AOU | Committees | Student Affairs

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Student Affairs Committee

Origin and History

There has been concern in recent years about declining student membership in ornithological societies, including the American Ornithologists' Union. Students play an important role in the AOU because they represent the next cohort of ornithologists and, consequently, the future of the AOU. To address this concern and to promote student involvement in the AOU, the Committee on Student Affairs was created in 2003.

Objectives

To identify the needs of student members and develop mechanisms to address them.
To increase student membership, student attendance at annual meetings and student involvement in the operation of the AOU.
To foster interactions between students and established ornithologists.
To serve as a liaison between student members and the governing bodies of the AOU.
To increase student involvement in AOU committees and governance.
To improve technological tools available to students (e.g. website functionality, email communication tools).
To promote workshops at meetings on topics especially relevant to students (e.g., grant writing, publishing, paper reviewing).
To promote student activities at annual meetings.

Activities

The Committee organizes the following activities at the annual meetings of the AOU:

Members

The 2007-2008 Committee consists of:

Melanie Colon, Chair (University of Washington)
Julie Garvin (Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project)
Erin Hewett (Virginia Tech University)
Christopher Nadeau (University of Arizona)
Pete Hosner (University of Kansas)
Becky Hilton (North Carolina State University)
Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez (Cornell University)
Willow Lindsay (Washington State University)
Khara Strum (Kansas State University)
Dan Barton (University of Montana)

For more information about the AOU Committee on Student Affairs or how you can get involved in its activities, contact Melanie Colon ().