{"id":9184,"date":"2018-01-18T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T18:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/?p=9184"},"modified":"2025-01-18T13:42:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T18:42:48","slug":"2017-meeting-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/2017-meeting-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 Meeting Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AFS Fish Habitat Section Meeting Minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017 Annual Business Meeting\/ http:\/\/habitat.fisheries.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tampa, Florida<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint Meeting with the Water Quality Section<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, August 22, 2017; 5:30 \u2013 7:00 pm<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marriott Waterfront Hotel \u2013 Florida Salon IV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Determination of Quorum (minimum of 10 members present) \u2013 Sheila Eyler\n
      \n
    • 20 members present<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 29 total people present<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Call to order \u2013 Tom Bigford, FHS President \u2013 5:35<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Recognition of AFS and FHS officers and other guests \u2013 Tom Bigford\n
          \n
        • FHS Officers Tom Bigford, President; Tom Lang, President-elect; John Sweka, Past-President; Sheila Eyler, Secretary\/Treasurer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • AFS Leadership attending \u2013 Joe Margraf (President), Joe Boreman (Past President)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Outgoing President\u2019s Comments \u2013 Tom Bigford\n
            \n
          • We have had great efforts to improve our social media connection thanks to Joe Nohner and Adrienne McLean.\u00a0 We have been able to maintain strong membership numbers this year when other membership has been declining.\u00a0 The new Reporting Tool from AFS that is used to track activities of the Society has changed somewhat than what was previously required.\u00a0 We will need to be mindful of the changes so that we can be prepared for future reporting requirements.\u00a0 The Section has been very active with symposium and technical sessions at the Annual Meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Approval of minutes from 2017 Business Meeting, Kansas City, MO \u2013 Sheila Eyler\n
              \n
            • Motion to approve by Joe Margraf, seconded by Margret Murphy, \u00a0minutes approved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Review of Financial Report \u2013 Sheila Eyler\n
                \n
              • Current account balance\n
                  \n
                • Beginning Account Balance (8\/1\/2016):\u00a0 $9,525.45<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Inflows (membership dues and donation): $2,950.00<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Outflows: $1,666.22<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Ending Balance (7\/31\/2016): $10,809.22<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • FHS has a substantial balance and there was a question of what we plan to do with that money. There was a suggestion to invest our money along with Society Investments, or to support Student Travel.\u00a0 Future consideration should be made on how to best use those funds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    1. Committee Reports\n
                        \n
                      • NFHP Board Report \u2013 Tom Lang\n
                          \n
                        • Tom Bigford currently serves on the National Fish Habitat Partnership Board. \u00a0Tom Lang will be stepping up to serve on the Board after this meeting.\u00a0 NFHP celebrated their 10 year anniversary last year.\u00a0 They started \u201cBeyond the Pond\u201d as a non-profit organization to support the program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Student Presentation Awards \u2013 John Sweka\n
                            \n
                          • FHS provides an award for best student presentation in FHS sponsored symposia.\u00a0 John Sweka had organized judging last year and Steve Brown took over for this year.\u00a0 FHS sponsored 8 symposia this year, but only one student is actually presenting in our sponsored symposia.\u00a0 What can we do to make more opportunities for students to compete for the award?\u00a0 We could potentially expand consideration to other sessions that are not FHS sponsored, but contain habitat content.\u00a0 We could possibly include posters in the competition.\u00a0 There is difficulty to identify students in symposia, so maybe when abstracts are submitted that they claim student status so that they are easier to identify in the program.\u00a0 This probably needs to be included at registration or abstract submittal to make identification easier and also offer an opportunity for us to advertise the award.\u00a0 This requires further discussion with staff at AFS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          • NFHP and FHS Award \u2013 Tom Bigford\n
                              \n
                            • We have partnered with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to do a freshwater version of the Nancy Foster Award.\u00a0 The freshwater award process has been going slowly this year, partly because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service no longer participates in NFHAP meetings.\u00a0 Therefore there will be no award in 2017.\u00a0 There may be an announcement this fall at the AFWA meeting with a subsequent award in 2018.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                            • Membership Report \u2013 Sheila Eyler\n
                                \n
                              • 674 Current Members (up from 589 in 2016)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • 398 Students<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • 192 Regular<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • 57 Young Professionals<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • 17 Life<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • 10 Retired<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • Additional benefits to Society membership is coming, including free access to AFS journals, however the membership fee is increasing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • Social Media\/Website Report \u2013 Adrienne McLean\n
                                  \n
                                • Goal of social media is to increase visibility of the section which has been accomplished by the formation of the webpage, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets.\n
                                    \n
                                  1. Blogs \u2013 There were a total of 80 blogs, completed by a blogging team of 9 members. Weekly blogs done on Tuesday morning and consist of research articles, information about fish habitat, or events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                  2. Website \u2013 This year there has been a 103% increase in website views, and the number of users went up from 2400 to 5200. Total page views increased from 5,000 to 10,000.\u00a0 The number of users who visit multiple pages decreased from 1.56 to 1.45 in the past year and the time spent on the page has decreased, however this may be a function of frequent visitors not spending time looking at older content.\u00a0 Viewers are from 103 countries, which is an increase from 82 last year.\u00a0 The primary audience is 25-44 year olds.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                  3. Facebook \u2013 The Post Reach has increased to 188 from 139 per week. The total number of reactions (likes, etc.) has not changed from the past year.\u00a0 The total page likes increased from 699 last year to >800 this year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                  4. Old Business \u2013 Tom Bigford<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                                      \n
                                    • There were 8 symposia endorsed or assisted by FHS at this year\u2019s Annual Meeting. We also supported the workshop \u201cThrough a Fish\u2019s Eye: The 2015 NFHP Habitat Assessment for Freshwater and Marine Workshop\u201d and \u201cMonsters of Fish Habitat Workshop\u201d in association with the Marine Fisheries and Estuaries Sections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                    • The Best Student Paper Award from the FHS at the 2016 Annual Meeting was awarded to Corey DeBoom from University of Illinois for his presentation entitled \u201cTesting hypotheses linking coarse woody habitat, fish populations, and food webs in experimental ecosystems.\u201d Corey received a plaque and $100 check.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                    • NFHP and FHS Award \u2013 We will be soliciting reviewers for award nominations in late summer\/early fall.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                    • NOAA 20th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary of Essential Fish Habitat program event was held at the Restore America\u2019s Estuaries Summit in Louisiana last winter. The FHS helped fund refreshments for the event.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                                      9. New Business \u2013 Tom Lang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                        \n
                                      1. Election Results\n
                                          \n
                                        • Kim Dibble \u2013 President-Elect<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                        • Michael Porter \u2013 Secretary\/Treasurer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                        • Service Appreciation Awards\n
                                            \n
                                          • Sheila Eyler \u2013 outgoing Secretary\/Treasurer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                          • Tom Bigford \u2013 outgoing President<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                          • New President\u2019s Remarks\n
                                              \n
                                            • The Section is doing well and is very active in the Society, and he wants to continue with what we have been doing with respect to workshop and symposia.\u00a0 We might consider possibly putting our money to work for the Section and the Society.\u00a0 He plans to stay engaged in policy during their transition within AFS.\u00a0 One problem is that a lot of students and young professionals don\u2019t necessarily recruit into our long-term membership.\u00a0 Partly that is because some don\u2019t stay employed in the field, but others may be employed, but don\u2019t stay involved.\u00a0 One way to increase involvement is to have liaisons from FHS membership to other partnerships (i.e. NFHAP) so the students and young professionals can be more connected by participating and reporting back to the section on work of the partnerships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                            • Upcoming Annual Meetings\n
                                                \n
                                              • 2018 \u2013 Atlantic City<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                              • 2019 \u2013 Reno (joint meeting with The Wildlife Society)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                              • We will try to have FHS symposia or individual technical sessions that have cross-programmatic symposia (watershed focused) that incorporate both fish and upland habitat concerns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                              • 2020 \u2013 Columbus (150 years)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                              • Other Business\n
                                                  \n
                                                • A member asked how we decide what symposium we sponsor and what does that mean? FHS offers no monetary support for sessions, but we will help organize, identify speakers, and moderate sessions.\u00a0 Through the Fish\u2019s Eye was first habitat related Continuing Education course we have offered.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                                • One focus of our section to encourage and engage young professionals in the Society. AFS is talking about having a Young Professional social which would be a follow up to the Student Social to help keep Young Professionals engaged in the Society.\u00a0 FHS would be supportive of that event.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                                • The Mossback habitat display at the tradeshow has been donated to the silent auction. The display usually gets donated to the host state, but Florida has a contract with the company, so items cannot be donated to the state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                                • The FHS portion of the joint meeting was adjourned at 6:11 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                  AFS Fish Habitat Section Meeting Minutes 2017 Annual Business Meeting\/ http:\/\/habitat.fisheries.org\/ Tampa, Florida Joint Meeting with the Water Quality Section Tuesday, August 22, 2017; 5:30 \u2013 7:00 pm Marriott Waterfront Hotel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[858],"class_list":["post-9184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meetings","tag-minutes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/units.fisheries.org\/habitat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}