4 September 2009 USAS President’s Message As this is my first message at USAS President I would like to thank the membership for their support in choosing me to lead the US Aquaculture Society and represent the society on the board of the World Aquaculture Society. I’d also like to thank those of you that were able to attend Aquaculture America 2009 in Seattle, WA and help make it a successful conference even give the current economic turmoil in the US. This says a lot about our society, the dedication of our membership and our industry in general. In 2010 USAS will celebrate its 20th Anniversary!!! USAS plans to recognize those with 10+ years membership. Chris Green has agreed to serve as the Program Chairman for the 2011 Aquaculture America Conference in New Orleans and Reg Blaylock has agreed to chair the Steering Committee. Thanks to both of you for volunteering to serve. Our Publications committee chaired by Wade Watanabe continues to do an outstanding job. Wade and his committee, with the assistance of Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, recently published their third book since 2007 and Wade along with co-author Harry Daniels have a fourth book entitled “Practical Flatfish Culture and Stock Enhancement” due to be published later this year or in early 2010. Ken Riley, our Student Liaison, is already making plans for the student activities for the WAS Triennial next year in San Diego, CA. Matt DiMaggio a doctoral student at the University of Florida, has agreed to serve as the 2010-2011 Student Liaison and will be assisting Ken with the plans for San Diego. As the new President of USAS several of the goals I hope to accomplish during my term include the formation of a new committee to Promote and Educate the Public as to the Safety, Science and Sustainability of Aquaculture and Aquaculture Products. Frankly, I am really disturbed by the bad press aquaculture receives since most is either not sciencebased or simply based on bad science. I think it is time for the USAS (and others) to take a more proactive role in promoting/protecting our industry and what better way to do that than through education. Along the same lines with the Board’s cooperation I would also like to see the formation of a new committee to Promote Aquaculture Education at the K-12 and undergraduate levels and USAS’s participation in the development of Standardized Aquaculture Teaching Curriculums for K-12. Dave Cline, an Aquaculture Extension Specialist at Auburn University, is currently working on his Ph.D. examining teacher priorities for aquaculture education topics and teacher confidence in teaching those subject areas with the goal of identifying teacher training needs and gaps in available teaching materials. Dave participated in our recent Board of Directors conference call and prior to the call provided the Board with a list of suggestions for how USAS can get involved in aquaculture education. Additionally, he provided a quote from the summary portion of the National Aquaculture Curriculum Phase II Evaluation Report submitted to the National Council for Agriculture Education/USDA that to me sums up why USAS should be on the forefront of this effort. The quote David provided (Conroy & Peasley, 1998, page 22) starts out saying “Aquaculture has, perhaps more than any other agriculture or academic content area, the potential for interdisciplinary and collaborative instruction.” The evaluation team then cited the survey data and said that it “indicates the opportunities are limitless and go beyond the traditional academic-vocational integration.” At a time when enrollment in college aquaculture programs is down nationwide, USAS’s participation would also provide an opportunity to introduce aquaculture to the next generation of aquaculturists. I’d also like to take this opportunity to announce several “new” Student Awards. USAS in collaboration with the Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society has established the “FCS/USAS Best Student Abstract Travel Award.” To be eligible you must be a member of both the AFS Fish Culture Section and USAS and be presenting at the conference. This is a $500 Award. Another new award for 2010 is the “James Ebeling Undergraduate Student Travel Scholarship.” Dr. James Ebeling has generously donated $500 to fund conference travel for a deserving undergraduate who demonstrates in interest and potential to contribute to the field of US Aquaculture. The only eligibility requirement is that the student must be enrolled in a two- or four-year undergraduate degree program with an emphasis in aquaculture. The award also includes 1-year student membership in WAS and the US Chapter and a complimentary student registration to the conference. James challenges others to step forward to sponsor additional student travel grants. For more information of these and other Student Awards please contact Michael Schwarz via e-mail at mschwarz@vt.edu. Finally, I’d like to thank immediate Past-President Rebecca Lochmann for her excellent leadership of the society during her recent term and look forward to continuing to work with her as she leads the Executive Board. Additionally, I’d like to welcome new board members Reg Blaylock and Gef Flemlin as well as express my appreciation for the continued dedication of those returning board members, committee chairs and committee members. LaDon Swan also deserves special thanks for his continuing effort to update USAS’s 5-Year Strategic Plan. LaDon has set an aggressive timeline to have (Continued on page 6)
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