AZTWS Board Meeting
Conference Call Meeting Minutes
April 23, 2018
3:00–4:02 p.m.
Attendees: Tiffany Sprague (President), Valerie Horncastle (Recording Secretary), Andrew Jones (Treasurer), Audrey Owens (Board Member), Melissa Merrick (Board Member), Kay Nicholson (Past President), Clarissa Starbuck (Webmaster), Callie Hartson (Opportunities Chair)
Board Members Absent: Jessica Moreno (President Elect), Holly Hicks (Corresponding Secretary)
Action Items:
- We will send out a request for applications for upcoming conferences. Andrew will write the announcement and Holly will send it out.
- Tiffany will send Clarissa updates/pictures on board members for the website
- Valerie will send Clarissa the meeting minutes to post to the website
- Melissa will make the Continuing Education application a fillable pdf form
- Scott will set up a phone conference with Andy to discuss the details of the BioBlitz
- Kay will confirm who we should send a check to at BFUPA
Motions:
- March 2018 board meeting minutes approved. Melissa motioned. Andrew seconded. Passed unanimously.
- Vote to approve being a partner organization for the Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals (BFUPA). Our cost will be $100 annually. Valerie motioned. Andrew seconded. Passed unanimously.
- Melissa motioned to adjourn the meeting at 4:02 p.m. Audrey seconded. Passed unanimously.
Proceedings:
Old Business
- Tiffany will remind committee heads about reviewing revised sections of JAM manual Ongoing
- Scott to review revised sections of JAM manual to determine what revisions are still needed and incorporate existing revisions into manual. Ongoing
- Tiffany to create bylaw wording for board member removal. Ongoing
- Jessica and Chris will work to set up an online membership and communication system for our chapter. Ongoing
- Holly will forward Jeremy student chapter articles for newsletter. Done
- Holly will send out reminders about donating to the scholarship fund (deadline end of May). Done
- Andrew will cancel the subscription with the old conference call company. Done
- Valerie will contact Carol Chambers about potential feature article for newsletter. Ongoing
- Tiffany will send Clarissa updates/pictures on board members for the website. Ongoing
- Kay will send Tiffany information on what she should be working on for BFUPA. Done
- Jessica will sign us up to sponsor an award for SARSEF and print award certificates. Done
- Other Old Business? None
Current Business
- Treasurer’s Report (Andrew)
- Paid waste management for techniques workshop
- Andrew will write check for Holly’s receipts from the techniques workshop
- Still working on quarter end report
- Currently working on audit materials. Audit will probably take place at the end of the fiscal year
- Andrew will send check to U of A for sending in article for newsletter
- Conference Sponsorship
- Discussion on whether to sponsor a few upcoming conferences (Arid Lands Research Symposium, Biodiversity and Management of the Madrean Archipelago Conference, TWS Conference
- Sponsoring conferences and travel reimbursement typically comes out of the general funds, while registration fees for students comes out of the Continuing Education Funds.
- $6,245.66 is currently in the Continuing Education fund
- Bylaws state that we can spend up to $2000/year for Continuing Education
- General consensus was that we would prefer to cover the registration or travel costs of students or early professionals rather than just sponsoring the conference
- We will send out a request for applications for upcoming conferences. Andrew will write the announcement and Holly will send it out.
- Melissa will make the Continuing Education application a fillable pdf form.
- We could post a small blurb on the TWS eWildlifer e-newletter on the role our chapter is playing on supporting students and early professionals at conferences and workshops.
- Newsletter Report (Jeremy)
- Second draft sent to Tiffany and she will review
- Send article items to aztws.editor@gmail.com
- Upcoming issues – need feature article ideas
- Membership Report (Chris/Jessica) – not on call, no updates
- Webmaster’s Report (Clarissa)
- Tiffany will send Clarissa updates/pictures on board members for the website
- Valerie will send Clarissa this year’s meeting minutes
- Opportunities Report (Callie)
- 12 events posted on the website for April
- 9 jobs posted in April
- Currently 9 events posted for May
- BioBlitz (Scott)
- Andy Bridges responded and is interested in having us help out
- BioBlitz will be August 25th and 26th at Petrified Forest National Park
- Scott is currently working on setting up a phone conference with Andy to further discuss details. If anyone is interested in being on the call let Scott know.
- AZ TWS roles might include recruiting volunteers, manning a table, and helping run computers to review trail camera data
- Conservation Affairs (Jon) – not on call, no updates
- Borderlands Institute for the Study and Conservation of Understudied Wildlife (BISCUW) (Kay)
- Renamed to Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals (BFUPA)
- New draft charter sent to Tiffany to distribute to potentially interested organizations
- SW Wildlife Conservation Center will run the foundation and there will be an Advisory Board consisting of different partners
- Vote to approve AZTWS being a partner organization for the Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals (BFUPA). Our cost will be $100 annually. Valerie motioned. Andrew seconded. Passed unanimously.
- Kay will confirm who we should be sending the check to
- Continuing Education (Stan) – not on call, no updates
- Student Liaison Report (Holly) – not on call, no updates
- Techniques Workshop (Holly)
- Workshop was a success with a total of 61 participants
ASU 20
ASU Poly 5
Embry-Riddle 1
NAU 14
Prescott 4
UA 10
Professional 6
High School 1
Total 61
- Workshop was a success with a total of 61 participants
- Outreach, Youth Engagement, Diversity
- SARSEF (Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Fair) April 13th Melissa was a judge at the event. There were over 2000 student projects on display with 3 being wildlife specific projects. We gave awards to two students.
Nadira Mitchell
Project title: Wildlife and human interactions in the Sonoran Desert: studying effects of human activity on animals in Bear Canyon
Katie McColgin
Project title: Effects of humans on the diet and whereabouts of animals in Sabino and Bear Canyon based on DNA and dissection of scat - Andrew was a judge at the Arizona Envirothon on April 21st
- SARSEF (Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Fair) April 13th Melissa was a judge at the event. There were over 2000 student projects on display with 3 being wildlife specific projects. We gave awards to two students.