Minutes of The Society of Ethnobiology Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
McKeever Conference Room, Lavin-BernickCenter
TulaneUniversity, New Orleans
Present: Gene Anderson, Dana Lepofsky, Denise Glover, Rainer Bussman, Marsha Quinlan, Justin Nolan, Jan Timbrook, Kay Fowler, Cecil Brown, Ginny Popper, Heather Trigg, Sandra Peacock, Steve Wolverton, John Tuxill, Shawna Cain, Becky Zarger
Regrets: Cissy Fowler; Kitty Emery;
- President’s Report (Gene Anderson)
1.1.Election Results
The results of the election were announced and are as follows:
- Justin Nolan, President Elect
- Cynthia Fowler, Secretary
- Kitty Emery, Board Member – Fundraising and Promotion
A total of 99 people voted this year versus 69 people last year.
1.2.Ethnobiology Textbook Update
The Society has a contract pending with Wiley-Blackwell to publish the ethnobiology textbook. Currently, five chapters have been submitted.
ACTION ITEM: Editors of text to sign contract with Wiley-Blackwell and continue to work with authors to finalize content.
- Old Business (Gene Anderson & Sandy Peacock)
The following are items of business since the September 2008 Board Meeting to be noted in the minutes:
2.1.The board approved the use of email ballots in lieu of paper ballots for the elections.
2.2.The idea to publish the Barbara Lawrence Award papers in the Journal of Ethnobiology was approved previously by the editors, Ginny Popper and Heather Trigg. There was some discussion concerning the process. It was agreed the editors would invite the winner to publish their manuscript, and IF THE MANUSCRIPT IS ACCEPTED, the author will be identified in the Journal as a Barbara Lawrence Award recipient.
2.3.Funding for Indigenous conference participants through the Christensen Fund has been cut due to the current financial situation. The Board agreed to brainstorm options for funding from other sources.
ACTION ITEM: Find alternative sources of funding for Indigenous participants for upcoming conferences.
2.4.It was agreed to post copies of the minutes of past Board meetings on the website. Paper copies will be kept by the Secretary.
ACTION ITEM: The minutes of Board meetings will be posted on the website. Board members will have access, but not the general membership. Paper copies will be kept by the Secretary.
ACTION ITEM: Past and present secretaries (Sandy Peacock & Cissy Fowler) will send minutes to John/Cheryl to post on web page. Steve Wolverton will send paper copies of minutes to Cissy Fowler.
Follow-up from September 2008 meeting – Secwepemc Ethnobotany Research Papers: Sandy Peacock is working with Nancy Turner and Marianne Ignace to prepare prospectus to submit as Volume 1 of the new Contributions in Ethnobiology series.
ACTION ITEM: Sandy Peacock will ensure a chapter outline is submitted to the Editors of the Contributions in Ethnobiology series.
2.5.Follow-up from September 2008 meeting – Reviewers for the Journal: John Tuxill is working to develop a notice on the Society website to solicit reviewers for the Journal.
ACTION ITEM: John Tuxill will prepare notice for SoE website to solicit reviewers for the Journal of Ethnobiology.
2.6.Follow-up from September 2008 meeting – Recommendation to hire an auditor: Steve Wolverton checked with other societies as to how they handled issue of auditing. The concern is transparency to membership through the Board. Steve recommends we do an extended Treasurer’s Report that shows the books in more detail and he feels this should be relatively easy as “books” are digital. In addition, a small subcommittee would review the books every two years.
Motion: The Society ensures we have “transparent books” in the annual report and once every two years, a subcommittee consisting of the Treasurer and two people will review the books. Motioned by Steve Wolverton, seconded by Ginny Popper. Motion carried.
2.7.Follow-up from September 2008 meeting – By-law Update on Website: Sandy Peacock to pass the changes along to Cissy Fowler.
ACTION ITEM: S. Peacock to teach C. Fowler how to update SoE by-laws on the website. C. Fowler will finish updating by-laws.
2.8.Follow-up from September 2008 meeting – Society of Ethnobiology Lifetime Achievement Awards: All board members agree this is a good idea and like the Society of Economic Botany Model proposed by Rainer Bussman.
ACTION ITEM: R. Bussman & S. Wolverton to prepare proposal for SoE Lifetime Achievement Awards and report to the Board meeting in September 2009.
- Treasurer’s Report (Steve Wolverton)
Steve reports we’re growing and in good shape!
There was discussion concerning security and privacy issues with paper copies of membership applications and renewals. Steve proposed that all paper copies be shredded as soon as the memberships are processed.
Motion: The Treasurer will shred all paper copies of membership forms with credit card and personal information as soon as the memberships are processed. Motioned by Steve Wolverton, seconded by Dana Lepofsky. Motion carried.
Steve also discussed the merchant account which allows people to phone credit card orders in and has advantages that regular checking account doesn’t have. Steve would like to keep the merchant account because it gives the Society flexibility. Board members discussed moving some of the monies in the merchant account into another account. Steve will transfer some funds at some point in the near future.
ACTION ITEM: S. Wolverton to transfer some funds from the merchant account into another account.
The Barbara Lawrence Award is currently $500. The Board discussed ways in which we can sustain this endowment.
Motion: The Barbara Lawrence Award funds will be combined with a Certificate of Deposit to ensure that funds will continue to be available. Motioned by Steve Wolverton, seconded by an unrecorded Board member. Motion carried.
ACTION ITEM: S. Wolverton to combine the Barbara Lawrence funds with a Certificate of Deposit.
Motion: Dana Lepofsky moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion seconded by Shawna Cain. Treasurer’s Report submitted.
- Report from Web Liaison (John Tuxill)
John Tuxill he has been working since September to get up speed with the software in conjunction with our web designer, Cheryl Takahashi. They are working on maintaining announcements and some of the other pages, with a goal to be proactive (rather than reactive).
Cheryl has designed several sections/components. Access for Board Members is now set up, as is individual access and accounts for members, including Paypal for memberships. The conference page is updated, and abstracts from last year’s conference have been added. This year, people were able to register and submit abstracts using online forms linked to Paypal. Cheryl and John worked closely with Bill Balee and others for this year’s conference. The Ethnobiology Around the World section has also been enlarged with photos.
ACTION ITEM: J. Tuxill to look into tasks around website maintenance that could be handed to students or other members to post on website (e.g., news about ethnobiology in the popular media).
Board Members discussed amount of time it takes for professional designer to maintain the website versus a Board Member acting as a liaison. There may be some things better handled by the pros and Board Members could be used more effectively for other tasks.
ACTION ITEM: J. Tuxill to think about how work around website might best be divided up between the “pros” and the Board members.
There is now a “Yes/No” check box for society mailings so members can let us know on membership whether they want other mailings from other societies.
- Report from Outreach (Becky Zagar & Shawna Cain)
Becky updated the Board on the Student Roundtable lunches being held during the Conference. The themes were based on discussions with Paul Minnis as well as input from students. If these go well, the idea would be to have them as an annual event at our conferences.
One of Justin Nolan’s students organized a pub nite for students, Board Members and new members at the BOOT – the pub on campus, for Thursday night at 6:00 pm.
The Outreach committee is looking for proposals for student involvement for next year and raised the question of a student travel award? Perhaps we could offer one or two $500 travel awards based on abstracts?
ACTION ITEM: Further discussion/input is required regarding student involvement and travel awards for upcoming conferences.
Outreach Committee Report submitted.
- 2009 Conference Report (Bill Balee)
Bill Balee presented a brief update on the status of the conference. As of Wednesday, April 1, 108 people were registered for the conference (including volunteers), 75 for the banquet, and 47 for the various field trips. Bill reports we may make a small profit on the conference. The largest costs incurred have been for catering events (such as the welcoming reception and student round table lunches); the Banquet is self-funding;
ACTION ITEM: Bill Balee to send the Board a note about what worked and what didn’t work for the New Orleans conference as well as any suggestions for next year’s conference.
- Report from Conference Coordinator (Denise Glover)
Denise Glover reported on the next meeting venues. The 2010 meetings will be held in Victoria, British Columbia and plans are coming together nicely. These meetings will be back to back with the International Society of Ethnobiology meetings with the hope that members of both societies will be able to participate in both meetings.
Oaxaca is a possible venue for the meetings in 2011, pending political outcomes. Discussions with Alejandro are in progress and look positive.
Denise is looking for suggestions for future venues – the goal is to be 2 years ahead in our planning.
The Conference Handbook has been updated and is available in a digital format. However, the Handbook is really a work in progress so ALL are invited to share their wisdom on this matter!
ACTION ITEM: Denise Glover will send the Conference Handbook to past conference organizers, asking for their input/additions/suggestions.
The issue of waivers for conferences came up. A total of three waivers were granted this year, but the Board needs to consider an official protocol for these waivers (e.g., are they just for Indigenous people or for anyone with financial need). The issue of waivers has become more challenging with the loss of the Christensen funding. The Board needs to look into other funding avenues for Indigenous participants. Rainer Bussman suggested conference organizers contact local sponsors too.
ACTION ITEM: D. Glover (as conference coordinator) and S. Wolverton to discuss how best to proceed with waivers for future conferences.
- Report from Editors of Journal (Ginny Popper and Heather Trigg)
The next issue of the Journal is ready to go to the printers by mid-April. The Editors currently have 4 accepted manuscripts, 1 in review, 9 that were returned to the authors (although 6 of these are rather old and may never come back). Ginny and Heather are working to form the editorial board to get a balance of experience and background. Suggestions for editorial board members are welcome.
Ginny and Heather reviewed a number of formatting changes for the Journal. These include moving to 2 column format and a slightly smaller font to be able to fit more type per page. This new format (2 columns, smaller font) lets us publish more papers per issue, increases exposure, and allows more flexibility in placing photos and figures.
There was discussion about the number of abstracts currently required by the Journal. The Editors wondered if we need to have 2 foreign-language abstracts in addition to English-language version, and, if we change this, what will be the implications for our foreign exposure? Rainer Bussman suggested the abstracts be submitted in English AND in the language where the research was conducted.
Motion: The Journal of Ethnobiology require 2 abstracts per article, one in English and the other in a language of the author’s choice. Motioned by S. Wolverton. Seconded by D. Glover. Motion carried.
The issue of informed consent for informants was also discussed. It was agreed that: 1) ALL personal communications cited in a journal article require proof of personal communication (letter or email); and 2) authors should include a statement concerning Informed Consent in their Methodology section and this statement should clearly outline what they told their consultants/informants regarding the use(s) of the data collected.
Gary Nabhan is writing the first Guest Essay – a new feature for the Journal. The essays will be approximately 2000 words. Nabhan’s will be out in the next issue of the Journal.
The Editors raised the issue of posting Journal articles online in digital archives at universities as they have had a number of requests by authors to reprint their Journal of Ethnobiology articles in “online” journals and also “open access” publications by universities. It was agreed that anything published prior to 2004 can be published online. However, after 2005 – BioOne owns the copyright for the material.
ACTION ITEM: G. Popper and H. Trigg to contact BioOne to find out if BioOne will allow the Editors to post Journal of Ethnobiology articles online in digital archives at universities.
Ginny and Heather noted that we could use more manuscripts and asked if authors need to be members to publish. It was decided that we should encourage potential authors to become members but not make membership a requirement for publishing in the Journal.
Previously, it was suggested that an on-ine submission and review system be developed for the Journal. The Editors report they are currently doing everything online anyways and don’t see the need, given the current volume of manuscripts, to put such a system in place and to pay for it.
Code of Ethics
There was discussion about revising the Society’s Code of Ethics. In the past, we have used the Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology, but it was agreed that we should revisit this. Kay Fowler suggested that we form a committee to review and update the Code of Ethic.
MOTION: S. Wolverton to form a committee to review options for revising the Society’s Codes of Ethics. Proposed and seconded by an unknown Board Members Motion carried.
ACTION ITEM: S. Wolverton to organize a Code of Ethics Review Committee.
Report from Journal Liaison(Rainer Bussman)
Posting in press issues of the Journal of Ethnobiology. We are not able to do this due to our contract with BioOne.
Posting/Scanning back issues (Steve and Marsha)
Scanned back issues went to Smithsonian for Biodiversity Heritage Library and then to Missouri Botanical Garden. The scans were incomplete, so the group working on this task is starting over. Steve has contacted Doug for hard copies of back issues. Barck issues will be on in 6-7 months. Issues 1 to 8 are complete, so send to Cheryl ASAP so she and get them up on the web. The first batch has been sent since the Board Meeting.
Journal Design Committee
A committee that included Ginny, Heather, Marsha, and Rainer met to discuss redesigning the Journal of Ethnobiology.
Report from Special Advisor on Publications (Marsha)
ISI/BioScience indexes Journal issues for web availability. Naomi Miller was the person who created this. Indexes include a list of titles, volumes, and dates. The index is expanding to include key words for papers so people can search the website for terms and find articles more easily. At this stage, 25% of published articles have keywords. The system will eventually have searchable PDFs on the website so people can search easily and don’t necessarily need key words.
BHL update (index, timing, etc.)
Marsha sending index and updated scans to BHL so that all past articles will be available through BHL.
ACTION ITEM: R. Bussman to email IT folks at Missouri Botanical Gardens to make sure they have the up to date versions.
Research Papers in Ethnobiology Series (Dana, Marsha) 15 minutes
Idea to have online, downloadable “monograph” or “occasional” series, longer manuscripts “Ethnobotany of xxx.” These publications are not meant to compete with Journal in any way. To archive, get ISBNs for SoE. When printed, put ISBN on it and send to Library of Congress.
Board Members discussed how to structure the Series. Cheryl has proposal for how this would look and how to set it up. Marsha to take this on as part of her appointment. She will develop a proposal for coordinating with the Journal, the structure of an
Editorial board, whether or not the publications will be refereed, appointing a Copy Editor, and other steps for setting up the Series.
The names“Contributions in Ethnobiology” and“Research Contributions in Ethnobiology” were proposed.
ACTION: Marsha and Editors to put together a formal proposal for Ethnobiology Series to be reviewed at September meeting.
Treasurer Business (Steve) – 20 minutes
New membership structure