2011 Virginia and West Virginia AFS Chapters Joint Annual Meeting
The twenty-first annual meeting of the VA Chapter AFS was held at Cacapon State Park near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, February 8 – 10, 2011. The meeting was held in conjunction with the West Virginia Chapter‘s annual meeting. A total of 84 fisheries and aquatic resource professionals attended the joint meeting. An additional 18 students, from numerous universities across the region, also participated. Two continuing education workshops were offered at minimal cost on February 8th. The first workshop, Field Chemistry Refresher, was taught by Dr. Dan Downey with James Madison University. Zac Loughman, an instructor at West Liberty University, conducted the second workshop entitled Natural History, Conservation and Taxonomy of West Virginia and Virginia Crayfish. Meeting participants enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner and social hosted by the Virginia and West Virginia Chapters on Tuesday evening.
The technical presentations began on Wednesday morning with concurrent sessions featuring topics on Warmwater Gamefish as well as Aquatic Communities. The afternoon concurrent sessions focused on Trout and Fish Health, respectively. Another all-you-can-eat buffet and social was hosted by the Virginia and West Virginia Chapters on Wednesday night. During the social, the Virginia Chapter AFS hosted a raffle emceed by Bob Andrews, Bill Kittrell and Cory Kovacs. It was a huge success with approximately $800 generated for student scholarships and other worthy endeavors. The Thursday morning technical session included topics pertaining to Trout and Habitat Restoration. When the meeting concluded Thursday at noon, a total of 33 technical presentations had been given, with an additional 11 posters presented during the Wednesday evening social.
The annual business meeting was held Wednesday afternoon February 9th with President-Elect Bob Andrews presiding. The Chapter President, Adrienne Averett, had accepted a position in Oregon the previous year and could not attend the meeting. Pat Mazik gave a brief status report on the Southern Division AFS. The Robert Ross Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Ryan Schloesser of VIMS. The Robert Jenkins Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to Jason Emmel of Virginia Tech. Both scholarships were awarded at the full $500 level. Only one award for The Best Student Paper was given this year, and it went to Shannon White of Virginia Tech. The Natural Resource Conservationist award was given to Ryan Hodges of Warm Springs in Bath County. Bob Andrews was installed as President, and Adrienne Averett will now serve as Past President. Vic DiCenzo and Cory Kovacs were installed as the new President-Elect and Secretary, respectively. Morgan McHugh will continue to serve as Chapter Treasurer, and Robert Humston continues as Newsletter Editor.
Chapter Officers:
President – Bob Andrews (Dominion)
President-elect – Vic DiCenzo (VDGIF)
Past President – Adrienne Averett (ODFW)
Secretary – Cory Kovacs (VDGIF)
Treasurer – Morgan McHugh (NOAA)
