ESA Governing Board Fall Meeting Minutes

Attending: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 Laura Huenneke Presiding; meeting called to order at 9 am Motion: Pouyat moved to adopt the agenda. Seconded: Morales, All Aye Motion: Davis moved to ratify the vote to approve minutes from August Governing Board Meeting and Council Meeting. Seconded: Pouyat, All Aye A. Report of the President President Huenneke reported on her work since assuming office this August; membership input was solicited with regard to the controversies about the Louisville site for the upcoming meeting and people had a chance to respond; responses were summarized and reported to the membership. Huenneke has worked closely with O'Riordan, Mize, and other staff members as issues have arisen and with respect to ordinary operations as well. She has continued work on issues of Professional Certification, inclusiveness, and of the Extending the Tent initiative, with a fundamental focus and priority on membership issues. Rich Pouyat commented on the efforts of Past Presidents to maintain continuity during the transitions of leadership, which has been successfully accomplished. B. Gurevitch reported on the outcome of the ESA election for incoming members of the Governing Board and the Board of Professional Certification. All of the nominees have been notified. These names will be posted on the ESA website. President‐elect is Kathleen Weathers, Vice President for Science is Diane Pataki, Secretary is Jessica Gurevitch, Member‐at‐large is Jacquelyn Gill, and Board of Professional Certification are Diane Wickland and Steve Archer. C. Report of the Executive Director and Staff O'Riordan: Long range planning grant proposals were received (four proposals). She showed a NAS short video on dealing with sexual harassment and discussed society efforts to deal with these issues, including her participation in a NAS workshop. Nam: Issues regarding the annual meeting, including deadlines, were mentioned. Parsons, Science Office: Training for Sustaining Biological Infrastructure initiative is underway. The U.S. Nagoya action protocol group has contacted ESA and she is reconvening a working group to make sure members are aware of the legal issues involved. Mize (reported by Huenneke): The response of NSF BIO Directorate to our letter, which was supported by 20 other scientific societies, has prompted an advisory committee meeting at NSF scheduled for November 16. Mourad: ESA held a series of daily activities on career development at the annual meeting. Partnerships with other organizations and agencies have been initiated, some coming with funded grants. ESA