ESS Business Meeting Notes

Minutes of the Environmental Studies Section Business Meeting International Studies Association, San Francisco, CA March 28, 2008 Henrik Selin, Boston University Agenda 1. Elections 2. Working Group Pilot Project 3. Compendium Update 4. Report from Section Program Chair 5. Governing Council Update 6. Conference Greening Proposal 7. New Business 8. Election Results

1. Elections
Candidates for the Executive Committee, Nomination Committee and Sprout Award Committee were introduced by Michele Betsill. Election ballots were distributed and collected.

2. Working Group Pilot Project
An ISA pilot project on the development of section-based networking groups of approximately 12 participants each will take place at ISA in 2009. Each group will meet the first day of the conference for a workshop on selected section-specific topics. Following the workshop, participants commit to attend 4-5 panel/poster sessions and meet as a group 2 more times during the conference to discuss papers and issues raised at the panels/poster sessions.

An Environmental Studies group coordinator will be appointed. The point person for this project is Carolyn Shaw, Wichita State University (Carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu). The ISA Governing Council has approved funding of $130 per participant to help defray the cost of attending the full conference. The Environmental Studies Section approved an additional $200 toward participation in the section-specific group.

3. Compendium Update
Beth DeSombre noted that authors have been identified for all the Environmental Studies Section’s entries for the ISA Compendium Project. Several people commented that the guidelines for the entries were too vague. A review process of the entries will soon begin. The editor for the Environmental Studies Section is M.J. Peterson at University of Massachusetts, Amherst (mjp@polsci.umass.edu).

4. Report from Section Program Chair
Miranda Schreurs noted that the number of Environmental Studies Section panels at ISA 2008 were the highest in recent times with approximately 40-43 sponsored or co-sponsored panels. In addition, 15 Environmental Studies Section poster sessions were organized at ISA 2008.

Miranda also noted that complete panel proposals have a higher chance of acceptance than a single paper proposal. ISA 2009 in New York City will be smaller because of a smaller venue. Pam Chasek takes over as Section Program Chair.

5. Governing Council Update
Beth DeSombre informed about several issues:

• A new ISA plagiarism policy is in place (see ISA web site for additional information).

• The ISA conference fee will go up by $20 ($10 for graduate students) next year, which is the first time since 2001.

• ISA is instituting a new and tougher withdrawal policy for ISA members, which will also require faster registration.

• Grant funds are available for organizing workshops at ISA with a July 15th deadline for ISA 2009 (contact Kate O’Neill for additional information: koneill@nature.berkeley.edu) • Because of the smaller size of ISA in 2009 a maximum of 2 panel appearances per person will be strictly enforced. So you should not submit a large number of proposals; you – and the program chairs – will be forced to choose.

• The Environmental Studies Section needs to raise more funds for its evening receptions at ISA if they are to continue as in the past.

• ISA has launched a new initiative called “My ISA” through which all ISA members communicated with the ISA. Members are requested to create their individual profiles.

• At the Section Chair meeting it was proposed that all major awards across ISA Sections were awarded at a joint meeting. The Environmental Studies Section, however, voted to keep its award ceremony separate.

6. Conference Greening Proposal
An initiative for a carbon offsetting pilot project for ISA has been started. Several proposals were raised by section members as how to further green ISA:

• People should only attend every two years.

• Eliminate the full printed conference program.

• Use re-usable mugs throughout the conference.

• Distribute recycling bins throughout the conference.

• Implement green procurement practices.

• Increase awareness and education about green issues at the conference.

A Working Group to further explore related issues was created, chaired by Rob Darst at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth ([ mailto:rdarst@umassd.edu ]rdarst@umassd.edu). He will coordinate with the Feminist Theory and Gender Studies section working group. If you’re interested in participating, please contact Rob.

7. New Business
Michael Maniates announced that the global environmental politics list-serve now has approximately 350 members. For more information or to join the list-serve contact Michael Maniates (mmaniate@allegheny.edu).

Lynn Wagner announced that the IISD MEA Bulletin is open to subscriptions and currently reaches over 40.000 e-mail addresses. Lynn also called for guest articles for the Bulletin. For more information, contact IISD (http://www.iisd.ca/email/mea-l.htm).

Ron Michell informed about the DISsertation initiative for the advancement of Climate Change ReSearch (DISCCRS) and solicited applications to future meetings. For more information, contact Ron (rmitchel@uoregon.edu).

Springer recently published “Globalization and Environmental Challenges” (http://www.springer.com/law/environmental/book/978-3-540-75976-8).

The theme of the ISA 2009 conference, which will be held in New York City, February 15-18, 2009, is “Exploring the Past, Anticipating the Future.”

8. Election Results
The following members of the Environmental Studies Section were elected:

Vice Chair/Section Program Chair: Pamela Chasek

Executive Committee: Samuel Barkin (2 years)

Executive Committee: Ben Cashore (2 years)

Executive Committee: Heike Schröder (2 years)

Executive Committee: Radoslav Dimitrov (1 year)

Executive Committee: Rodger Payne (1 year)

Nomination Committee: Frank Biermann

Nomination Committee: Erika Weinthal

Sprout Award Committee: Michael Maniates

Sprout Award Committee: Susan Park