President's Address

Fellow Wetlanders,

As I write I’m buoyed by the spring flowers and the distinct odor made by warming wetland mud in my region of the Northern Hemisphere. But I’m also saddened and worried about the tragedy befalling the people of Ukraine. Although currently not the most pressing concern given the human suffering, I also am concerned for the health of the wetlands of Ukraine. Tragically, human conflict is all too common around the world and not restricted to one place. We’ve seen this before, and I expect we’ll see it again. How can SWS respond? We’re discussing what is appropriate given our mission, strategic plan, and interests of our membership. One way the Executive Board believes that SWS can respond is through what we do best: identifying and communicating best practices in wetland science and practice. To that end, we will be encouraging that our Sections and Committees and Chapters hold meetings and symposia dedicated to synthesizing and communicating the science and practice of how to heal wetlands that are harmed by human conflicts around the world. It is perhaps a small contribution but we think valuable.

I’m proud to let you know that the Board of Directors has approved new SWS Awards. These fill critical gaps in our portfolio of awards and address our Strategic Plan. These new awards are: 1) the Wetland Practitioner Award; 2) the Human Diversity Award; and 3) the SWaMMP Champion Award. These new awards will first be offered in 2023, joining the recently created Outstanding Educator Award as well as our other prestigious awards to recognize the best in our Society.

I’m very excited to be attending the 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting (JASM) in May. In addition to serving as SWS’ Annual Meeting this year, the scientific content should be fabulous as we gain exposure to related disciplines from partner aquatic societies. Of course, we’re also holding most of the key events that occur at our typical annual meetings – I look forward to seeing you there! Afterwards, let us know your thoughts on how the hybrid meeting format went, as that feedback will help us plan future styles of SWS meetings.

As I approach the end of my year as President of SWS, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who volunteer to serve the Society. It has been tremendously rewarding to work with you (continued on page 4)

Gregory B. Noe, Ph.D. Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, U.S. Geological Survey SWS President

&Wetland Science Practice

PRESIDENT / Gregory Noe, Ph.D. PRESIDENT-ELECT / William Kleindl, Ph.D. IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT / Loretta Battaglia, Ph.D. SECRETARY GENERAL / Leandra Cleveland, PWS TREASURER / Lori Sutter, Ph.D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / Erin Berggren, CAE DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST / Moriah Meeks WETLAND SCIENCE & PRACTICE EDITOR / Ralph Tiner, PWS Emeritus

CHAPTERS ASIA / Wei-Ta Fang, Ph.D. CANADA / Susan Glasauer, Ph.D. CENTRAL / Tim Fobes, PWS CHINA / Xianguo Lyu EUROPE / Matthew Simpson, PWS INTERNATIONAL / Ian Bredlin, Msc; Pr.Sci.Nat and Tatiana Lobato de Magalhães, Ph.D., PWS MID-ATLANTIC / Jason Traband, PWS NEW ENGLAND / Dwight Dunk, PWS NORTH CENTRAL / Casey Judge, WPIT OCEANIA / Phil Papas PACIFIC NORTHWEST / Josh Wozniak, PWS ROCKY MOUNTAIN / Rebecca Pierce SOUTH ATLANTIC / Brian Benscoter, Ph.D. SOUTH CENTRAL / Jodie Murray Burns, PWS, MEd, MS WESTERN / Richard Beck, PWS, CPESC, CEP

SECTIONS BIOGEOCHEMISTRY / Beth Lawrence, Ph.D. EDUCATION / Darold Batzer, Ph.D. GLOBAL CHANGE ECOLOGY / Wei Wu, Ph.D. PEATLANDS / Bin Xu, Ph.D. PUBLIC POLICY AND REGULATION / John Lowenthal, PWS RAMSAR / Nicholas Davidson, Ph.D. STUDENT / Steffanie Munguia WETLAND RESTORATION / Andy Herb WILDLIFE / Andy Nyman, Ph.D. WOMEN IN WETLANDS / Jennifer Karberg, Ph.D.

COMMITTEES AWARDS / Siobhan Fennessy, Ph.D. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH / Jeffrey Matthews, Ph.D. HUMAN DIVERSITY / Kwanza Johnson and Jacoby Carter, Ph.D. MEETINGS / Yvonne Vallette, PWS MEMBERSHIP / Leandra Cleveland, PWS PUBLICATIONS / Keith Edwards WAYS & MEANS / Lori Sutter, Ph.D. WETLANDS OF DISTINCTION / Roy Messaros, Ph.D. Bill Morgante, Steffanie Munguia and Jason Smith, PWS

REPRESENTATIVES PCP / Scott Jecker, PWS WETLANDS / Marinus Otte, Ph.D. WETLAND SCIENCE & PRACTICE / Ralph Tiner, PWS Emeritus ASWM / Jill Aspinwall AIBS / Dennis Whigham, Ph.D.

SOCIETY OF WETLAND SCIENTISTS 7918 Jones Branch Dr #300, McLean, VA 22102 (703) 506-3260 www.sws.org