For some of us, the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Spokane, WA was the first conference experience since before the pandemic began. We have put together some thoughts and highlights about the meeting from those that attended.
Women of Fisheries members (and stickers!) were seen throughout the week, and on Monday around 20 of us met up at The Onion for lunch. It was wonderful to put 3D faces to names from the group. Even some of the board members had never met in person! We talked about shared experiences and some folks commented that they have started their own discussion groups in their own workplaces or states and have even hired women that saw job postings in the private group.
We also joined forces with the Equal Opportunity Section and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of AFS by participating in their Alphabet Social, helping to staff their booth at the Trade Show where attendees could collect affinity stickers, pins, and information on becoming an ally for underrepresented groups. In addition, Kerry Flaherty-Walia presented a talk in the DEIJA symposium on Wednesday detailing the history and future plans for Women of Fisheries. If you’re interested in the video recording, it is available on the virtual platform, or by request at women.of.fisheries@gmail.com.
Personal experiences
A chance to reconnect with some former colleagues, meeting some new people, and seeing some of the amazing work that is being done in fisheries. Helped to reinvigorate me in my work
Lynn Mattes
I had an awesome poster session this year. I got to talk to a lot of spatial scientists and people interested in tuna. There was even a tuna fisherman/scientist that told me about some of the weird tuna movement they’re seeing in the pacific lately. I put a ton of work into the poster and accompanying RShiny app and people really seemed to enjoy it!
Alex Norelli
As a virtual participant this year, I thought it was one of the best virtual conferences I’ve experienced. The live streamed sessions were all easy to join, and I didn’t experience any connection problems. The prerecorded sessions were a great feature too. I do wish the meeting app allowed you to select what types of notifications you got, it was a bit frustrating getting notifications for get-togethers and networking events.
Sara Turner
Spokane tribe salmon release
The Spokane Tribe graciously invited all AFS participants to celebrate and participate in a Salmon release on the Spokane River. Following a prayer by the Spokane Tribal Councel’s Chairwoman. Carol Evans, speeches from the local tribe leaders, and a musical performance, we formed a human chain from the fish trucks to the river below. Large, chinook salmon were unloaded into rubber bags and frantically passed from person to person (fish pic). Occasionally a particularly squirmy salmon would shake until water flew everywhere making this a risky endeavor in conference attire. In total, I heard we released 147 salmon in the river with hopes that they return one day.
I got to participate in the chain and took some pictures from above at the bridge overlooking People’s Park (from bridge pic). While in the chain I did not get splashed, but there were many heavy fish I really had to keep a steel grip on. It was very cool to watch the fish swim away from above and it really made you think about how amazing it would be if they made it all the way out to sea and back.
Alex Norelli
Awards recognizing Women of Fisheries:
- The Distinguished Service Award was presented to the facilitators of the Climate Ambassador Program and Rebecca Krogman.
The dynamic foursome of Julie Claussen, Katie O’Reilly, Drue Winters, and Carolyn Hall had a distinct impact on me over the last year as a participant in the Climate Fellows Program. This valuable program trains fisheries biologists to speak with others about the impact of human-caused climate change on aquatic communities. I not only gained communications skills, but now have a network of skilled fisheries and climate science communicators to lean on when faced with a topic that I need to communicate to a broad range of audiences. The Climate Fellows Program was specifically catered to agency biologists and our unique situations and interacting with fisheries professionals across the country facing similar challenges was very beneficial. Participation in the symposium “Climate Stories: ….” really brought home how beneficial the program was to all of us. Well deserved award!
Kerry Flaherty-Walia
- Several women were co-authors in the publication awards, and we’d like to particularly highlight a paper that we loved and that was featured in a Research Highlight in November 2021.
Best Paper in Marine and Coastal Fisheries
Authors: Megan Adams, Brendan Connors, Taal Levi, Danielle Shaw, Jennifer Walkus, Scott Rogers, and Chris Darimont
Local Values and Data Empower Culturally Guided Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management of the Wuikinuxv Bear–Salmon–Human System
- Kiah Wright and Taylor Saucier were awarded the Emerging Leaders Mentorship Award that provides recipients an opportunity to participate for one year in activities of the AFS Governing Board.
- Abigail Hayne (MS) and Spencer Weinstein (PhD) received the William R. Mote Fisheries Fellowship Award to support graduate research that focuses on the conservation and sustainability of fisheries species considered popular for recreation
- J. Frances Allen Scholarship Award was awarded to Jacy Van Wert (recipient) and Hadley Boehm (runner up) and is given annually to a female Society Member and doctoral candidate who is conducting aquatic research, with emphasis placed on research promise, scientific merit, and academic achievement.
- Jessica Mistak was awarded the Emmeline Moore Prize which recognizes the efforts of an individual Society member who has demonstrated exemplary service to the cause of equal opportunity of access to higher education in fisheries and/or professional development in any of the disciplines of fisheries science or management.
- Celeste Kieran was runner-up for the Steven Berkeley Marine Conservation Fellowship for outstanding graduate students pursuing marine conservation research.
- Several deserving women were among the deserving students that received funding to attend the meeting through The John E. Skinner Memorial Travel Fund (Recipients: Hadley Boehm, Taylor Cubbage, Logan Cutler, Michael Curtis, Matea Djokic, Susan Frawley, Aaron Gray. Hannah Mulligan, Katrina Zarrella Smith, Ryan Tharp: Honorable Mentions: Cody Dillingham, Abigail Hayne, Genevieve Ivec, Lara Katz, Jessica Randall).
- And last, but not least, several inspiring women (Henriette “Yetta” Jager, Margaret Murphy, Leanne Roulson) were inducted as AFS fellows as members who have made outstanding or meritorious contributions to the diversity of fields that are represented in the American Fisheries Society.