Message from the President: Away She Goes

Abstract

As I write this, we are in the final weeks of June 2024, with a turn-over in board membership imminent. My first inclination was to title this piece: “back to the future” as I am writing a message “from the president” when indeed I am serving as president-elect. However, I wasn't sure that would make sense and feared I'd lose readers early on. Thankfully, ASLO has a strong history of peaceful transitions in elected office and I am sure everything will be historically accurate by the time you read this. So let's all pretend it's the future for the remainder of this message. If you wish to skip reading the rest of this piece, my main message is to ask for your feedback. Please communicate your needs and desires for how ASLO can support you and, if you are able, join the many volunteers engaged in ASLO; there are roles for volunteers at all levels of commitment.

I heartily thank outgoing board members Ajit Subramanian, Amina Pollard, Manda Kambikambi, and past-president Roxane Maranger who put so much into shepherding ASLO through the pandemic. I welcome and congratulate new board members Alia Benedict, Rita Franco-Santos, Kateri Salk, president-elect Paul del Giorgio, and thank Dianne Greenfield for her continued services as ASLO secretary, responsible for key roles with membership and records. I want to especially thank and acknowledge those who stood for election but do not get to serve. I look forward to working together with all of you on behalf of aquatic scientists globally, no matter how salty, fresh, or muddy.

Our ASLO is the leading international aquatic sciences society that supports a global community of dedicated scientists. Together we promote the understanding, discovery, as well as sustainable and equitable management of aquatic environments. ASLO is unique in that it provides opportunities to collaborate globally, with diverse aquatic scientists. ASLO members and their scientific prowess are key to addressing many urgent environmental crises, some of planetary proportions. Humanity has overcome environmental threats through leveraging scientific knowledge, identification of common goals, and collaboration. We are seeing the resulting successes. Reversals in the decline of atmospheric ozone concentrations, recovering whale and bird populations, and conservation of large swaths of ocean and terrestrial areas through transnational conservation agreements are but a few examples. These achievements are built solidly on the basis of sound science and dedicated individuals that collaborated on a common goal. Regrettably, there are many challenges remaining. ASLO members are the perfect community to tackle these challenges collectively and it is my sincere hope that ASLO can help you be as effective and impactful as you can be in your important work, whether it be fundamental or applied science, education or in many other sectors including in industry, governments, or the military. Let us know how we can help!

The Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin (ASM 2024) has just ended and the thrill of over 750 participants from at least 39 countries sharing great science, connecting with the community, and enjoying being together is still lingering. ASLO meetings are huge successes and this one was no exception. The conference was filled with outstanding posters and talks, including those by our deserving awardees and inspiring plenary speakers. There were cutting edge science presentations, booming evening receptions, vibrant poster sessions, and many specialty workshops and town halls to meet members' needs. What can't be measured in numbers was the sheer fun of everyone dancing to “Love train” performed by a live band during the ASLO party (I do have photos!) and imbibing “mashed potato martinis” (Fig. 1) that delivered their punch through high calorie and carbohydrate counts. People reconnecting were in high spirits with enthusiasm evident by, amongst others, excellent attendance at the evening receptions, an entire large (!) lab showing up in matching Hawai'i shirts, the stunning conference center, and the many new and old friends one had the opportunity to meet.

The ASLO meetings are so successful because they are a collaboration between ASLO staff, led by executive director Teresa Curto, our business office—now fronted by the wonderful Mik Bauer of Bostrom, the meetings committee, and the board who plan all aspects of the conference years in advance, from facilitating meeting venues, organization, and structure. Much is contributed by our members, including the scientific organizing committee, led by Grace Wilkerson and Jake Vander Zanden for ASM 2024 that fill the rooms with meaningful sessions and events. Session chairs make an important contribution by designing sessions that allow our community to present, observe, and discuss the latest science. Once attendees arrive for the opening mixer, the magic is complete. ASLO would be nothing without the engaged volunteers that serve so admirably. ASLO of course is a not-for-profit organization and any revenue generated at meetings or through our publications is used to keep ASLO running and to provide the many member benefits besides meetings that ASLO offers, including student travel awards, catered receptions, substantive publication discounts, professional development and personal well-being seminars, amongst many others. Importantly, if you know of member benefits you would like to receive, please suggest them!

In addition to excellent meetings, ASLO's publications are knocking it out of the park, under the able leadership of the editors in chief, as well as deputy and associate editors. Look for new opportunities with L&O Methods as Paul Kemp retires (yes, gasp) and we welcome Krista Longnecker as the new editor in chief after a competitive, open search. Our publications also rely on volunteering from ASLO members, and I am sending a heartfelt thank you to all the amazing reviewers that take on manuscript reviews despite considerable other demands on their time. Having served as Associate Editor at L&O for many years, the number one memory I have was the outstanding reviews submitted. It was evident that so often anonymous reviewers put in hours of time to make the manuscript the best it can be. I too have had papers rejected and realize the feedback is not always welcome. Given my very large sample size of handling manuscripts, the generosity and engagement of L&O reviewers shines brightest in my mind. The high standards for thoughtful and constructive reviews with ASLO journals is clearly something authors notice as well (Cloern 2023). I am mindful of the fatigue that is evident in our (and every) community. Moreover, volunteering requires that one has sufficient resources and a supportive work and home life that allows one to take on the tasks that ASLO service involves. To avoid conflicts of interest, ASLO has the policy of not paying volunteers, although travel for some service is paid for. A consequence of relying on self-identified volunteers though is that the make-up of ASLO volunteers is far less diverse than desirable. Despite ASLO's commitment to diversity, we have far to go. I wrote about this in some detail in a prior L&O Bulletin piece (Menden-Deuer 2022 and references therein). As ASLO president, I stand by my dedication to supporting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. A recent special issue in Oceanography, the journal by our sister society The Oceanography Society (TOS), is a thorough guide on issues and opportunities (Kappel et al. 2023). I have already connected with TOS leadership and their committee to build bridges so we can collaborate on this important effort. I will be engaging with the board to continue offering existing efforts to support members and diversify our membership, such as through online meeting spaces for networking, skill building, professional development, and well-being webinars. We will also be looking for new and additional ways to support and serve our members, and we would love to hear your ideas. It is the dedication of our engaged members that keep ASLO running and aquatic sciences vibrant.

ASLO has undergone three major changes in the past decade with: (1) Switching publishers for our journals (2015), (2) Weathering the pandemic (2020 with lingering effects), and (3) Switching the Association Management company that runs our business office (2023). These changes were necessitated by a shifting publication landscape, an airborne virus, and the retirement of our long-term business manager Helen Schneider, respectively. While these changes could have negatively impacted ASLO, able leadership, dedicated staff, and, again, the efforts of engaged members result in a strong ASLO, stronger than it has ever been, including financially. ASLO is resilient and together, we will make sure it stays that way.

The first of these changes, the switch to Wiley as our publisher, has been immensely beneficial to ASLO as an organization, and to individual members directly as we are now paired with an international publishing house with considerable expertise and resources. This partnership will help us as we navigate a future that includes Open Access publishing with uncertain impacts on our revenue, as well as a potential flood of AI-generated manuscript submissions. Through this partnership, ASLO has negotiated sizable member-only discounts for publication fees, career development opportunities for fellows and interns, and our journals have moved into a high-end publication management landscape. While more change is certainly ahead, we are in a strong position to navigate what may come our way.

Second, while the pandemic has subsided from dominating literally every breath we take, for ASLO there are several ramifications of the pandemic that affect current and future events. For example, ASLO was able to postpone meetings and renegotiate contracts to avoid very large financial losses. As a result, meeting locations are set for several years going forward and you will not see requests to suggest meeting locations. The pandemic has also increased the costs of holding meetings, and we do not know if this is temporary but few things become more affordable over time. An important aspect to consider regarding meetings is that contracts have a very long lead time—as in years. Meeting contracts are not nimble and cannot be changed without severe consequences. We debated this when we were already committed to meeting in New Orleans in February 2024 for the Ocean Sciences Meeting just after Louisiana had changed its health care laws in ways that could put our members health at risk. Incidentally, over a decade earlier, ASLO committed to holding multiple meetings in New Orleans to support the city's recovery from successive, devastating hurricanes. For OSM 2024 the question however was not do we go to New Orleans or do we choose another location. The question was do we go to New Orleans and have a meeting, or do we forego meeting at all. I can't say that the latter was seriously discussed. Given the tremendous value meetings hold for our members, it was not a choice to cancel a meeting that may be the most inspiring, recharging professional event for many of our members.

I relate this example here to show how deliberations by the ASLO board have to address a diverse array of issues and most often the outcome is a compromise between competing factors. Topics that have come up included mandating a vegan or vegetarian diet for conference foods, in recognition of the many benefits to sustainability. What about locales with thriving, sometimes indigenous, fisheries? Should those products also be avoided? Given the diversity of locales, the board makes recommendations to the meetings organizers that they can interpret as is befitting their meeting venue. A recommendation from our post-meeting surveys and that has been implemented in several meetings now is to have longer lunch breaks! Another example of the nuance we have to apply is the question of meetings and their carbon footprint. Before the pandemic, the meetings committee, under leadership of Beth Stauffer, put out a very thoughtful analysis of balancing meeting related carbon footprint with serving a global membership. The pandemic forced us to experiment with virtual meetings and since we have been offering hybrid options, attendees have been voting with their feet. Less than 1% of attendees at the past ASM and OSM meetings have opted for virtual attendance. The cost of offering complete remote access to an in-person meeting currently is prohibitive. Coupled with the lackluster demand, fully hybrid meetings are not being offered in the near future. Of course the board recognizes that having remote access would broaden access to those that cannot attend in-person. Future technological developments might enable us to offer fully hybrid meetings. Stay tuned. Similarly, distributed and local meetings have been considered as an option to reduce carbon emissions, but would keep people in their region and clusters, which counters ASLO's strength in being a society with global membership. The question of where to hold meetings is not just a question of carbon footprint but also of politics. Many locales are not universally welcoming to all our members. Some countries have travel restrictions or local laws that affect the safety and well-being of our members. These are tough questions with no one right answer and ASLO will make compromises that likely are harder on some than others. Many of the decisions ASLO faces, whether in scientific steering committees, on the board, or in the many committees that keep ASLO running, require a nuanced approach. Clearly, ASLO members need to show leadership in promoting and supporting justice, diversity and sustainability. These efforts also strengthen our science as society relies on us to help solve many urgent challenges involving water from alpine lakes to the high seas. The questions of “What do our members want?” and “What are their priorities?” is a common refrain in board deliberations, so I encourage you to make your voices heard, including if you do not feel strongly about an issue. The board can only be responsive if we hear from you. Expect to see surveys that request your input and of course, even if you are not asked, please offer your feedback at any time. ASLO is present on social media and you can reach me and others on the board through direct communication (and thank you for those that do). Another opportunity is to contribute by being a member of a committee or working group. ASLO issued a call for volunteers last year and the response was amazing. Thank you! Many of the self-nominated volunteers are now participating in committees. That is not to say new additions aren't needed! Committee members have finite terms and there is always need for more and diverse expertise. Believe it or not, there are even new committees we might wish to consider forming!

Our third massive change has been the switch from the Schneider Group to Bostrom as our new association management company. The ASM 2024 was Bostrom's first meeting with us and by all the successes related above, we are off to an excellent start. The engagement and care by Mik Bauer and Julie Efland and their colleagues shone bright throughout the meeting. Many attendees will not have even noticed we are under new management and that was one of our goals. Thank you to all who contributed so much to creating this success and thank you for your engagement with our society. Let's keep up the good work together. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Susanne Menden-Deuer, President-ASLO