Spring/Summer 2020

Ethnobiology Newsletter

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Society of Ethnobiology Member Newsletter

Letter from the President

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2020 Society of Ethnobiology Newsletter!

Our Board meeting was held May 13th and, despite the disappointment of not meeting in person in beautiful Cedar City, it was great to see our Board members and Editors and we made important progress.

Meeting highlights:

  • SoE is now a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)! Cissy Fowler and Kali Wade are current representatives.
  • Board approved matching funding to support the initial generous donations from Steve Weber and Steve Emslie toward the “Two Steves Award” to fund ethnobiology fieldwork. We will collect further donations to reach the principal with the goal of granting this award in a few years.
  • Digital versions of Contributions publications made open access.
  • Establishment of an ad-hoc committee to fund small emergency grants to Indigenous communities in need (spearheaded by Liz Olson).
  • Establishment of a COVID matters initiative, Ethnobiology in Pandemic Times, to share educational resources with members, building on current and past scholarly networks.
  • Establishment of a Marketing Committee for our publications.

Calls to Membership:

  • Join us! Call for incoming Board positions: President-Elect, Secretary, Outreach: Membership and Development (self-nominations accepted! Contact president@ethnobiology.org)
  • Call for incoming appointments: Contributions Co-Editor, Awards Coordinator (we want you! Contact president@ethnobiology.org)
  • Membership to vote on Code of Conduct (see link below)

Please join me in welcoming Chelsey Armstrong to a second term as our stellar Publications Liaison, and in welcoming the wonderful Annalee Sekulić as our Web Liaison (and currently our Newsletter Editor!). I’m pleased that Rosslyn Mackay is joining us this year as Undergraduate Ethnobiologist. Robert Quinlan has stepped into the Journal of Ethnobiology Co-Editor role, and Maria Bruno has accepted the Ethnobiology Letters Co-Editorship—what fantastic additions to our Editorial teams! And, last but not least, please check out our new crop of Graduate Fellowship Award winners on our website!

The SoE family continues to mourn the passing of colleague, Past-President, friend, and Contributions Co-Editor, Justin Nolan. In his honor, and to recognize his significant support for our graduate fellowships program, we are pleased to name the Ecological Knowledge Graduate Fellowship after Justin Nolan. We will soon be inviting members to visit our in memoriam page for Justin on our website.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that we are living in both a trying and hopeful time. I wish you and your loved ones safety from COVID-19. I also wish you safety from police violence. I recognize that systemic racism operates in North America and I share in the hope expressed recently by Malcolm Gladwell and Angela Davis that this moment “feels different.” Increasingly, individuals, institutions, and governments are acknowledging and pledging to fight anti-Black racism, violence and racism against Indigenous peoples, and police brutality against peoples of color. Like many white scholars, I have been taking the time to read, listen, discuss, listen more, support local Black and Indigenous initiatives, and call for institutional change. There is serious work ahead, both within our home and work worlds, and within the Society of Ethnobiology, and I want to hear from you.

With love, and in solidarity,

Sarah
 

Journal of Ethnobiology

Journal of Ethnobiology, Volume 40, No. 1, 2020

Check out the OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE: Philosophy of Ethnobiology: Understanding Knowledge Integration and Its Limitations by David Ludwig and Charbel N. El-Hani

TIME TO VOTE! Code of Conduct

We invite the membership to vote on the Code of Conduct drafted by the Ethics and Advocacy committee, in consultation with Society members via workshops and calls for comment.

Open Elected Positions

Elections will take place this fall for three Board positions. Please nominate yourself or an ethnobiologist you know for:

  1. President-Elect (2 yr term, followed by 2 yrs as President)
  2. Secretary (3 yr term)
  3. Promotion and Outreach Coordinator: Membership and Development (3 yr term)

For more details on these opportunities to serve your SoE community, please visit our Organizational Structure and Current Board of Directors web pages.

Welcome Forage! Blog Editors 2020–2021

A warm welcome to our two new Forage! Editors—Megan Mucioki and Sydney Hunter! We are all very excited to see the upcoming posts.

Call for Forage! Blog Posts

The Forage! Blog is looking for contributions for June 2020 through May 2021. If you were unable to present your work at the conference, consider writing a short blog post instead! We encourage you to submit content from all expressive dimensions including intellectual, creative, and activist ones (e.g., art, stories, literature, poetry, pictures). Feel free to email Megan Mucioki or Sydney Hunter (forage@ethnobiology.org) if you have any questions or would like more information. If you are interested in contributing to the Forage! Blog, please sign up below:

https://doodle.com/poll/7n3r6f9vyaqp4icx

SoE Student Twitter Take-Over

Are you a student who wants to engage more with the diverse membership of the Society of Ethnobiology? Do you want to show your own perspective of what is ethnobiology? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Fill out the survey to schedule your week now: https://buff.ly/3hTHGpA

Call for Awards Coordinator and Contributions Co-Editor

We are actively looking for an Awards Coordinator (3 yr position; opportunity to work closely with Conference Coordinator) and Contributions Co-Editor to join the Editorial Team (Marsha Bogar Quinlan and Sarah Walshaw).

Thank You Denise!

A big THANK YOU to our outgoing Treasurer (and formerly Conference Coordinator) Denise Glover! Denise has been so generous with her time, and has brought wisdom and dedication to all her work at SoE. She will be sorely missed!
 

Do you have anything you would like the community of Ethnobiologists to know? Would you like to share job postings, events, news articles, etc.? Please email socialmedia@ethnobiology.org with any comments, concerns, or additions.

Society of Ethnobiology
Boston University | Room 345 | 675 Commonwealth Ave. | Boston, MA 02215 | United States
https://ethnobiology.org

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