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Conservation
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| You are here: Home > Publications > Newsletter > Archives > 2004-8-August > | ||||||||||||||||||
LOCAL CHAPTERS: ACTIVITIES, OUTREACH, AND RESOURCESIn the early months of 2004, Chapter Advisors Lisa Delissio, Fiona Nagle, and Cristian Olivio e-mailed a survey to the Board members of 16 SCB chapters, asking each to describe its most important activities, resources it could share with others, whether the chapter was interested in forming closer relationships with other chapters, and what types of assistance from SCB's Executive Office might benefit the chapter. We received responses from eight chapters (Berkeley, Bolivia, University of California-Davis, Minnesota, Missouri, New England, New Orleans, and Toronto) and Slovenia (not yet a chapter). This is an excellent response rate, especially considering that some e-mails probably went to dead addresses. If you are a chapter officer, please make sure that Paul Beier (Paul.Beier@nau.edu) has your current contact information. Chapter-Led Symposia, Meetings, and Seminars The Bolivia Chapter offered a seminar, Introduced Species in La Paz Valley, with sessions on flora and fauna. Colorado Plateau held a four-hour paper session devoted to conservation biology as part of the three-day Biennial Conference for Research on the Colorado Plateau in November 2003. They also held an independent annual meeting in April 2004 at Marble Canyon, Arizona, that featured 30-minute discussions on the practice of conservation [see SCB Newsletter 11(2)]. Davis hosted two conservation biologists (Devra Kleiman and Reed Noss) for major, campus-wide seminars, and co-sponsored an invasive species seminar series. In January 2004, Davis and Berkeley co-hosted the 6th Annual Bay Area Conservation Biology Symposium. The 210 attendees included 170 students. The one-day event included 42 oral presentations, 24 posters, two plenary speakers, a wine and cheese social, and a banquet. The event was a major fundraiser for the chapters. Minnesota held its first meeting jointly with the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and sponsored chapter socials. Missouri held its 7th annual meeting at the Missouri Natural Resources Conference. The chapter sponsored a student poster competition at the conference, awarding the winner a membership to SCB and choice of Conservation Biology or Conservation In Practice. New England held the seminar Conservation and the Internet. New Orleans hosted a symposium on conservation biology, organized an eco-lunch series, Pillars of Conservation Biology, and held a brown-bag lunch discussion on applied conservation with The Nature Conservancy. Educational Outreach, Web Sites, and Publications Berkeley created a regional listserv to alert members and others to conservation news in the region. Bolivia carried out an environmental education program at a school in La Paz to introduce nine-year-old children to principles and importance of conservation. They developed a hands-on program with five days of activities; each day focused on a different topic including wildlife trade, deforestation, and water and air contamination. Bolivia also collaborated with other institutions (PROBONA, SBS, IGEDES) to commemorate Earth Day. The chapter offered videos to children and adolescents, a seminar about soil problems in Bolivia, panels about desertification in Bolivia, and a nature walk through La Paz Valley. Davis visited six classes in two primary schools in Davis and Woodland, California, to teach students about the biology and conservation of California tiger salamanders and green sturgeon. The chapter members then exchanged educational programs with conservation biologists in other states and returned to the schools to present their partner schools' programs. For a copy of the program, visit http://scb.ucdavis.edu/education.htm. Missouri is creating a one-hour program for school children that incorporates some of the main concepts of conservation biology. In addition, Missouri has produced The Glade twice a year since 1998. Each issue typically includes two or three research articles, announcements, and regular features such as "The Nature Corner," in which a local naturalist writes about a favorite Missouri natural area. New England's Web site includes news, job listings, links to New England conservation sites, and the on-line journal Conservation Perspectives. New Orleans is preparing to launch conservation education and outreach programs in local primary and secondary schools. They plan to involve middle and high school students in their service projects and also bring conservation education and activities into the classrooms of some local schools. Chapter members will mentor 11th grade students with independent conservation biology-related science projects as well. Local service projects included New Orleans's weekend projects in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, similar daylong activities by Berkeley, and Davis's oak tree planting in a university riparian reserve. Davis led the way on political action, writing position papers on management of vernal pools, the California Watershed Protection and Restoration Act, and three other issues. Davis also holds "proposition potlucks" to educate its membership about ballot measures. Berkeley, Bolivia and New England, and Toronto expressed strong interest in a sister-chapter initiative that might link North American chapters with chapters elsewhere in the world. Currently there is only one active chapter outside North America (Bolivia). However, groups considering formation of a chapter might be encouraged by the idea of pairing up with existing, successful chapters. Several chapters offered to support other chapters on the following topics in which they have expertise or materials. Berkeley: documentation on how to set up a conference
Most chapters reported that they struggle with low participation in chapter projects and events. Davis netted $5000 from the 6th Annual Bay Area Conservation Biology Symposium, but most chapters have much less money. Most chapters set annual dues at levels believed to be affordable by students (who dominate their memberships); Missouri has never charged membership dues. The chapters were grateful for support from SCB's Executive Office, Web site access, use of SCB's tax-exempt status, and assistance with fundraising. Missouri was able to award an SCB membership with a subscription to an SCB journal (courtesy of the Executive Office) to the winner of their 2004 poster contest. Chapters requested several types of assistance from the Executive Office; these requests were discussed with Executive Director Alan Thornhill at the annual meeting, and some progress was made. It is likely that a pilot program for seed grants to help establish new chapters will be initiated in 2005. Chapters also may contact Kat Powers-Morris (kpm@conbio.org) to request donations of memberships or journal subscriptions as support or as prizes for competitions. The Executive Office already provides services that allow chapters to run a local electronic bulletin board, and can provide SCB signs, logos, and similar publicity materials (contact Kat Powers-Morris for details). We will develop some materials to help chapters seek small grants--visit the chapters page on the SCB Web site for updates. Lisa Delissio, Fiona Nagle, Cristian Olivio, and Paul Beier
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