year that target K-12 education. The committee questions its involvement in Linnaean Games and considers a separate presidential committee to be better suited. The committee considers itself to be a viable and relevant society entity. It is pleased with the success of the grad student debate series, and would like to propose a formal teaching symposium, and needs to find ways to improve society outreach to teachers.
Committee on Systematic Resources, Dave Furth for Mary Liz Jameson
The ESA Standing Committee on Systematics Resource convened on October 28, 2003. Members of the SRC present at the meeting were: Jacqueline Miller (Governing Board Liaison), Jeremiah Dye (Student Liaison), Robert Sites (Section A Representative), Melody Keena (Section B Representative), John Oswald (Vice Chair, Southwestern Branch Representative), James Korecki (representing John Morse for the Southeastern Branch), and Mary Liz Jameson (Chair, Section A Representative). Also present at the meeting were John Heraty (Chair, Section A) and John Woolley (for National Science Foundation, Section A member).
The 2003 final committee report was reviewed, including the January 2003 charge from President Z B Mayo to assess the viability of the committee. The committee agreed that systematics resources are essential to the science of entomology based on: (1) the ESA Bylaws and Strategic Plan, (2) current declines in support of insect collections and training of insect systematists, (3) need for stronger representation of science within the "profession of entomology," and (4) decline of Section A membership within ESA (current membership is ~621 versus a high in 1986 of ~920).
The committee clarified its role and compared it with the role of the Entomological Collections Network (as an e-mail from committee member John Morse prior to the meeting):
Entomological Collections Network (ECN): A group that meets the needs of the systematics community by disseminating information to systematists.
ESA Standing Committee on Systematics Resource: A group authorized to provide the ESA recommendations about systematics resources so that the ESA can act appropriately.
Recommendations that concern systematics resources can be made from the committee to all Sections and the Governing Board. So that recommendations are more effective, the committee discussed the protocol for actions: a recommendation can be received from any concerned member and channeled to the committee; the Chair directs discussion within the committee and reaches consensus; the recommendation is forwarded to the Governing Board Liaison who reports it to the Governing Board. It was also suggested that actions taken by the Governing Board on behalf of the committee be copied to the committee. This protocol will be included in the Section A Bylaws.
Support of systematics by the ESA Governing Board and the ESA was reviewed. Oswald reported that a large percentage of the Annals is now devoted to systematics articles. The Thomas Say monograph series is still available for systematics monographs. The November 2002 ESA resolution to NSF was supportive of systematics research. The November 2002 ESA resolution to Oregon State University was supportive of systematics research. Miller reported that President Mayo wrote at least three letters to universities that were directing budgetary cuts to insect collections. These letters discussed the need for systematics resources for agriculture and science. These actions demonstrate active support of systematics resources by the ESA Governing Board.
In spite of this support, however, state budgetary shortfalls have resulted in declines of many state insect collections, museums, and herbaria. These include:
§ University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
§ Michigan State Museum
§ Virginia Museum of Natural History
§ San Diego Natural History Museum
§ Virginia Tech University Museum of Natural History
§ University of Nebraska State Museum
§ Oregon State University
§ Louisville Collection
§ Oklahoma University at Stillwell
§ Texas Tech University Collection
§ Los Angeles County Museum (herpetology and ?)
§ Museum of Northern Arizona (paleontology)
§ University of Kansas (mollusks and mosses)
§ University of Iowa (herbarium)
This list of decline in collections support is alarming. Without collections, the basic foundation for identification of agriculturally, medically, and economically important species (invasive species and pest species) will be eliminated and the foundation for research on evolution, behavior, conservation, and ecology will be eliminated. Discussion of how the committee could respond to these cuts were directed to Oswald's proposal to create a web site for Section A under the auspices of ESA.
Woolley discussed NSF workshops and programs that are important to systematics. Two upcoming workshops will be sponsored: "Workshop to Produce a Decadal Vision for Taxonomy and Natural History" (November 11-13, 2003, Gainesville, FL) and a workshop at the New York Botanical Garden in December on networking and cybernetics in systematics. Woolley also discussed NSF programs including the Biological Resource Collections, the Tree of Life, the Research Collaborative Network, and Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories.
To address the needs of insect systematics resources, Jameson proposed that a subcommittee of the committee investigate a proposed idea: "National Initiative to Network Insect Collections and Establish Universal Collection Protocols." Because there is an increasing demand for insect systematics in science and society (due to bioterrorism, invasive species, extinctions, agricultural pests, human health, etc.), systematics resources must be easily and quickly accessible. To do so, the systematics community must establish minimal protocols that unite insect collections under a nationwide umbrella. In conjunction, this action would protect satellite systematics resources from reductions in funding and personnel. The foundation for this action would be the formation of linked satellite collections under one institutional "umbrella." Satellite affiliates would meet the following minimal standards:
Species-level databases that will be linked and shared and available online
Collection profiles that quickly allow the user community to access general collections data
Holotype databases that will be linked and shared and available online
Overviews of resources available (databases, alcohol collections, tissue collections, slide collections, pinned specimens), size and strength of collections, personnel, drawer format (Smithsonian, Cornell, CalAcademy).
Jameson will draft the proposal and circulate it to the committee. Jameson, Oswald, and Korecki will constitute the subcommittee.
Four members will be rotating off of the committee, including both the chair and vice chair. Keena and Miller discussed the potential of continuing the vice chair for continuity of the committee. Jameson asked that the incoming chair report the committee minutes at the Section A final business meeting. She will forward a draft of the minutes to incoming member/chair Dave Furth.
Section A Web Affairs Committee (John Oswald)
There is a proposal to establish a Section A web site. John Oswald has proposed that the web affairs committee will investigate possible guidelines and mechanisms for peer review of web products. Governing Board considered the proposal and appointed Oswald chair of a committee to develop these. Oswald announced the preliminary membership to that committee. Paul Goldstein added that ECN is also establishing a website and exploring these issues, and suggested coordination of efforts.
New business
Section Committees
Chair John Heraty asked for volunteers and further discussion of six committees proposed by Mike Ivie in the preliminary business meeting.
Committee to identify an Editor-in-Chief for the Annals from Section A: No responses.
Committee to identify excellent scientists and presenters for the Founders' Memorial Award:
Catherine Duckett asked for clarification of the committee's purpose. Mike Ivie pointed out that no nominations have come from Section A for this honor. Committee will work to identify deserving individuals and dynamic presenters. Michael Caterino, Catherine Duckett, and Nathan Schiff volunteered to serve on the committee.
Committee to recruit plenary speakers: Michael Caterino. Additional volunteers are needed.
Committee to solicit contributions to the Thomas Say fund: Chris Thompson pointed out the Section A already has an endowment (C.P. Alexander Fund), asked whether the committee consider using funds to contribute to Thomas Say Publications.
Committee to nominate Fellows of ESA: Susan Weller will chair, Joe McHugh, Jim Wooley.
Committee to nominate Section A members for ESA and Foundation awards: Mike Ivie remarked that we rarely nominate members of Section A for these awards, and questioned whether the membership thinks that no one deserves them. Margaret Thayer asked whether Thomas Say awards nominations are included in the concept of committee 6 (above). She pointed out that there exists a Thomas Say Award nomination committee. John Heraty pointed out that there is also a Thomas Say Awards "judging" committee. Thayer suggested that we might use committee 6 to increase nominations for Thomas Say Award. John Oswald suggested a single nomination committee. Mike Ivie said that might work, but warned that nomination of Fellows was also a lot of work and should require a separate effort. Mike Ivie asked that members strongly consider committee #2 (above) as this is an important task. He also mentioned that the speaker receives $1,000 cash prize. Peter Cranston suggested possibility of getting Phil DeVries to speak about the career of Dick Vane-Wright.
Transfer of the Section A Gavel
Chair John Heraty thanked all officers, committee members, volunteers, judges, symposia organizers, and moderators for their contributions to the meeting and society. He thanked Vice Chair Cranston and Secretary Wiegmann and presented them each with a taxon-appropriate ESA cap. Heraty also thanked Past Chair Susan Weller for her help and society service, and presented her with a gift butterfly.
Pete Cranston accepted the gavel and commented about continuing efforts to improve the Society. Pete Cranston thanked John Heraty for his excellent work as chair, and presented him with a grape-derived product in appreciation.
Cranston expressed appreciation for Chris Thompson's comments at the preliminary business meeting regarding a return to a society focused on science. He suggested that this is how we will boost attendance and participation in the Society and that we should track attendance of non-members to symposia. Chris Thompson moved we thank John Heraty for his fine service as chair. Nathan Schiff seconded. The motion passed with resounding approval.
A Thomas Say award nominee was voted on and passed unanimously. Also, nominees for secretary-elect were announced and approved by vote -- Anthony Cognato and Michael Caterino.
Jackie Miller moved to adjourn the meeting, Nathan Schiff seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 6:30, with 57 members in final attendance.