AOU Activities – 2008

Report to members from Erica Dunn, Past President

This last year of my Presidency saw much progress and consolidation in initiatives undertaken the year before.

Transition to University of California Press is well underway, and we expect successful completion by the end of 2008. The backlog of manuscripts has been erased, so this is a good time to submit, and papers now appear online before the print version is available. Impact Factor of The Auk is rising. A Publications Task Force has been established and Terms of Reference developed, which should result in important recommendations by March 2009 for the future of our publications. The transition to UC Press was not always easy, but we’re increasingly optimistic that all hoped for benefits will come to fruition over the next year.

The AOU website continues to be improved and expanded, and if you haven’t explored the site, do take some time to do so, as there are lots of useful resources here.

Meeting planning is well advanced, with venues chosen through 2012. The Student Affairs Committee continues to do a fantastic job organizing special events that get students and professional interacting both informally and professionally.

Finances are healthy, and after a few years of tight budgets and financial discipline, we’re starting to see opportunities for judicious increases in spending. Council has begun the process of setting priorities for use of extra funds as they become available. The 125 th anniversary Endowment Campaign is ongoing, and as of end August, 2008, we were about halfway to our campaign target of raising $125,000 (a thousand for each year of AOU’s history). If you have not made a donation yet, go to the Donations webpage and support the society that is so well serving your interests as an ornithologist.

AOU continued to provide support for students in the form of Research Awards ($45,000), Travel Grants ($24,000, including our first-ever grants targeted at post-docs), and best presentation awards ($900). We provided free memberships to 40 students. We also allocated $5,000 to capacity-building grants for Latin American ornithological organizations, and will continue that program in 2009. The AOU Council decided to add $15,000 to Research Grants for 2009, so next year AOU will give out about $80,000 and in grants and awards.

There are more than 30 AOU committees with over 200 members, so I can’t detail their activities here. However, I’d like to feature the Conservation Committee, which was particularly active this year, preparing important reviews of government management or conservation plans on Northern Goshawk, Northern Spotted Owl and California Condor. In other conservation-related activities, the AOU decided to permanently support a student presentation award for a presentation on conservation, and renamed the AOU Conservation Award, established 2 years ago, as the Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award. Ralph was active in AOU, and well known for his verve and his dedication and energy for conservation and research on seabirds.

My 4 years as President-Elect and President have been busy, but very rewarding, and I’m exceedingly grateful to the people who have carried so much of the load and with whom it has been a great pleasure to work. I thank retiring Council members, Reed Bowman, Bob Curry, Helen James and Tom Sherry. I’d like to recognize all committee chairs and members, and especially those chairs who are stepping down: Gene Morton from Public Responsibility, Jeff Marks from Publications, and Dick Banks from the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature – North and Middle America . Jeff helped lead us through the many decisions needed during our switch to University of California Press, and Dick has done yeoman duty for years as Chair of the “Checklist” Committee. Committee jobs are extremely important to AOU, and are usually done quietly behind the scenes without much public recognition.

I also wish to thank Spencer Sealy and John Faaborg, editors respectively of The Auk and Ornithological Monographs, who will both be ending their terms before mid-2009. Spencer oversaw the transition to University of California Press, and cleared up the backlog of manuscripts that is now allowing us to publish more quickly after manuscript acceptance. John not only developed the monograph series as a more frequent and regular publication, but also served as AOU editor for the Series in Ornithology books, published with the Nuttall Ornithological Society.

I extend appreciation to the other officers, Frank Gill, Sara Morris and Jed Burtt, for the sound advice and support they provided me in our many conference calls over the past 2 years, and to Executive Officer Scott Gillihan. Scott has been taking on an ever-increasing role in keeping the business of AOU running smoothly, and his continued work will help smooth the way for Jed Burtt as he takes over the Presidency.