November 30, 2022
The Governing Board met November 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, prior to the start of the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting of ESA and the Entomological Societies of Canada and British Columbia. During the meeting, the Board took the following actions:
- Approved the 2023 budget.
- Created a Presidential Task Force to evaluate how ESA can best serve scientific educators, following a report and presentation from the ESA Education and Outreach Committee.
- Amended the Board’s Policies & Procedures manual to make improvements, including updates to the Fellows review process.
- Approved the 2023-2025 strategic plan.
- Renamed the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
- Approved reports from the Branches, Sections, and a variety of committees as well as the September Governing Board and October Executive Committee meeting minutes.
The board also discussed:
- Headquarters operations, including an overview of ESA’s potential new location, the Public Health Entomology for All program, and the Society’s publications.
- Two similar proposed motions from the Southwestern Branch and the Southeastern Branch that requested that the Annual Meeting location be rotated among the Branches. The Board discussed this at great length and ultimately agreed to reconsider the matter in 2023 when ESA’s chief meetings staff member could be present.
- The Society’s finances and the impact of the global economic downturn on ESA’s investments.
- ESA’s advocacy efforts, the Science Policy Fellows program, and other legislative priorities and accomplishments.
- A report from the Ethics and Rules Committee with recommended board policy updates.
- A proposal to offer more complimentary meeting registrations for key volunteer groups, with the board ultimately finding that Sections could pursue this with their own funding.
- The Entomology Games and a proposal to offer travel scholarships for some participants.
- A report from the Awards and Honors Committee that proposed a new award and advocated for more regular review of the awards program.
- A proposal from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee to adopt new tools to increase transparency and decrease harassment among ESA’s members and constituents.
Staff member Joe Rominiecki led the board through a communications training that touched on crisis communications and offered tips for communicating with the media. The board also met in executive session to perform the annual review of the senior staff executive.
Following this, the 2023 board convened. The board welcomed new members Erika Machtinger, Mark Wright, Scott O’Neal, and Jamal Hunter and congratulated Lina Bernaola on her new role as vice president-elect. Melissa Willrich-Siebert and Andrew Short were elected to the Executive Committee. President Alleyne discussed the 2023 Annual Meeting and her priorities, including her intention to renew many of the presidential initiatives, such as the Presidential Taskforce on Biodiversity.
The ESA Governing Board also convened as the ESA Certification Corporation Governing Board. The Board reviewed the certification program’s 2022 performance, noting the significant growth in applicants for the Certified IPM Technician program. The Board then reviewed and approved the 2023 budget as well as the minutes from the June 2022 meeting.
See past news and updates from the ESA Governing Board.
Minutes from past Governing Board meetings are available online following Governing Board approval.
For more info, visit the ESA Governing Board page.