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Candidates for the Board of Directors – 2009 Elections
Voting for the Board of Directors election typically opens in the fall of each year. All SACNAS members, with current membership are
eligible to vote. This page will remain available to the SACNAS audience untill the next election.
NOTE: Only student members may vote for student board candidates.
Candidate Information
SACNAS received 33 candidates questions from our members. Five were selected to be presented to all candidates and an additional two
were chosen for president-elect candidates. All questions (including the ones provided to candidates) will be presented to the SACNAS
Board of Directors for the January 2010 board meeting.
Each candidate was asked to choose three out of the following five member questions and given a week to respond. Responses were to be kept 200 words or less.
- What specific metrics do you propose be used to gauge our success in meeting goals for advancement of minorities in STEM?
View candidate responses
- What outcomes do you expect from the forthcoming SACNAS/MAES conference to be held next year?
Along a similar vein, how do you view SACNAS working with other scientific societies in the future? View candidate responses
- What new plans do you have to foster the success of postdocs and junior scientists especially given that faculty academic positions and tenure
are very difficult to attain?
View candidate responses
- If elected, how would you support or expand SACNAS Native American programming? What connections, relationships, and experiences from
the Native American communities could you contribute to SACNAS? View candidate responses
- What other profession would you have pursued if you had not chosen to become a scientist? View candidate responses
Additional Questions from SACNAS Membership for President-elect Candidates
Both president-elect candidates was asked to answer the following additional member questions and a given
a week to respond. Responses were to be kept to 200 words
- I work for the Forest Service, and for the past couple of years, we've participated at the SACNAS conference as an
exhibitor. The Forest Service is a natural resources based federal agency with over 33,000 employees across the country.
As is the case with most federal agencies, we're currently experiencing a high attrition rate largely due to the aging
workforce population. Because of this, the Forest Service is taking an aggressive approach to student outreach and recruitment
in an effort to fill the pipeline and adequately address the number of retiring employees. One of the ways we're doing this is
through the federal government's on-the-spot hiring authorities. We recently conducted such an activity at the American Indian
Science and Engineering (AISES) National Conference, which was hugely successful.
Our observations of the type of students that attend and participate at the SACNAS conference are of 1) high caliber and
extremely ambitious, and 2) predominately students pursuing degrees in the medical professions. We intend to continue our
participation with SACNAS; however, we would like to see a higher number of students pursuing degrees in natural resources
and environmental science. I would venture to say, that this is the position of many other federal, state, tribal and even
private sector companies, whose mission is managing our natural resources and looking for high-achieving diversity students.
Would it be of value for SACNAS to meet with the leadership of the various federal, state, and tribal agencies, with missions
outside of the biological sciences, and pursue partnership opportunities that are of mutual benefit? View candidate responses
- What do you see as the greatest challenge facing SACNAS? How do you propose addressing this challenge? View candidate responses
SACNAS strives for a diverse board of directors membership. SACNAS is an equal opportunity institution
and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religious affiliation, or
sexual orientation.
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