What does a Chapter do?

Every chapter has similar goals, generally expressed as "promoting development of skills needed to conserve biodiversity, providing a forum for awareness of regional issues, articulating positions on matters of public policy, and fostering high standards of professional integrity." Each chapter needs to translate these laudable general goals into One or Two Things Our Chapter Wants To Do Well. Please avoid the temptation to take on too much! Instead, identify one or two "vacant niches" that your chapter can fill, or key services that you can provide. Do one or two things well, and consistently provide that service year after year.

The top three activities of successful chapters are:

1. An annual Conservation Biology Symposium. It can be a stand-alone event, such as offered jointly by the Berkeley and Davis chapters in California's San Francisco Bay Area, or a session of papers on Conservation Biology offered as part of an existing annual regional meeting, as is done by Missouri and Colorado Plateau chapters. In both cases, conservation biologists in a region get a regular opportunity to learn about ongoing projects in the region, meet each other, and form a network. With high-quality programs, these soon become annual "must attend" meetings not only for students but also for conservation practitioners. A chapter-run symposium also generates revenue, especially if you find donors willing to contribute food and drinks for session breaks, the evening mixer, and the poster session. A lunch break of 90-120 minutes during the annual symposium is an ideal time for your annual meeting. The Bay Area Symposium costs about $5,000 to produce, but generates a profit with registration fees of $20 for students (about 200 attend) and $35 for non-students (about 100 attend) for the all-day event (held on a Saturday). The honorarium and travel costs for a big-name plenary speaker are a major expense, but are worthwhile investments. Take advantage of locally prominent persons by having them serve as session chairs. Advertise the event several months in advance, listing those big names prominently. If you do not get a few complaints about too much publicity, you probably are not advertising aggressively enough.

    

2. Seminar Series. A monthly or quarterly seminar series on Conservation Biology is another excellent service that your Chapter can provide. A reception for the speaker before or after the talk should include food (make sure it is consistently good food!). Do not charge admission, but the introducer should always encourage the audience to join the local chapter and support the series. Try to arrange a big name speaker for the first event of the season, and be aggressive with publicity.

    

3. Web sites and electronic or paper newsletters (2 to 4 issues per year). These are helpful for alerting members to special talks of interest, important hearings on projects affecting biodiversity, and the like. The newsletter of at least one chapter (Missouri) includes short research reports from ongoing projects. The web site is worthless if it is not updated at least every 6 weeks - seek an energetic webmaster! A most helpful feature is an electronic Bulletin Board that allows members to post and read announcements. The SCB Executive Office offers web services such as website hosting and listservs. Please contact the Chapters webmaster for information on these resources. 

    

Other activities that have been successful for some chapters include environmental education in elementary schools (for resources see the Kids Do Ecology site), field events such as oak restoration or road-ripping, and providing written and oral comments on proposed projects that affect biodiversity. Typically, a field event or position statement is driven by interest of one crusading member, and thus changes from year to year. Facilitating the success of your local activists can be one of your most important functions! But remember that without some regular and reliable high-profile service (such as activities 1, 2, and 3 above), these activists won't find your chapter, and your chapter probably won't live long. Some year-to-year tradition of providing an important service is essential.

A final activity that you may wish to make one of your chapter's main activities is to establish a Sister Chapter relationship. Sistering can occur between two active chapters, an active chapter and a forming chapter, an active chapter in a developed country and a chapter in a developing country, or any combination of the above. Sistering allows chapters to share resources, exchange information and ideas, and provide moral support. For more information, or to find a sister chapter, please contact the Chair of the Chapters Advisory Committee.

Whatever activities your Chapter seeks to undertake, selecting those specific activities, and enshrining them as your focus, is the key to your chapter's success. This should be the main agenda item of your kickoff meeting. Please don't create a chapter for the sake of having a chapter - if you can't identify some key needs that a local chapter would serve, don't create one!

Local chapters are invariably run by volunteers, and volunteer burnout is a leading cause of CDS (Chapter Death Syndrome). As your chapter matures, and especially if you can generate revenue from an annual meeting or other source, we encourage you to consider hiring a part-time webmaster and administrator to maintain membership records, handle e-communication, and alert the officers when they are delinquent. This is a good way to organize the volunteer energy, and to free up officers for creative work. Find a well-organized person with a full time job and hire them for an additional 2-4 hours a week. Perhaps an academic or other professional on your Board can have someone on their staff assist with the work.