American Fisheries Society
February 3- 5, 2010
Joint Annual Meeting of the Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society &
Virginia Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Wirtz, VA
Meeting Summary
The twentieth annual meeting of the VA Chapter AFS was held at the W. E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center at Smith Mountain Lake on February 3 – 5, 2010. The meeting was held in conjunction with the VA Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s annual meeting. A total of 86 fisheries and wildlife professionals and 28 students attended the joint meeting. Two workshops were conducted on February 3rd at no additional cost to meeting participants. The first workshop, Baseline Analysis of Virginia’s Landscapes, was conducted by Chris Burkett and Jim Husband (both from VDGIF) with 28 participants in attendance. The second workshop, Stream Access Issues, was comprised of three presentations from Larry Mohn (VDGIF), John Kauffman (VDGIF) and Leon Szeptycki (UVA) with 52 participants involved. Both workshops were very interactive, and attendees had ample opportunity for questions to be answered by the presenters. A social hosted by The Wildlife Society was held Wednesday evening.
The technical sessions began on Thursday, and an informative panel discussion entitled Balancing Local Land Use Planning & Natural Resources Management: Challenges & Opportunities was held mid-morning. Panelists included Chris Burkett, Paul Lancaster, Tom Martin and Tammy Stephenson with Adrienne Averett serving as Moderator. An interactive break out session concluded the panel discussions just before lunch. Concurrent sessions of fisheries and wildlife oriented presentations followed lunch. Anticipated severe weather wreaked havoc on the originally scheduled program with all of Friday’s presentations being moved into Thursday using creative planning. By Thursday evening, a total of 22 technical presentations had been given, and an additional 8 posters were presented during the Thursday social.
The annual business meeting was held on Thursday evening February 4th with President Eric Brittle presiding and 41 in attendance. Brian Murphy (Southern Division Representative) gave a brief status report on the Southern Division AFS. The Robert Ross Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Daniel S. Stich of Virginia Tech. The Robert Jenkins Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to Shannon White of Randolph-Macon College. Both scholarships were awarded at the full $500 level. The Best Student Paper for an undergraduate student was shared by Josh Harris and Shannon White at Randolph-Macon College. The Best Student Paper for a graduate student went to Brad Trumbo of James Madison University. Awards for the Natural Resource Conservationist and the Eugene W. Surber Professional Fisheries Biologist were not given this year. Adrienne Averett was installed as President, and Eric Brittle will now serve as Past President. Bill Kittrell continues to serve as Chapter Secretary. Although unable to attend the meeting, Bob Andrews and Morgan McHugh were installed as President – Elect and Treasurer, respectively. Robert Humston continues to serve as Newsletter Editor.
The joint AFS/TWS meeting effectively ended on Thursday evening February 4th; however, there was a social and fundraising raffle held after supper. The raffle was hosted by the Virginia Chapter AFS and was emceed by Bill Kittrell and Paul Bugas. It was a huge success with funds generated for student scholarships and other worthy endeavors. The majority of meeting participants vacated the 4-H Center Thursday evening before the winter weather. However, a few hardy individuals stayed until Friday morning and awoke to the arrival of heavy snow.
Submitted by,
Bill Kittrell, Secretary, Virginia Chapter AFS
James Madison University student, Brad Trumbo (left) receives best graduate student presentation award from Bob Greenlee.
Virginia Tech student, Dan S. Stich (right) receives the Robert Ross Graduate Scholarship award from Bob Greenlee.
The Virginia Chapter Excom during the business meeting on February 4, 2010. Pictured are (L to R) Bill Kittrell, Adrienne Averett, Eric Brittle, Steve Owens, Bob Greenlee.
The official ‘passing of the gavel’ from Past President Eric Brittle (right) to President Adrienne Averett (left) during the 2010 VCAFS business meeting.
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Last updated on August 12, 2010