IASNR Committee Activities & Updates
Want to get invovled with IASNR? Join a committee! To do so, contact the IASNR Office at [email protected].
Chair: Becky Schewe, IASNR Treasurer
Syracuse University, USA (2021-2023)
Treasurer’s Report
IASNR remains in good financial standing thanks to the hard work of our contractors, members, and volunteers.
In 2023, we had a small increase in membership costs to account for the increased overhead and inflation of administrative costs. We offset that with an increased dedication to scholarships for our annual meeting and the addition of a lower-cost membership category for members from low or middle-income nations. This year we were able to offer $1,900 in student and professional scholarships to attend the annual conference. Our conference revenue was greater than expected due to the fantastic work of our contractor Jessica Hill and conference chairs.
IASNR will soon have updated contracts with Taylor and Francis for the distribution and publication of our journal, Society and Natural Resources. We also are negotiating a new contract with the University Press of Colorado which publishes the Society and Natural Resources Book Series.
Our investments held at Vanguard continue to perform well and we have not had to draw upon our endowment funds for several years.
As we enter the season for membership renewals, I encourage you to consider making a donation to support IASNR’s efforts and mission. Tax deductible donations support IASNR programs including scholarships for students, early-career professionals, and members from low-income nations to attend the symposium and become IASNR members, and conference travel scholarships for international students.
Updates from the Conference Support Committee
In June, the IASNR 2023 conference occurred in Portland, Maine and we had a total of 401 registrants! Thank you to the conference chairs Gene Theodori, Jessica Leahy, and Matt Carroll and to IASNR business manager Jessica Hill for their hard work making the conference a success. The intellectual and social connections were vibrant, and the meeting was also a financial success for the Association.
The IASNR 2024 conference will take place in Cairns, Australia from June 23-27. The call for organized sessions has been announced. We are accepting organized session proposals under two different formats: 1) normal fully in-person sessions; and 2) hybrid sessions where presenters will be a mix of in-person and remote attendees. We are planning for a primarily in-person conference in Cairns, but we will offer some online engagement—limited to plenary events and a small number of hybrid sessions. This will be IASNR’s first foray into the world of hybrid conference events, and based on this experience we will decide how to engage in future years. Speaking of future years, planning for IASNR 2025 in Vancouver, Canada is already underway. Look for more announcements about this and other future conferences in the coming months!
Chair: Jesse Abrams
Council Member, University of Georgia, USA
Keahna Margeson, Student Representative
Dalhousie University, Canada (2022-2024)
Aritra Chakrabarty, Student Representative- Elect
Student Representative-Elect, Michigan Technological University, USA (2023-2025)
The Student Affairs Committee (SAC) is gearing back up for the fall after taking a short break following the IASNR Conference in Portland, Maine. At the IASNR conference, SAC hosted the Student Forum and Quiz Bowl events. At the Student Forum 30 students met, learned about IASNR and the SAC, networked, and learned about academic and non-academic job options from a wonderful panel of IASNR members. Thank you to the panelists for sharing your insights and experiences!
At the Quiz Bowl Event, three student teams answered 4 trivia-style rounds of questions and competed for a cash prize, donated by Taylor and Francis. Congratulations to our Quiz Bowl winners, The Northern Latitudes, with members Krista Harrington, Dominic Piacentini, Emily Snair, and Kiley Davan! We look forward to incorporating the successes and lessons learned from the Student Forum and Quiz Bowl events in 2023 to inform our planning and implementation for the 2024 Conference in Cairns, Australia. Thank you to all student members who participated and to IASNR members who volunteered to help develop questions or provide support.
During IASNR each year the student leadership within the organization changes over. A big thanks to Dana Johnson for her service as a Student Representative-Elect and Student Representative in 2021-2023. A big welcome to Aritra Chakrabarty, who began his role on Council as the Student Representative-Elect in June 2023.
Finally, we kicked off the 2023-2024 academic year with our first SAC meeting since the leadership transition. During the meeting we discussed additional opportunities for involvement in IASNR, reflected on the 2023 conference, planned for the upcoming year, and set some goals we would like to accomplish as a committee. There are still openings on IASNR committees for interested students. Please contact us for more details. If you are a student member and would like to become more involved in the SAC or IASNR more generally, please contact your Student Representative, Keahna Margeson ([email protected]) and Student Representative Elect, Aritra Chakrabarty ([email protected]).
SAC Slack Channel. The best way to stay in touch and up to date with SAC activities is to attend SAC meetings and join our Slack channel. Here is a link to join the IASNR SAC Slack- https://join.slack.com/t/iasnrsac/shared_invite/zt-1tctfl97b-_YmXIuRcd66BBCh3iKNCRw.
Updates from the Publications Committee
Your IASNR Publications Committee has been diligently working on the association’s behalf. We would like to update you on what we have been working on since seeing everyone at the IASNR Conference in June.
This summer we were engaged with the editorial board for the Society and Natural Resources Book Series and the IASNR Executive Officers to develop a negotiant plan for renewing the contract with the University Press of Colorado.
Chair: Lee Christopher J. Wynveen
IASNR Member, Baylor University, USA
In September, the publications committee members discussed how best the Publications Committee could support the book series and the journal. We decided to engage the journal editors and the book series editorial board in conversation to learn more about their needs. To that end, we met with the SNR Journal editors in October and look to do the same with the IASNR Book Series editorial board in November. We will meet in December to synthesize these conversations and make a plan for how to proceed with the Publications Committee in the new year.
The SNR Book Series welcomes new board members who will start in January 2024. Joining us will be Tanja Straka, Courtney Flint, Gladman Thondhlana and Kenneth Wallen. Thank you to outgoing board members Rick Krannich, Anna Haines, and Tom Measham. If you are interested in serving on the editorial board, please contact [email protected].
Lastly, we have had people leave the committee for other opportunities and would like to invite interested individuals to join our committee. We especially are looking for those of you who have book writing/publishing experience, as most of our committee members mainly publish journal articles. We welcome new committee member, Julie Minde, who works for the US Forest Service. If interested, please contact [email protected].
Co-Chair: Sarah Church
Council Member, Montana State University, USA
Updates from the Ethics Committee
The Ethics Committee welcomes new committee members Hannah Whitley (Virginia Tech University) and Sweta Dixit (our newest student member; North Carolina State University) – thank you all for joining our team!
Our committee had an excellent time at IASNR in Portland, Maine this summer. We introduced a new infographic that describes our Code of Ethics and have finalized a web-based form to report ethics violations. Thank you to Brooke McWherter, who put quite a lot of effort into both outputs!
Additionally, we launched a Welfare Team (5 IASNR members) for the 2023 conference which provided support and guidance to conference participants. The Ethics Committee provides this support and guidance for members throughout the year and handles ethics violations that may occur.
Finally, we hosted a panel at the 2023 IASNR conference this summer titled: Research Ethics: A Roundtable Discussion with Members Working in Diverse Contexts. The discussions at the roundtable were fantastic and included many suggestions about IASNR’s role in ethics (e.g., information portal, trainings, workshops, community of practice, etc.). Thank you to our panelists – Cristina Miranda Beas, Claudia Benham, Jen Bond, John Daigle, Sarah Gottwald, Peiying Lee, Xinyang Li – and to everyone who came and joined in our discussion.
Building on the panel discussions we’ve had at the last few conferences we continue to work on the evolution of the Code of Ethics to expand it to be proactively based on the ethical principles central to our identity and conduct as professionals.
Co-Chair: Mysha Clarke
Council Member, University of Florida, USA
Updates from the Professional Development Committee
The Professional Development Committee is happy to report that we had a successful networking event at the annual conference in Maine. We facilitated engaging activities and discussions, including a “speed dating” activity which helped participants make meaningful connections with each other.
We are equally excited to announce a series of webinars for 2024 that will provide insightful features, topics and speakers. Our webinar series will include a suite of panels and workshops about formatted as a mini-series about:
- How to get an academic or non-academic job: This will include a timeline for entering the job market, how to format CV/resume, how to find desired jobs, how to develop a portfolio etc. as relevant to the job market.
- The role of AI tools in the work environment: How AI tools can be used to help intellectual output in natural resources issues including the practical, ethical, and social implications.
- Branding yourself: How to market yourself to be more competitive for jobs, awards etc. using social media, packaging, and a change in perspective.
- Networking at IASNR: This will include a pre-conference virtual networking event and other in-person events at the conference. We will also host a virtual event for members who are unable to attend the IASNR conference in Cairns, Australia.
We are excited about these events. We are still looking for panelists on some of these webinars. If you have suggestions of potential panelists, please let email Mysha Clarke at [email protected]. Panelists can include IASNR members and non-members. If you are interested in joining our committee, or have ideas for other relevant webinar topics, we would love to hear them!
Thank you to our committee members: Mysha Clarke (Chair), Milton Newberry, Casey Taylor, Mark Rouleau, Jill Weiss, Haley Smith and Bill Stewart
Kate Burgess, Council Member
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, USA (2023 – 2025)
Trace Gale, Council Member
Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, Chile (2023 – 2025)
Updates from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
On October 25, the DEI committee realized a productive planning meeting with participation by Gladman Thondhlana, Bill Stewart, Mwazvita Sachikonye, John Parkins, Trace Gale and Kate Burgess. A number of potential actions and areas of work were identified, including:
- Developing a set of suggestions and materials for members to help them understand how to discuss sex and gender in our research and work, in ways that reduce bias and improve inclusivity and respect.
- Identifying a set of tactics that can help IASNR demonstrate and communicate its interest in being an organization of diverse viewpoints, people, and experiences.
- Organizing a DEI Roundtable for the IASNR conference in Australia (and online) to raise awareness of DEI issues, develop a DEI workplan for the organization, and invite a wider range of people, views, and experiences to help this plan to reality.
And, as incoming secretary for IASNR, John expressed his interest and intention to continue to participate in the DEI committee, representing the executive council. We welcome his participation and contributions and would be happy to include others in our group. If you are interested in working on initiatives and strategies that improve equity, diversity, and inclusion within IASNR, please contact Kate Burgess or Trace Gale.
Chair: Chun-Yen Chang
Council Member, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Updates from the Elections Committee – Nominations sought for IASNR Council!
This year’s election committee was co-chaired by Chun-Yen Chang and Mark Rouleau with support from Jessica Hill in the IASNR business office. We are grateful for all of the members who accepted nominations for leadership positions! Thank you for being willing to serve!
Please start considering nominations for candidates for the 2024 election cycle!
In 2024, we will seek candidates for three IASNR Council positions and a Student Representative. Council members serve for three years beginning in January 2025. Student Representatives serve for two years beginning in June 2024. The call for nominations will be sent out soon and will remain open through the New Year. Considering nominating your colleagues, friends, and yourself!
Updates from the Membership Committee
The “new members” meeting at the IASNR Conference in Portland, Maine in June was a tremendous success. We had 45-50 members attend, with many new members and a handful of returning members. Participation was so successful that we had to bring-in additional chairs from nearby rooms. We each introduced ourselves one-by-one, with introductions telling about what brings people to IASNR and what we are looking for in an association. Among the many memorable comments, one member stated that they were attracted to IASNR because, “I don’t feel that I have to justify what I do within our forums and venues”. Another comment that evoked discussion about challenges associated with diversification and inclusion. With the “new members” meeting being held on the pre-conference day, it was an excellent start to the open and respectful dialogue that characterizes the IASNR community.
The IASNR Bridge Builder award was presented at the final luncheon of the conference. This award is presented to a member who reaches beyond their identity community, geographic community, disciplinary community, knowledge system and/or institutional context to make new connections in natural resource social science that relates to the annual conference theme. The 2023 award was given to Emily S. Huff. Click here to learn more.
Finally, Kate Sherren has stepped down as chair of this committee. We are looking for a member interested in leading this committee for the coming year. If you would like to explore whether the committee is a good fit for your own interest, please contact Bill Stewart at [email protected].
Co-Chair: Kate Sherren
Council Member, Dalhousie University, Canada
Communications: Share your news!
Do you have any news that you would like to share? Did you get a promotion or new position? Do you have a job opening or fellowship in your institution of interest to members? Did you publish a book or article? Win an award? Receive a prestigious grant or Fulbright? Did you retire and move to the coast? Did you finally complete the Sunday Crossword puzzle? Whatever it is, we want to hear about it! Please share your news on IASNR social media. Send your news to [email protected] and Jessica will coordinate with our social media team.