[Coral-List] Membership criteria for ICRS Awards: Is this who we are?

Dennis Hubbard dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu
Thu Dec 9 21:45:59 UTC 2021


I am not adverse to giving awards to new, or even non-members that the
present criteria might exclude. Having said this, it is pretty likely that
there were specific critertia established and voted on when the awards were
created and we need to understand those before we make any decisions. There
may be specific guidelines in the bylaws that address this but I suspect
that this was not the case as the main focus in the early years was over
what the Society should be doing and how to set priorities. My recollection
of when these awards were discussed is that there were a lot of different
opinions and I recollect a pretty lengthy discussion before voting process
on this.

I am not taking a specific stand on award recipients, so my only point is
that there are undoubtedly specific criteria on how and to whom these
awards can be given (and these were most likely voted on by the general
membership by mail or at an ICRS meeting/symposium). If these were a result
of either a vote by the general membership or something in the by-laws,
then the objective set out by that process is the ONLY place we can start.
By-Laws can be changed by a  welldefined process, as is the case with
anything decided by a general referendum vote by the past membership. Does
anyone have copies (or access to them) of the guidelines established when
the awards were created? Whatever the situation, the listserve certainly
has NO power to make decisions that are contrary to the guidelines
presently in place - no matter how much we might disagree with them.

Dennis

On Thu, Dec 9, 2021 at 4:10 PM Intenational Coral Reefs Observatory via
Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Some candidates may have been members in the past and now keep working for
> coral reefs under voluntarily basis.
>
> The objective of giving an award is to stimulate the outstanding engagement
> to coral reefs conservation, not to count how many years we have paid the
> membership fee !!!
>
> El lun, dic 6, 2021 12:27, Kristen Marhaver via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> escribió:
>
> > Dear Coral-List,
> >
> > As I browsed the list of ICRS Society Awards, I noticed that many of them
> > require a person to have 5 or 10 years of ICRS membership on the books to
> > be eligible for nomination.
> >
> > These criteria certainly discriminate against members of our community
> who
> > took time off for family care or mental health, experienced long unfunded
> > periods between grants, came from less-well-funded and minoritized
> > countries/institutions/labs, and even community members who started their
> > careers in other areas and only recently joined the coral community.
> >
> > This kind of exclusion doesn't seem like who we are as a community.
> > Would it be possible to remove these barriers and make the awards more
> > inclusive and equitable? Perhaps the short listed candidates could even
> be
> > awarded a year's membership instead of excluded due to their lack of one.
> >
> > With curious regards,
> > Kristen Marhaver
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 1, 2021 at 10:02 AM ICRS Honors and Awards Committee <
> > icrs at memberclicks-mail.net> wrote:
> >
> > > [image: The International Coral Reef Society]
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear Kristen:
> > >
> > > Please nominate your ICRS colleagues for their research and
> conservation
> > > accomplishments! These Society Awards are only available to ICRS
> members,
> > > so please encourage your colleagues to join us today.
> > >
> > > Colleagues at all career levels are eligible for the following annual
> > > awards. Nominations for all awards listed below close on February 15,
> > 2022.
> > > Complete nomination criteria, information, and award descriptions can
> be
> > > found online (http://coralreefs.org/awards-and-honors/)
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/1
> > >
> > > .
> > >
> > >    - Eminence in Research Award
> > >    - Mid-Career Award
> > >    - Early-Career Award
> > >    - World Reef Award
> > >    - Coral Reef Conservation Award
> > >    - ICRS Fellows
> > >    - Honorary Members
> > >
> > > Submit a complete nomination through our online submission form here
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/2
> > >.
> > > Email nominations will not be accepted. Questions about ICRS Awards,
> > Honors
> > > and Fellowships can be addressed to the committee chair, Dr. Carly
> > Randall
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/3
> > >.
> > >
> > >
> > > Previous recipients of all ICRS Awards, Honors and Fellowships can be
> > > found here
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/4
> > >
> > > .
> > >
> > > Thank you,
> > > ICRS Honors and Awards Committee
> > >
> > >
> > > [image: Follow Us on Facebook]
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/5
> > >
> > >   [image: Follow Us on Twitter]
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/6
> > >
> > >   [image: ICRS Website]
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/7
> > >
> > >
> > > ICRS · 1105 Wooded Acres Dr · Suite 260 · Waco, TX 76710 · USA
> > > 1 (254) 776-3550 Voice · icrs at sgmeet.com
> > > <
> >
> http://icrs.memberclicks.net/message2/link/266dbe85-a9c6-439b-b6a7-30ab85443a1b/8
> > >
> > > E-mail
> > >
> > > ICRS values your privacy and your privacy rights. Please take a moment
> to
> > > read our Privacy Policy (
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> > > <
> >
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> > >)
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-- 
Dennis Hubbard - Emeritus Professor: Dept of Geology-Oberlin College
Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 935-4014

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"


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