Mid-Atlantic Chapter

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Chair: Ken Klemow (Wilkes University, Pennsylvania) Chair-elect: Janet Morrison (The College of New Jersey) Secretary: Jamie Cromartie (Stockton College, New Jersey.) Secretary-elect: Courtney Richmond (Rowan University, New Jersey) The Past Chair was Karl Kleiner (York College of Pennsylvania) As of early June 2008, the Section had 356 members. In addition, 73 recent members were listed as not having renewed their membership at that point. According to information provided by Dr. Karl Kleiner, the Chapter had $14,869.21 in its ESA account as of late June 2007. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter met on 7 August 2007 as part of the ESA Annual Meeting in San Jose, California. During that meeting, plans to hold the annual conference on the Wilkes University campus in spring 2008 were discussed. While at the San Jose conference, Ken Klemow represented the Chapter at the ESA Council meeting and at an evening session focused on ESA's Knowledge Partnership initiative. Members of the Chapter discussed opportunities for creating an Ecological Knowledge Partnership for the Mid-Atlantic region. Plans to move forward on that initiative were put on hold until midsummer 2008. The Chapter arranged to meet on 5 August 2008 as part of the ESA Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter held its annual meeting on the Wilkes University campus on 19 April 2008. Total attendance was 129, which represented an increase from previous years. The conference featured 31 contributed papers and 27 posters. Dr. Katriona Shea of Penn State University gave the plenary address: Changing Environments and Invasion Ecology. Dr. Dale Bruns of Wilkes University provided an after-dinner presentation entitled: “Lessons learned” on ecological monitoring and assessment: from Patagonia to Noatak to an American Heritage River. During the chapter business meeting at the conference, nominations were opened for Chair-elect and Secretary-Treasurer-elect. Alan Griffith, University of Mary Washington agreed to run as Chairelect, while Jeffrey Simmons of Mount St. Mary's College agreed to run as Secretary-Treasurer elect. Plans to hold the 2009 meeting on the campus of The College of New Jersey (Ewing, New Jersey) in collaboration with the Mid-Atlantic Chapter for the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) were also discussed. Part of the discussion centered on the need to make greater efforts to promote the meeting to graduate students at regional universities. The meeting could include panels on college teaching and on working for nonacademic groups, such as The Nature Conservancy. During follow-up discussions with MAESA and SER leaders in May and June 2008, plans to hold a joint meeting between the two groups on 13–14 March 2009 on the campus of the College of New Jersey were further developed. A schedule of events and housing arrangements were identified.