From the society: Looking to the future of the IBS: the 2011 IBS membership survey

Abstract

membership corner ISSN 1948‐6596 from the society Looking to the future of the IBS: the 2011 IBS membership sur‐ vey The International Biogeography Society (IBS) was founded 10 years ago, with the goal of promoting biogeographical research, fostering communica‐ tion among biogeographers, and increasing knowl‐ edge of and appreciation for biogeography among the general public. As a neonatal society, growth and stability were crucial: the first practical goals were to organize the first conference (held in 2003) and begin to build a membership base. Five IBS conferences have now been held, the mem‐ bership has grown to 796 members representing 54 countries, an on‐line IBS journal has been es‐ tablished (Frontiers of Biogeography; http:// www.biogeography.org/html/fb.html), and the first IBS off‐year conference (a young investigators conference scheduled for 23‐25 September 2011 at the University of Oxford; http://www.biogeogr aphy.org/html/Meetings/index.html) will be held quite soon. Enthusiasm for the January 2013 IBS conference in Miami, Florida (http://www.biogeo graphy.org/html/Meetings/2013/index.html) is quite high, and we may see record‐high atten‐ dance. Overall, the IBS is now a strong and healthy 10‐year‐old. We all recognize, of course, that we need to maintain regular communication with the mem‐ bers about the details of just how well the IBS is doing: where are there strengths, where are there weaknesses, and where would growth be most effective? Not long after the IBS conference on Crete in January 2011, the Board of Directors of the IBS, newly reconstituted after the meeting, was keen to look to the future immediately. We resolved to perform a survey of members and to use this opportunity to ask important questions about the biennial meetings, the role of Frontiers of Biogeography, the other services the society provides (or does not), and the level of enthusi‐ asm among members for getting more involved in the society. In February, with the Crete meeting still fresh in our memory, the survey went live and IBS members were invited to respond. Background: the IBS membership. The number of members who took the time to respond was, in itself, very encouraging. In total 285 members completed the survey, about 60% of whom had attended the meeting in Crete. Around 30% were students, 3% retired and 67% professionals. About 11% were under 30, 63% were 30–49 and 15% were 50–65; 64% of them were male and 36% fe‐ male. Of the 274 people who responded, about 30% identified themselves as coming from North America, 11% from Central and South America, 18% from northern Europe, 26% from southern Europe, and 5% or less from each of Australia/ New Zealand, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia. A little over 40% of the survey respondents said that the IBS was their primary professional society. The range of “other conceptual affilia‐ tions” of our members is very broad, ranging from evolutionary aspects of genetics and phylogeogra‐ phy, vertebrate biology (mammalogy, ornithology, etc.), systematics, botany, paleontology, and con‐ servation biology to ecology, which was the single most‐frequently mentioned topic. Clearly, geo‐ graphic and conceptual breadth is a hallmark of the IBS membership. Importance of contact from the IBS. While the danger of communication overload must always be considered, members clearly appreciate com‐ munications from the IBS. This was how many learned about the Crete meeting (58% from IBS e‐ mails or website). Responses to open‐ended ques‐ tions about making IBS better and possible web‐ based member benefits all highlighted the value of information flowing from the IBS to members (also among members). The Crete meeting was deemed a success, with 77% rating the meeting as “great” or “very good”; only 0.5% rated it as “not so good”, and none as “poor”. While most respondents (72%) thought the balance between posters and oral presenta‐ frontiers of biogeography 3.2, 2011 — © 2011 the authors; journal compilation © 2011 The International Biogeography Society