NEWSLETTER
  Animal Behavior Society

 

ABS Executive Committee Meeting - Minutes
Saturday July 30, 2016
111 Tucker Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia

EC Members Attending:
Emilia Martins (on skype), Alison Bell, Molly Cummings, Sue Bertram, Susan Foster, Bill Searcy, Regina Macedo, Jeff Podos, Eileen Hebets, Mark Hauber, Beth Jakobs, Emily DuVal, Jonathan Pruitt and Zuleyma Tang-Martinez
Also Present: Adam Kohm, Melissa Hughes, Gil Rosenthal

EXECUTIVE MEMBER REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS:

• President (Emília Martins): Presided over EC meetings and assumed overall concern for the affairs of the ABS. Formed two new ad hoc committees: Strategic Planning committee and Presidential Advisory committee. Began dissolving the ABS Membership committee by combining their efforts with Public Affairs and SPLtrak. Organized the election of new ABS Fellows - we elected six new ABS Fellows: Maydianne Andrade, Alexandra Basolo, Douglas Chivers, Deborah Gordon, Molly Morris, and Phillip Stoddard. Supervised and evaluated the performance of SPLtrak with the "spltrak oversight committee" The EC is thrilled what SPLtrak offers the society.
• First President-elect (Bill Searcy): Coordinated the Founders poster award, which this year is named to honor Founder Ethel Tobach. Received 12 complete submissions; recommend removing the poster preview speed talk requirement to increase participation. Chaired the Strategic Planning Committee which had the following charge: “The committee will create a draft strategic plan for the Animal Behavior Society, including a revision of the society’s mission statement, goals for the society, and strategies for meeting those goals. In drafting a plan, the committee will survey ABS members for advice and hold a town hall session at the annual meeting to discuss strategic plan development.” Surveyed ABS members on preferred directions and goals for ABS. Began formulating a strategic plan for ABS, subject to feedback from the ABS EC (see Strategic Planning Session, below) and the town hall discussion held at ABS 2016.
• Second President-elect (Jeff Podos): Coordinated the Allee Symposium where I received 15 submissions. After reviewing their manuscripts and ranking them with the committee, I invited 10 to participate in the symposium. Revised how the call for Allee participation is worded to increase clarity.
• Past President (Regina Macedo): Coordinated nomination process for Career Awards -Distinguished Animal Behaviorist: Jane Brockmann and Dorothy Cheney; Exemplar: Janice Moore; Outstanding New Investigator: Ned Dochtermann; Quest: Jan Randall. Identified candidates for Executive Committee in consultation with Nominations Committee and past presidents’ Mike Beecher & Zuleyma Tang-Martinez. Organized “President´s Symposium".
• Treasurer’s Report (Molly Cummings): Closed bank accounts in Indiana and moved assets to Illinois while co-handling the Illinois audit. Changed registration to Delaware where annual audits are not required. Created final budget for 2015/16. Meeting income is up this year. Profit sharing from the journal is steady in pounds but the dollar amount may be down (by ~$50K) because of the fall of the pound; therefore, delayed profit sharing from Elsevier until pound stabilizes. Created 2016/17 budget based on reduced profit sharing; budget approved. Will re-balance investment accounts following Investment-Committee’s suggested 50:50 balance. Budget moved by Molly, seconded by Eileen, passed unanimously (one abstention).
• Secretary (Sue Bertram): Published four newsletters with SPLtrak’s online newsletter format, and numerous online/email forum requests. Conducted 2015 Elections: 2nd President Elect: John Swaddle, Treasurer: Gil Rosenthal, Member at Large: Melissa Hughes, Parliamentarian: Tamra Mendelson. Maintained society correspondence: 2080 emails 1 month before meeting start. Conducted 20 non-constitution and non-bylaw votes at 2015 EC meeting and throughout year (e-polls). Encourages splitting secretary position into public relations (newsletter) and other society business. Notes the number of voting members remains steady at 25% and encourages members to vote.
• Program Officer & Program Officer-elect (Mark Hauber and Jonathan Pruitt): Worked with Johannes Schul and SPLtrak to organize ABS 2016. 2017 ABS meetings: Toronto (Maydianne Andrade and Andrew Mason). Recommendations: 2018 East Tennessee (Thomas Jones); 2019 Chicago (joint meeting with IEC/Behaviour 2019 (Mary Ashley); make combined PO and PO elect positions 2 years total instead of 4 years; provide travel allowance for PO/POE to scope out next conference sites possibilities/logistics.
• Parliamentarian (Eileen Hebets): The various Policy changes (7) and By Law changes (1) to the Animal Behavior Society Constitution that occurred during 2015/16 were reviewed.
• Executive Editor (Susan Foster): The Journal continues to do well. Accepted 32% of 398 new submissions; mean time from submission to decision = 33 days, to publication = 25 weeks. Impact Factor = 3.17. Eliminated Essays and Invited Contributions categories. Led initial discussion about Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) guidelines including citation standards, data transparency, archiving, pre-registering studies and analysis plans. Recommendations: add two new editors to handle increased workload; potential editors of special issues submit proposal for approval; broadly consider TOP recommendations for journal.
• Members at Large Report (Alison Bell, Beth Jakob, Emily DuVal): Coordinated and administered competitions: student research grants (funded 52 of 155), developing nations awards (funded 6 of 22), Latin American travel awards (funded 8 of 9), student travel grants (funded 34 of 72), and caregiver awards (funded 6 of 9). Provided a historical perspective on funding for EC meeting. Recommendations: collect demographic data on members (ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status) to help distribute resources as broadly as possible if there are diversity funds left; increase budget for graduate student travel award and student research grants; modify language of caregiver grant to improve clarity.
• Historian (Zuleyma Tang-Martinez): Arranged for ABS historical documents to be managed by SPLtrak. Compiled numbers of members in the ABS, and numbers attending meetings from 1968 to 2015; wrote or arranged writers for five obituaries. Recommendations: newsletter publish exact number of ABS members, meeting attendees.

COMMITTEE REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS:

• ABS 2016 (Johannes Schul) Columbia, Missouri: Highlighted things that will be different at this meeting: (a) Public day including an animal behavior symposium and an outreach fair including an experiment-based safari of the behavior labs. (b) Large talk open to both the public and attendees featuring Frans de Waal which will include a book signing and host posters about animal behavior on campus. (c) There will be a Mac and PC in all talk rooms
• ABS 2017 (Maydianne Andrade & Andrew Mason) is in Toronto June 12-15 2017: Toronto is a vibrant city and will be a great place to visit for our next meeting; there will be pre-, post- and evening-excursions to Toronto and area. The meeting location is compact, with short walks between meeting rooms and events. The dorms are 4-6 bedroom townhouses with shared kitchen/baths. Plan for fees to be similar to previous years. Get your passports early and note that some people may require visas to enter Canada.
• Film (Barbara Clucas): Over 100 people attended the Film Festival in 2015. For 2016 they received and reviewed 124 films (31 commercial; 93 non-commercial), a three fold increase over the previous year. The top 2 films in the commercial and non-commercial categories will be showcased at the ABS Film Festival in 2016.
• Conservation (Misty McPhee): 65 people participated in the 2nd conservation workshop held at ABS 2015. Hosting a follow-up AV workshop at ABS 2016 with the four presenters to see if the ideas generated at the 2015 workshop were useful in problem solving.
• Diversity (Dan Howard): 8 Turner students attended the ABS 2015 meeting; 12 are attending the ABS 2016 meeting. 55 undergraduate students attended the free luncheon at the ABS 2015 meeting; they are planning for up to 75 at ABS 2016. Committee conducted the selection process for the Diversity Travel Award via random lottery: 36 applicants received a diversity award ($3925 worth of registration waivers awarded). Committee requests collection of demographic data on members (including ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status) while including statements about privacy and the value of the information to the society.
• Latin American Affairs (Lilian Tonelli Manica): Organized a Latin American party (Pachanga Latina) at ABS 2015 with ~30 participants, Mexican food, Latin music, and dancing and prizes. Thanks to ABS and LAAC members who donated Latin American remembrances as prizes. Hosted a Latin American dinner meeting at ABS 2015 with ~15 participants, and will host a Latin American lunch meeting at ABS 2016. Planning a workshop at ABS 2017 on broadening collaborations with Latin America to bring Latin and North American researchers interested in collaborating together.
• Education Committee (Susan Margulis): Outreach fair 2015 featured 12+ labs, 300+ visitors; outreach fair 2016 will feature 14 labs. Penny Bernstein Distinguished Teaching Award was received by Linda Rayer in 2015. Peggy Hill will receive the 2016 award – Congratulations! Genesis Award: 23 undergraduate students presented posters at the ABS 2015 meeting; there were 40 entries as of June for 2016 ABS. Education Resources and Innovations deferred a module based teaching workshop to ABS 2017 to avoid conflict with another workshop. They wish to publicize the availability of educational resources. The EC approved their motion to allow ABS members to present an education poster in addition to their scientific talk or poster. Working with SPLtrak to update the Education Committee page of the ABS website. Children’s Book Award received 54 book submissions and selected 4 finalists: Winner: The Queen’s Shadow: A Story About How Animals See (Kids Can Press).
• Public Affairs Committee (Patricia Brennan): Created a twitter account; increased likes on the Facebook page from 5300 to 6276 by increasing post regularity. Will conduct workshop at ABS 2016: Building Personal Bridges: Connecting Your Science to Your Communities. Plans to grow social media presence, run a science communication and outreach workshop. Requests permanent time slot during meeting for Outreach Workshops.
• Certified Applied Animal Behavior Committee (Robin Foster): Running a public day preconference entitled “Animals Helping in Society”, a Comparative Canine Behavior Symposium, a poster session, hosting a meet and greet at the 2016 ABS meeting. Requests the EC set up a subcommittee to explore alternatives to the current COI requirement for protecting ABS against liability related to CAAB/ACAAB certification.
• Board of Professional Certification (Crista Coppola): There are currently 47 CAAB/ACAAB members, with 3 new, and 8 re-certified members in 2015/16. Six CAAB/ACAAB members will present at 2016 ABS. Standardized Case Report guidelines for application submission; working to finalize online CAAB/ACAAB application process; creating automated reminders for eligibility requirements; and creating a searchable online directory.
• Animal Care Committee (Alex Ophir): The ACC Chair/Ethics Editor was assigned six manuscripts to review and five others to discuss. The ACC Chair determined that none violated the spirit or letter of the ASAB/ABS (2012) Guidelines, therefore none required ACC review. Plans include formalizing duties of ACC members and Chair and identifying a successor as chair.
• Demographics Report by SPLtrak (Adam Kohm): 9344 people exist in ABS membership database, 80% having paid dues in past 10 years (hailing from all 50 states & 79 countries). Of these 9344 people, 19.5% (1825) are active members. 612 of the active members self-identify as male, 540 self-identify as female; there are 876 regular members, 661 student members, 97 postdocs, 104 developing nations members (27 students), 61 emeritus members, 23 lifetime members, and 3 science writers. Too few individuals provided diversity information (96 of the respondees) to accurately represent membership. Requests that we collect demographic data on members (including ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status) while including statements about privacy and the value of the information to the society. There are 153 living ABS Fellows; up to six new fellows can be appointed in 2016/17.
• Advancement and Investment Committee (Robert Seyfarth & Jeff Galef): Proposed recommendations to the EC regarding the structure of existing funds and the acceptance of new donations to ABS. In 2016/17 they will begin outreach to solicit donations to ABS from prospective individual and/or corporate donors.

 STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION:

The EC discussed the results of the Strategic Planning Survey, which was administered to ABS members during winter 2016. Among the many ideas put forward by survey respondents, the EC was particularly interested in proposals to increase public outreach through media such as blogs, twitter, Facebook, and podcasts; to support lobbying of funding agencies and legislatures; to increase diversity of the society’s membership; and to enhance participation of graduate students in the society’s governance. To implement these proposals, the EC discussed creating a Public Affairs Officer to be in charge of outreach and lobbying; to fund a small media fellowship to help with outreach; to support new initiatives from the Diversity Committee to involve minority faculty and minority serving institutions; and to add a graduate student representative to the EC. Some of these proposals would require constitutional changes, which would mean holding a vote of the entire membership. Voting will occur fall 2016.

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES – ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP VOTES:

Add Public Affairs Officer & Graduate Student Representative; Change Program Officer Term

Proposed Constitutional Change:
Article 4: Officers
Section 1.
The officers of this Society are: President, First President-Elect, Second President-Elect, Past-President, Program officer, Program Officer-Elect, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, Executive Editor, Secretary, Public Affairs Officer, and Graduate Student Representative.
Section 3.
Term of Office: The term of office shall be one year for President, First President-Elect, Second President Elect, Past-President, Program Officer, and Program Officer-Elect. The term of office shall be two years for the Graduate Student Representative. The term of office shall be three years for Secretary, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, Executive Editor, and Public Affairs Officer. All terms will commence following the last date scheduled for the annual meeting, at which time the terms of the outgoing officers will end. The expiration date of the terms of the Secretary and Treasurer shall be arranged so only one is elected in any one year. A Program Officer-Elect shall be elected every year, becoming Program Officer the following year. A Second President-Elect shall be elected each year, becoming successively First President-Elect, President, and Past-President. In the cases of death or resignation of the President or First President-Elect, these offices shall be filled by the above stated succession. Other offices becoming vacant shall be filled by special election of the membership. Officers are eligible for re-election, but are limited to two terms in any one office.

Current Constitution:
Article 4: Officers
Section 1.
The officers of this Society are: President, First President-Elect, Second President-Elect, Past-President, Program Officer, Program Officer-Elect, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, Executive Editor, and Secretary.
Section 3.
Term of Office: The term of office shall be one year except in the case of Secretary, Treasurer, Parliamentarian, and Executive Editor, whose terms shall be three years each, and the Program Officers whose terms shall be four years each. All terms will commence following the last date scheduled for the annual meeting, at which time the terms of the outgoing officers will end. The expiration date of the terms of the Secretary and Treasurer shall be arranged so only one is elected in any one year. A Program Officer shall be elected every other year. A Second President-Elect shall be elected each year, becoming successively First President-Elect, President, and Past-President. In the cases of death or resignation of the President or First President-Elect, these offices shall be filled by the above stated succession. Other offices becoming vacant shall be filled by special election of the membership. Officers are eligible for re-election, but are limited to two terms in any one office.

Moved: Mark; Seconded: Emily; Passed Unanimously to draft language for constitutional change that we will vote on at the EC and then present to the membership to vote on.

PROPOSED BYLAWS & RESOLUTIONS – BUSINESS MEETING VOTES:

Resolution on North Carolina HB2

The Animal Behavior Society will not hold annual meetings in the State of North Carolina as long HB2 is in effect (Zuleyma Tang Martinez)

Whereas, The state of North Carolina, on March 23, 2016, passed a law (HB2) that discriminates against, and limits the rights of, members of the LGBTQ community, workers, and all persons belonging to the protected categories of race, religion. color, national origin, and sex;

Whereas, Part I of HB2 discriminates against transgender and intersexual persons by restricting individuals to using only those bathrooms designated for their “biological sex”, defined as the sex that appears on the person’s birth certificate;

Whereas, This would seem to require that all persons in North Carolina carry their birth certificate at all times, just in case they need to use a public bathroom;

Whereas, Part II of HB2 discriminates against workers by pre-empting and superseding “any ordinance, regulation, resolution, or policy adopted or imposed by a unit of local government or any political subdivision of the State that regulates or imposes any requirement upon an employer pertaining to compensation of employees”, including wage levels, minimum wage, hours of labor, benefits, leaves, etc. HB2 states that all these matters are reserved to the state government and cannot be changed by local governments or political subdivisions;

Whereas, Part III of HB2 prohibits and repeals any anti-discrimination provisions/protections passed by units of local government or any political subdivision of the State, including all state colleges and universities, mandating instead that any protections regarding discrimination in employment and accommodations based on “race, religion. color, national origin, and biological sex” can only be regulated by the State. In addition to the protected categories listed above, this provision also prohibits or repeals any LGBTQ anti-discrimination policies passed by municipal subdivision, or by state universities or colleges;

Whereas, Part III of HB2 also prohibits any civil actions or legal claims of discrimination, based on “race, religion. color, national origin, and biological sex” (or sexual orientation or gender identity), from being brought to the courts in the State of North Carolina;

Whereas, The ABS has a long history of commitment to equality, inclusivity, and human rights;

Whereas, In 1993, the ABS approved a resolution stating that it would not hold annual meetings in any states that passed or approved laws or constitutional amendments prohibiting local governments or political subdivisions of the state from passing or having anti-discrimination policies that included LGBT individuals in the list of protected categories;

Whereas, Many professional societies and business/companies are already boycotting the State of North Carolina because of HB2;

Now, therefore, be it resolved as follows:

1.The Animal Behavior Society will not hold annual meetings in the State of North Carolina as long HB2 is in effect.

2. The ABS authorizes and directs the President of the Society to communicate this resolution and its effects to the North Carolina Governor, to respective leaders of the North Carolina Senate and House of Representatives, and to the Mayors of major cities in the State.

Moved: Zuleyma; Seconded: Molly; Passed: Unanimously
Next Step: To be voted on at the 53rd annual business meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, held in Columbia, Missouri, on the 1st day of August, 2016.

POLICY CHANGES – EC VOTED:

Description of the Central Office Duties

Current Policy (modified at 2016 EC meeting):
31. The Animal Behavior Society (ABS) Central Office (CO)
Proposed Policy
a. The CO was created to enable the Executive Committee, Officers and Standing Committees to more efficiently perform their duties and roles by providing necessary centralized services and data management. All items of business to be transacted through the CO are to be directed to the Society Manager, who will best decide whether the task fits within the CO duties and then to which member of the CO staff to assign the task. The Society Manager will report directly to the ABS President, who is charged with supervision and evaluation of performance (Revised at 2013 E.C. meeting). All other ABS Officers will consult with the ABS President and Manager prior to asking for CO staff assistance on various tasks.
b. The ABS CO is managed by SPLtrak Conference and Management Services, and provides financial, conference, web, historical, and other services, as needed
c. Journal Managing Editor
(1) Housed at Indiana University, but reports directly to the American Executive Editor      
(2) Manages the flow and assignment of all production tasks for the US Office of Animal Behaviour, including initial edit of accepted manuscripts, final edit, proofs prior to publication
(3) Manages correspondence and a database of accepted manuscripts
(4) Coordinates with the UK Office
Moved: Emilia; Seconded: Molly; Passed Unanimously

Former Policy
31. The Animal Behavior Society (ABS) Central Office (CO)
a. The CO was created to enable the Executive Committee, Officers and Standing Committees to more efficiently perform their duties and roles by providing necessary centralized services and data management. All items of business to be transacted through the CO are to be directed to the Society Manager, who will best decide whether the task fits within the CO duties and then to which member of the CO staff to assign the task. The Society Manager will report directly to the ABS President, who is charged with supervision and evaluation of performance (Revised at 2013 E.C. meeting). All other ABS Officers will consult with the ABS President and Manager prior to asking for CO staff assistance on various tasks.
b. The ABS CO is managed by the CO located at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
c. The financial operations of the CO are handled through a grant from the ABS to Indiana University.
d. The CO is responsible for the following aspects of ABS operations:
e. Databases are maintained as master files at the CO.
f. The CO is staffed by the following individuals:     
(1) A full time Society Manager
       (2) A full time Office Manager
       (3) A full time Managing Editor for Animal Behaviour
       (4) Other part-time employees and student workers as needed
g. Duties of the Society Manager
(1) Controls the flow and assignment of all tasks at the CO
(2) Manages computer technologies for the CO and the ABS
h. Duties of the Office Manager
(1) Oversees duties related to membership (payments, member records, member queries, publisher updates)
(2) Maintains deposit and expense records
(3) Updates ABS records
(4) Creates some reports for the Executive Editor
i. Duties of the Managing Editor
(1) Housed at Indiana University, with the CO, but reports directly to the American Executive Editor  
(2) Manages the flow and assignment of all production tasks for the US Office of Animal Behaviour, including initial edit of accepted manuscripts, final edit, proofs prior to publication
(3) Manages correspondence and a database of accepted manuscripts
(4) Coordinates with the UK Office

Editorial Policy with Respect to the Special Issues in the Journal Animal Behaviour

Current Policy (enacted at 2016 EC meeting):
2. Editorial Policy with Respect to ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
f. All potential editors of a Special Issue (SI), including ABS presidents, must submit a proposal for the SI to the executive editors for approval. Proposals will be shared between UK and US offices. The goal of this request is to avoid content overlap among SIs.
Moved: Sue; Seconded: Mark; Passed Unanimously

Former Policy:
There was no former policy associated with approving special issues in section 2: Editorial Policy with Respect to ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR

Change Policy Description of Care-Givers Grant

Current Policy (modified at 2016 EC meeting):
15. Caregiver Travel Grant (Enacted at 2015 EC meeting)
a. The Caregiver Travel Grant award is intended to provide financial assistance for active ABS members whose caregiving responsibilities for dependent persons would otherwise limit their ability to attend and present at the annual ABS meeting. Dependents include but are not limited to young children and aging parents. Receiving this award does not preclude ABS members from applying for additional funding from ABS.
Moved: Allison; Seconded: Mark; Passed Unanimously

Former policy:
15. Caregiver Travel Grant (Enacted at 2015 EC meeting)
a.  The objective of this grant is to provide financial caregiving support for active ABS members to attend and present at the annual ABS meeting.

Travel Funds for EC Members

Current Policy (modified at 2016 EC meeting):
7. Annual ABS Meetings
c. Registration fees for the annual meetings will be waived for all Executive Committee members and travel reimbursement funds can be requested from Executive Committee members to attend the annual meetings. Note: only future EC members who were not eligible to vote on this policy change will be eligible for travel reimbursement.
Moved: Allison; Seconded: Mark; Passed with dissent

Former policy:
7. Annual ABS Meetings
c. Registration fees for the annual meetings will be waived for all Executive Committee members

OTHER VOTES (NOT CONSTITUTIONAL, BYLAW, OR POLICY BASED):

Remove Requirement for Rapid Fire Presentation for Founders Award

Current Description (enacted at 2016 EC meeting):
Any graduate student or postdoctoral member of the society in good standing is eligible to enter the competition. Applicants can indicate their intention to enter the competition by marking the appropriate box on the Meeting Abstract submission form. All Founders presenters will be expected to provide a single page preview of their poster for the judges.
Moved: Bill; Seconded: Molly; Passed Unanimously

Former Descriptions:
Any graduate student or postdoctoral member of the society in good standing is eligible to enter the competition. Applicants can indicate their intention to enter the competition by marking the appropriate box on the Meeting Abstract submission form. All Founders presenters will be expected to provide a single page preview of their poster for the judges and give a rapid fire 1 minute 2 slide poster preview presentation prior to their session. This will be your opportunity to increase general interest in your presented research.

Add Two Additional Editors to Animal Behaviour USA
Voted to add two more editors to the team of Animal Behaviour editors in the USA (bringing our total to 12) as a result of high workload;
Moved: Susan; Seconded: Bill; Passed with 1 dissenting vote

Workshops and Symposia for 2017
Reuven Dukas – Cognitive Ecology III – The past few decades have seen an increasing number of researchers within the discipline of cognitive ecology. The first two “Cognitive Ecology” symposia, which were held at the 1994 and 2007 Animal Behavior Society meetings, summarized some of the research in the growing discipline and resulted in the publications of two edited volumes (Dukas 1998, Dukas and Ratcliffe 2009). The proposed 2017 symposium will allow us to gather some of the experts in the area for formal overviews and brainstorming. We will focus on speakers who can integrate ecology and evolution with mechanisms of animal cognition. While we will include some established researchers, the emphasis will be on newcomers to the discipline. We will ask all prospective speakers to focus on fresh ideas and novel research methods, and to devote significant time to discussing future research directions for the next decade.
Moved: Mark; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

Susan Margulis – The Future of Zoo Research: 50 Years of Zoo Behavior – In 1967, a symposium was held at the annual meeting of the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums on the Use of Zoos and Aquariums in Teaching Animal Behavior. The value of zoos as research venues remains somewhat overlooked; lamentable, given the rich resource that zoos present for both basic and applied studies. Fifty years later, we will reflect on the current trends in zoo research by bringing together experts who will speak to the nature of zoo behavioral studies, the kinds of questions that can be addressed, application to scientific management and husbandry, and future directions in zoo behavioral research. The growing emphasis on animal welfare science makes this symposium particularly timely, as zoos remain at the forefront of applied animal welfare studies. Behavioral research in zoos spans a range of sub-disciplines within the broad field of animal behavior, and these will be represented in the symposium. We aim to highlight the extent to which zoo behavioral research has grown beyond development of short-term projects for college classes and emergent problem-solving to hypothesis-driven research with substantial theoretical underpinnings and statistical validity as well as real-world application. The list of potential speakers bridges the zoo and academic worlds and emphasizes the contributions that have been, and can be, made to basic biological knowledge, animal welfare, and conservation.
Moved: Mark; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

Heather Zimbler-DeLorenzo and Laura Sirot – Re-Invigorating Your Classroom with Module-Based Teaching Workshop – The goals of this half-day workshop are to demonstrate a module-based approach for Animal Behavior courses and to develop the resources for new modules with the assistance of the attendees. A module-based approach to teaching Animal Behavior involves organizing courses around fundamental conceptual issues taught through a series of 2-3 week units focused on fascinating topics or case studies in Animal Behavior. Each module includes short “Just-In-Time” lectures, deep reading of primary literature using the C.R.E.A.T.E. method (teachcreate.org), opportunities for student-developed research projects, and multiple forms of assessment. The strengths of this approach include:  (i) keeping students and instructors engaged in the learning process both by allowing some personal choice of what topics they find “fascinating” and by using a variety of pedagogical methods, (ii) providing a natural way to integrate thorough reading of the primary literature into the learning process and thus keeping both students and instructors up on new developments in animal behavior, and (iii) providing several different approaches to assess the students’ understanding of the material. The workshop will begin with a brief demonstration of the module-based approach followed by a three-hour boot-camp style work session in which small groups complete a series of exercises leading to a final product--a module with all of the resources needed to teach it. Modules will then be made publicly available.
Moved: Mark; Seconded: Molly; Passed Unanimously

Science Communication and Public Outreach Workshop. Proposed by, and to be run by, the Public Affairs Committee.
Moved: Molly; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

Broadening Collaborations with Latin America Workshop. Proposed by, and to be run by, the Latin Affairs Committee
Moved: Molly; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

Applying Behavioral Theory and Research to Solving Conservation Problems Workshop: When Wildlife and the Urban Environment Interact. Proposed by, and to be run by, the Conservation Committee
Moved: Molly; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

Affecting Broader Impacts Through Authentic Partnerships with Minority Serving Organizations Workshop. This workshop was supported in the 2015/16 budget but then deferred to the 2016/17 conference in Toronto; Proposed by, and to be run by, the Diversity Committee
Moved: Molly; Seconded: Eileen; Passed Unanimously

INCOMING ELECTED OFFICERS (START SUMMER 2016):

2nd President Elect:
John Swaddle (College of William & Mary)

Treasurer:
Gil Rosenthal (Texas A&M)

Member at Large:
Melissa Hughes (College of Charleston)

Parliamentarian:
Tamra Mendelson (U Maryland Baltimore County)

NEW CANDIDATES FOR EC OFFICER POSITIONS (ELECTION FALL 2016):

2nd President Elect:
Jennifer Fewell (Arizona State U)
Diana Hews (Indiana State U)

Secretary:
Patricia Brennan (U Mass, Amherst)
Matthew Wund (College of New Jersey)

Member at Large:
Ryan Taylor (Salisbury U)
Chris Templeton (Pacific U)

Program Officer:
Alison Bell (U Illinois)
Mike Noonan (Canisius College)

Summary from the ABS Strategic Planning Town Hall

A Town Hall meeting was held at the 2016 ABS conference to discuss the formulation of a strategic plan for the society. The chair of the Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee, Bill Searcy, reported on the results of the online Strategic Planning Survey of ABS members. The 316 respondents to the survey expressed satisfaction with many aspects of the society, especially with its annual meetings, its small grants program, and its journal. Some criticisms of the annual meetings were raised in survey responses, especially concerning the occurrence of overlap between ABS and ISBE meeting times. Searcy explained that ABS tries to prevent overlap, but sometimes (as in this year) overlap is unavoidable because the meeting venues for both societies can offer very limited choices of meeting times.

Survey responses suggested changes to the society especially in the areas of public outreach and diversity. Respondents hoped that increased outreach would raise the profile of animal behavior as a science and perhaps lead to more funding. Greater efforts were suggested in blogging, social media, the society’s website and listserve, education, and lobbying.  In response, the Executive Committee proposes creating a new position for a Public Affairs Officer who would be in charge of outreach, networking, and lobbying efforts, together with a Media Fellowship for a graduate student to assist with these activities. Survey respondents also suggested greater effort towards increasing diversity in the society. In response, the Executive Committee proposes to support new initiatives from the Diversity Committee to create a mentoring program for minority junior faculty and to strengthen ties to minority serving institutions. In response to calls in the survey for more graduate student involvement in ABS governance, the Executive Committee proposes creating a position as a Graduate Student Representative to the EC.

Comments and suggestions were invited from those attending the town hall, with discussion from planning committee members Jonathan Pruitt, Sarah Bengston, Johana Goyes Vallejos, Jeff Podos, and Zuleyma Tang-Martinez. Suggestions from the floor included: 1) moving ABS investments to environmentally and socially responsible funds; 2) providing more financial support for committee chairs and other ABS members doing the work of the society; 3) lobbying NSF and other funding agencies to give a larger number of smaller grants; 4) creating a program of ABS research grants for undergraduates; 5) having all ABS committees make increasing diversity a key focus in all their activities; 6) joining our lobbying efforts with those of organizations like AAAS and ESA that already have lobbying programs in place; 7) joining our efforts in junior faculty mentoring with those of organizations like the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development; 8) seeking input on governance from a panel of graduate students in addition to a graduate student representative; 9) having a Media Fellow organize live tweeting from meetings and YouTube Spotlights; and 10) making sure that language in ABS policy and announcements treats all countries equally.