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October 2, 2019
The new ExCom for the 2019-2020 term has held their first meeting on 2 October 2019. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Lara Perez, Gabriela Roldan, and Neelu Signh. Busy times for the six new members with Kyle Mayers filling in for Carrie Harris while she at the MOSAiC School. Everyone is working hard to prepare for new the roles and responsibilities this term. ExCom is working on establishing priorities for the term and they will work on this during the upcoming weeks. The 2019-2020 ExCom will focus on pushing forward the MoUs already started in by the outgoing ExCom. Gerlis has been attending many meetings related to APECS participation in INTERACT, MOSAiC and Nunataryuk projects.. The APPLICATE online course is currently running with about 80 attendants coordinated by Andrea. During the next few weeks the Mentor Awards and IASC fellowship will be reviewed by APECS council members. SCAR/IASC/PEI are cooperating on the second edition of the Polar Resources Book! There will be plenty of opportunities for APECS participation. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 14 GMT on 14 October.
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October 14, 2019
On 14 October 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jennifer Cooper, Juan Hofer, Kyle Mayers and Neelu Singh. First, ExCom discussed the priorities and workflows for the next year and decided to review these before the next meeting. Next information regarding each of the project groups was discussed, along with an extension to the deadline. The handover calls for Council Chairs and National Committee Coordinators are in progress to prepare new members for their roles. The possibility of an in person ExCom meeting during this term was discussed, and the potential of the SCAR2020 meeting being used was mentioned. Finally, a Joint Science workshop on science communication between APECS and YES was discussed, with a final workshop draft currently being reviewed. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 20:00 GMT on 30 October.
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October 30, 2019
On 30 October 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jennifer Cooper, Juan Hofer, Kyle Mayers, Lara Perez and Gabriela Roldan. First, ExCom discussed the priorities and workflows for the next year and decided to review these before the next meeting. Updates for the upcoming full Council call were discussed, which will be on 5 November. Next, information regarding each of the project groups was discussed, along with an extension to the project plan deadline. Additionally, ExCom is reviewing options for an in-person meeting to be held at SCAR 2020 along with the APECS Workshop in Hobart next year. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 14:00 GMT on 11 November.
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November 11, 2019
The APECS ExCom met on 11 November 2019. Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, Kyle Mayers, and Neelu Singh attended. The ExCom discussed the first Council call, which took place last week as well as the Council project group proposals that we have received. ExCom will provide feedback to project groups on their proposals one week after receipt of the proposal. ExCom also discussed APECS National Committees — including which committees need to have their APECS agreements renewed, as well as individuals interested in creating exploratory activity groups in countries without a large APECS memberships. New membership statistics for APECS as a whole are available. ExCom also discussed current and upcoming funding opportunities. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 27 November at 20:00 GMT.
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November 27, 2019
The APECS ExCom met on 27 November 2019. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Cacavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed the Council project group proposals that we have received and are in the process of giving feedback to each of the groups. Several APECS Members are interested in kickstarting APECS-related activities in their country, so the ExCom has worked on establishing an ‘Emerging National Initiatives’ process for these situations. Videos and other media from the MOSiaC expedition are being posted online, so keep an eye out for more great footage! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 9 December at 14 GMT.
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January 27, 2020
The ExCom met on 27 January, 2020, at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, Gabriela Roldan and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed the Project Group plans submitted to date, and is also reviewing the report sent by the Organizational Review Committee, which will be distributed to the Council in the near future. The use of copyright material by APECS members was discussed at length and measures are in the process of being put in place to avoid incurring any breach in the future. Finally, preparations are being made to begin the distribution of funds donated to the Adrian Dahood-Fritz Memorial Fund. ExCom’s next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 12 February, 2020, at 20 GMT.
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February 12, 2020
The ExCom met on 12 February, 2020, at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, Sasha Leidman, Lara Perez, and Gabriela Roldan. The ExCom did a review of all Project Group plans submitted to date. Also, ExCom is working to create a feedback reporting form for members to communicate arising issues in a confidential manner. The use of copyright material by APECS members was discussed at length and measures are put in place to avoid incurring any breach in the future. Also, the Organizational Review Committee submitted their report, which is currently being reviewed by the ExCom. The Directorate informed that two new Project Groups are being advertised now to collaborate with our partners at INTERACT, and that Lisa and Josephine (from our office) have successfully led the publication of a report on science and policy interaction on our behalf. Congratulations to both! ExCom’s next meeting will be held on Monday 24 February, 2020, at 14 GMT
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March 11, 2020
The ExCom met on 11 March, 2020 at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, and Sasha Leidman. The ExCom reviewed the feedback reporting form that they are working on for members to communicate arising issues in a confidential manner. Due to a number of groups struggling with inactive members, ExCom discussed potentially limiting the number of PGs for next term; no decisions have yet to be made. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are delaying the release of the Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund that will provide travel funds for students and early career scientists. Additionally, we are cancelling the upcoming Nunataryuk school in Sweden, with the hope of rescheduling in 2021. Funding will still be made available to participants who couldn’t get reimbursed from the airlines. The APECS website is being updated to assure that all photos are used with the appropriate permissions. Finally the APECS office will be reduced starting in the summer because Lisa Grosfeld from the APECS Directorate was asked to join the MOSAIC expedition from June to August.
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March 23, 2020
The ExCom met on March 23 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Meghan Helmberger, Juan Hofer, and Neelu Singh. Welcome back to Juan, who is returning from summer fieldwork in Antarctica! And many thanks to Meghan for filing in during this extended period. And congratulations are in order to Gerlis, who has accepted a position as the new Executive Secretary of IASC! APECS is immensely grateful for all the dedication, support and leadership that Gerlis has provided over the past decade. While we are sad to see her go, we are thrilled for her to start this new chapter in Akureyi, Iceland in August. A job announcement regarding the open APECS Directorate position will be circulated in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes out if you or anyone you know would be interested in applying. ExCom is continuing to work with Project Groups and National Committees on transitioning events, workload, and expectations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The next ExCom meeting will be on April 8 at 20 GMT.
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April 8, 2020
The ExCom met on 08th April 2020 at 20GMT. Present at the meeting were Juan Hofer, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Jilda Caccavo, and Lara F. Pérez. The new initiative of collecting anonymous feedback from Council members has been started. This feedback form has been included in the “Advice to Council Members” document. APECS/SCAR Workshop in-person events have been canceled but organizers are planning for a virtual meeting where individual session chairs will convene Zoom sessions. The ORC report will be hosted on the APECS website and also shared with the Council members. ExCom discussed the timeline for the Strategic Plan and decided to make it ready by September. In regard to the hiring committee for the Executive Director, Jennifer Cooper and Jilda Caccavo will be the ExCom representatives on the hiring committee at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) where the position is hosted, with the rest of ExCom helping to examine the applicant pool.
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April 20, 2020
The ExCom met on 20th April 2020 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Juan Hofer, Gerlis Fugmann, Jennifer Cooper, Jilda Caccavo, and Neelu Singh. ExCom discussed PG and Council updates. For our Council pronoun survey we received 61 responses; thank you to everyone for contributing your thoughts. The Mentor Award PG is currently working on last year’s applications. ExCom discussed the timeline for the Strategic Plan and planned to prepare a spreadsheet to divide related tasks within ExCom. An email will be shared with Council members for recruiting volunteers for the strategic plan writing teams. Updates from the Directorate included that Lisa is joining the MOSAiC expedition after quarantine from mid-May until end of August, several volunteers from the Council will be helping with Directorate tasks as Gerlis transitions from her position, and the Nuntayuak School will be pushed back a year due to the COVID19 situation.
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May 6, 2020
The ExCom met on May 6 at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Hofer, and Lara Pérez. First, new initiatives from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Project Group were discussed, including a potential partnership with the American Geophysical Union (AGU). APECS in partnership with the ARICE (Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium) recently held an extremely successful webinar with 140 attendees. Development of the APECS Strategic Plan 2021 – 2025 was discussed, confirming lead writers and writing teams, and moving forward with the agreed upon writing schedule. Updates from the Directorate included Lisa’s departure for the MOSAiC Cruise, the development of the posting for the APECS Interim Director position, and the imminent completion of updates to the APECS website. In addition, news regarding an update of the Polar Resource book, a collaboration of SCAR, IASC, APECS, and PEI, was discussed, including the goal to have an online version published, the need to seek funding to find an editor, and making sure that the APECS representatives to the process continue their active involvement after Gerlis’ departure. The next ExCom meeting will be on May 18 at 14 GMT.
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May 18, 2020
The ExCom met on 18 May, 2020 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Carrie Harris, and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed project group updates. It also has initiated groups for working on the goals within the Strategic Plan and is beginning to develop concrete ideas, with the hope of a full document draft in the next few months. Lisa has officially departed for MOSAiC for the next several months - we wish her the best on the expedition! The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 3 at 20 GMT.
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June 3, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 3rd June 2020. Juan Hofer, Jennifer Cooper, Gabriela Roldan, Jilda Caccavo and Neelu Singh attended. Inactive members in the Council PG will be tracked with help from the PGL. The organisers of the ASM3 meeting have requested some information from APECS on our activities over the past year in the Arctic region. Mia Bennett is the APECS representative for ASM3 and will be contacted for representation at the upcoming meeting. ECO has offered a potential partnership with APECS for a Polar Special Issue to be published in September. Mid-term Council reports are due within this month to document each of their activities, contribution, and feedback on their experience. The APECS Online Conference has been a huge success this year with attendance of 400+ people from around the world. Congratulations to Jan-Lukas Menzel (PGL) and the rest of the PG. The Mentor Award proposals are currently under review for the 2019 and 2020 submissions. The ExCom and Ex-Officio members are working on the first draft of the Strategic Plan chapters, which will be circulated to the Council for review shortly. SIOS has requested ECRs to join their working group panel and APECS is investigating this opportunity. SOOS SOOS working group in the Western Antarctica Peninsula and the Scotia Arc will hold an online workshop using APECS Zoom Webinar license. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 15 June at 14:00 GMT.
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June 15, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on the 15th of June and was attended by JiIlda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, and Neel Singh. First, ExCom discussed the updates from project groups. ExCom reviewed a new project group initiative that will develop a polar-themed podcast - we are very excited about this potential project. Additionally, the next Council meeting doodle poll will be sent around by the Co-Chairs for a meeting sometime in July, along with a link for the 2nd Council Report. The DEI project group, in conjunction with the Social Media Coordinators and ExCom, is working to coordinate a Twitter takeover to highlight diverse voices in polar science. Finally, ExCom and members of the Council have been working very hard to draft the next Strategic Plan and it will be circulated to the Council for review shortly. There will be at least 3 review rounds to allow for comments, suggestions, and incorporation of revisions before a vote is held to approve the plan before the end of the term. The Advisory Committee will also have the opportunity for giving feedback and comments as senior members of APECS and/or the polar field. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 1 July at 20:00 GMT.
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July 1, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 1st July 2020. Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Jilda Caccavo, Neelu Singh, Lara Perez, Gabriela Roldan and Jack Buckingham attended. First, Jack introduced the idea for a new project group dedicated to creating an APECS podcast to showcase APECS and its members to a wider community. Jack and ExCom agreed on how to proceed so stay tuned for more on the APECS podcast. The agreement between ECO magazine and APECS has been finalised and the opportunity to submit pieces for the special issue has been advertised by APECS and SCAR. ExCom prepared the next steps for creating the elections committee in charge of running the upcoming ExCom elections. ExCom also discussed the low attendance of the last Council meeting, as well as some cases of low engagement throughout the term. This is a recurring issue and ExCom is thinking about possible solutions that will be incorporated into the new Strategic Plan. SCAR and APECS are collaborating in organizing the SCAR 2020 online conference that is taking place during the first week of August. APECS International is now legally registered in Germany as a nonprofit organization, which will ease the management of the association. Finally, ExCom wants to thank and acknowledge Gerlis Fugmann, our Executive director, for all the years of hard-work and passion for APECS. Good luck with moving to a new country and starting a new job, Gerlis! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 13 July at 14:00 GMT.
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July 29, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on the 29th of July and was attended byJiIlda Caccavo, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer and Lara Pérez. First, ExCom discussed the updates from project groups. The Mentor Award PG has finalized reviewing the applications from 2019 and is working now on the 2020 applications, aiming to announce the winners of the 2019 and 2020 call soon. ExCom welcomes the September Polar Week PG, which has already started planning many interesting activities for the upcoming week of activities to be held from the 21-26 of September. The current ExCom has started preparing a series of documents containing all the information that will be transferred to the upcoming ExCom next October, which will include a guide on how to respond during a national crisis and priority task list to complete during the upcoming term. After the Council finished reviewing the Strategic Plan, ExCom and the writing teams are working to incorporate and respond to the comments and suggestions. During the first week of August, a second draft of the Strategic Plan will be shared with the Council and Advisory Committee for a second round of comments and suggestions. Finally, ExCom along with other Council members are working to publish two articles featuring APECS in ECOS Magazine and Witness the Arctic from ARCUS. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 10 August at 14:00 GMT.
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August 10, 2020
The ExCom met on 10 August and Jenn Cooper, Jilda Caccavo, and Carrie Harris attended. APECS has partnered with ECO Magazine for an upcoming Polar Special Issue that will debut in September, along with SCAR and Arctic Circle. In addition to advertising in the issue and on social media, a portion of the agreement involves a feature article on APECS, which ExCom is currently composing. ExCom is also preparing for the transition to the new term, which involves reviewing Council applications, project group activities, and creating a priority list of items for the new ExCom. A reminder: applications to be on ExCom are due at the end of the month! Feel free to ask us any questions you have about the position. The Strategic Plan is underway for a second round of reviews after ExCom incorporated comments and suggestions in July; both the Council and Advisory Committee have the opportunity for review and we really appreciate everyone that has contributed their thoughts. The next ExCom meeting will be on the 26th August at 20 GMT.
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September 7, 2020
The ExCom met on 7th September 2020 at 14:00GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, and Juan Höfer. First we discussed the new timeline for the upcoming ExCom elections that now will consist of a reviewing period (10 - 20 September) and a voting period (21 - 25 September) after which APECS office will count the votes and announce the incoming ExCom on the 1st of October. The current ExCom continues preparing the transition for the new leadership by planning a joint meeting between the current and future ExCom as well as drafting a guide for the incoming ExCom. Then ExCom commented on the updates of the projects groups and their final reports. Amazing activities were carried out by the Council during this term, congratulations! Finally, ExCom defined a final timeline for the new Strategic Plan, which consists of an editorial review period of the final draft (14-21 September) and a final voting on the Strategic Plan that will take place between the 23rd and the 30th of September before the new Council and ExCom arrive. ExCom will hold its last meeting of the term on the 23rd September 2020 at 20:00 GMT before passing the baton to the incoming ExCom.
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September 23, 2020
Happy September Polar Week! The 2019-2020 ExCom convened for their last biweekly meeting on 23 September 2020 at 20:00 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, Lara Pérez, Gabriela Roldan, Neelu Singh. We kicked off the meeting with plans for the transition call that will take place between the outgoing and incoming ExCom. NC updates were then discussed, including the need to reconsider recommendations for leadership body-naming, as some NCs need to have certain titles for their leadership based on regulations in their respective countries. ExCom is currently voting for next term’s ExCom and Council ex-officios – among the nominees for ExCom ex-officio, the three with the most votes will be invited as ExCom ex-officios, and any Council ex-officio nominee with at least three votes will be invited (with no limit on the total number who can be invited). The September Polar Week Project Group has had their hands full doing an amazing job coordinating myriad online events in collaboration with NCs this week, congratulations are in order to all the Project Group members for the hard work they have poured into this year’s events. The Mentorship Award Project Group is finalizing the announcement of the last Mentorship Awards. Stay tuned (literally!) for the APECS Podcast, Polar Times! Jack and the Polar Times Project Group have done an incredible job kicking off this exciting new Project Group, and the first episode is now available to download or stream. We are excited that Mia Bennet and Rupa Rupa, our Social Media Coordinators, will return to these roles for the 2020-2021 term, this time looking to recruit 1-2 new members to their team to help manage and increase APECS’ presence on Social Media. The start of a series of Twitter take-overs by underrepresented ECR voices in the polar sciences is planned to take place sometime in October. APECS will be represented at the 3rd Arctic Ministerial Meeting by Mia Bennett. ExCom discussed which Project Groups will be recommended to continue for the next term, including a new group suggested by Juan about collecting and providing mental health resources for ECRs in the polar sciences. The deadline for final comments from the Council on the Strategic Plan has passed, and information regarding how to vote to approve the Strategic Plan text will be circulated to the Council this week. APECS remains without a Director since Gerlis’ departure at the end of July, as the hiring committee works with AWI to complete the bureaucratic steps necessary to invite someone to begin the role ASAP. Voting for the 2020-2021 ExCom will be completed by the end of this week, and the newly elected ExCom will be officially announced October 1st. The five newly-elected leaders of the APECS Council will have their first meeting as the 2020-2021 ExCom sometime near mid-October.