Candidate Q&A
We asked our candidates three questions about the future of the Society for Freshwater Science, emerging challenges for our society and others, and emerging challenges for aquatic sciences in particular. Here are their responses.
Question 1
What do you think are the current challenges facing the Society for Freshwater Science?
President
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Randy Fuller: We must continue to develop a comprehensive business plan that accurately reflects all membership and meeting needs so we are certain all business aspects are covered when competitive bids are solicited. We also need to share our scientific findings in ways that inform and educate policy makers, politicians, educators and the general public about the threats to aquatic resources and how best to protect freshwater systems. |
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Sherri L. Johnson: As we implement our new name, journal title, and by-laws, it is essential for the Society to continue to meet the needs of being relevant and intellectually stimulating for our members, from researchers and educators, to natural resource managers and students. And we have to balance the costs of Annual Meeting and publishing the journal with funding generated. |
Academic Delegate
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Caryn Vaughn: We need to retain and hopefully grow our membership while transitioning from NABS to SFS. |
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Alan Steinman: The largest challenge facing our Society is making the transition from NABS to SFS as seamless as possible. Associated with this transition is the need to continue promoting our Journal and making it the strongest possible outlet for aquatic publications. Additional challenges include the need to continue identifying and implementing strategies to encourage student membership from throughout the world and building the Society’s endowment fund. |
Early Career Delegate
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David Costello: We need to retain and hopefully grow our membership while transitioning from NABS to SFS. As we go through the name change process I feel it is imperative to use this opportunity to become a true “freshwater” society. I feel SFS needs to make a concerted effort to encourage aquatic scientists working in lakes, wetlands, and estuaries to participate in the society and journal. |
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Michelle Greenwood: One of the most pressing challenges facing the Society is maintaining and improving our relevance and usefulness in helping address the ecological issues that our environment and society faces. In particular, a large challenge lies in communicating the useful science we do to the people and places that can use it. |
Question 2
What do you think are the emerging challenges facing the Society for Freshwater Science (and other scientific societies)?
President
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Randy Fuller: Again, I believe we are doing excellent science and both our journal and annual meetings are excellent venues for sharing our findings with other scientists, but until our science has impacts on policies that protect and conserve aquatic resources, I do not believe we are doing enough as a professional society. Our science is what defines us, but we need to develop ways to share this information with others outside our community. |
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Sherri L. Johnson: How do we best serve and continue to attract young members as they move into different job markets than existed 10-20 years ago? And what is the optimal size of meetings and the Society, especially because we rely on volunteers for many of our Society tasks, and everyone has so many demands on their time? |
Academic Delegate
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Caryn Vaughn: SFS and other scientific societies will need to remain relevant to a young membership raised on the internet. SFS needs to become a stronger advocate for ensuring that high quality freshwater science influences policy decisions and that freshwater science is adequately funded. |
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Alan Steinman: There are 3 emerging challenges that I feel are most critical: 1) recruitment and retention of membership; 2) educating the general public and our elected officials on the value that our Society (and others) provides through our research findings and outreach activities; and 3) raising funds to both build the Society’s capacity and endow its future. |
Early Career Delegate
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David Costello: There are a number of emerging problems that interface freshwater science with policy decisions and I believe SFS needs to take an active role in these discussions. In the past SFS has made statements about important issues like population and economic growth. The society should continue to be involved in ongoing and future discussions of hydrofracking, climate change, and shortages of freshwater. |
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Michelle Greenwood: Providing accurate and reliable science fast enough, and in a readily usable form to keep pace with the changing environmental conditions and anthropogenic demands on freshwater is a real challenge. I think that encouraging international and intra-disciplinary collaborations will help answer some of the large-scale and widespread issues relating to freshwaters. |
Question 3
What are the emerging challenges for science in general, and the aquatic sciences in particular?
President
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Randy Fuller: Scientists are very good at what we do, but we do not always communicate our findings to society or policy makers in ways that inform and educate others. The consequences of global climate change and the increased threats to freshwater resources were highlighted at the Providence meetings, and as an international society, we need to do more to help protect and conserve freshwater resources globally. |
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Sherri L. Johnson: With funding for research and education becoming tighter, it is becoming increasingly challenging to address environmental issues, fund basic research, and education. Awareness and understanding of the crucial and unique aspects and ecosystem functions of rivers and streams is limited, even though water is being recognized as an emerging issue for climate change. |
Academic Delegate
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Caryn Vaughn: Scientists need to do a much better job communicating the importance of their work, particularly basic research, to policy makers and the public. The public needs to understand that investing in knowledge is important. Ensuring that freshwater ecosystems receive the water they need in the face of increasing human demand and large scale environmental change is a daunting challenge, and the expertise of SFS scientists will play a large role. |
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Alan Steinman: The first challenge is communication; it is essential that we engage society in an honest and open fashion to discuss critical issues. We must become more adept at communicating information effectively. A second challenge is developing the necessary tools to predict the availability and sustainability of fresh water at regionally relevant scales. A third challenge is the need to move from problem-guided science to solution-guided science. SFS can be at the forefront of hosting workshops and authoring white papers that focus on prospective topics or success stories involving transdisciplinary approaches to address critical aquatic science issues. |
Early Career Delegate
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David Costello: In general, we need to do a better job teaching science to young students and citizens, and involving K-12 teachers in scientific societies and professional conferences can help. Additionally, scientists need to do a better job of communicating with the public, particularly when discussing scientific uncertainty, which is often interpreted as a lack of evidence and a reason for inaction. |
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Michelle Greenwood: Scientists must learn to showcase our research better to non-scientists. Almost every conference I have attended, from aquatic to terrestrial-orientated meetings, has had better science communication as a theme. We continue to do high quality research but we must learn to make wise use of the expanding range of technologies available for showcasing our results. An ecological argument, even founded on strong evidence, can be lost if the scientific results are not presented well. Freshwater is a vital resource; we need people to understand not only that but also the main issues affecting its quality and quantity. |
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