We hope you are staying safe and well. These are challenging times for all of us as we practice social distancing, learn to teach online (many of us for the first time in our careers), recognize we may not be going into the field this year, and adapt and adjust to a world responding to a global pandemic. By design, AOS is largely a virtual organization — staff have shifted seamlessly to home offices and the Society remains engaged in our mission to promote the science and conservation of birds. Our primary goal is to ensure that your AOS membership provides you with as much value as possible during this difficult time. Here are some resources (including new ones!) that we hope you will take advantage of:
- Free access to all research published in AOS journals The Auk: Ornithological Advances and The Condor: Ornithological Applications (see this page for access instructions).
- Free access to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s recently launched Birds of the World database (see this page for login instructions).
- A 25% discount on books from our publishing partner Oxford University Press. See journal access instructions above to access this discount via our Member Portal.
- Extensive listings of online professional development resources on the Student and Early Career landing pages on our website.
- NEW: A 30% discount from Princeton University Press on birding field guides, photographic guides, reference works, and other bird-related products (such as illustrated birding checklists, calendars, and flash cards) through 9/30/20. Again, see journal access instructions above to access this discount via our Member Portal.
Looking for ways to stay connected to other ornithologists? We have just launched a Facebook group for sharing resources for ornithologists adapting to this new reality, such as tips for teaching online, notices about alternative opportunities for those whose field assistant jobs may be cancelled, etc. We also encourage you to consider giving Twitter a try if you don’t use it already. You might be interested in AOS’s Twitter account, our list of AOS members who tweet, and the hashtag #ornithology. Finally, you can sign up to be featured on the AOS Instagram account for a week to get your work in front of a new audience without leaving your house, and you don’t need to have an Instagram account of your own to participate — contact rheisman@americanornithology.org if interested.
We are actively working on expanding our virtual offerings for our members in the coming months, including adding to the professional development content on our blog and launching a webinar series and a virtual mentoring program. We are forming a new AOS committee to investigate digital platforms for this type of content. If you are a digital wizard with experience hosting webinars, virtual science events, etc. and would like to volunteer to serve on our new AOS Digital Advisory Committee, please get in touch. We are also continuing to explore options for our annual meeting this year; please check the NAOC website for updates.
We are in unprecedented times, but AOS leadership and staff remain committed to supporting our diverse and inspiring community in every way we can. Together, we will get through this and hopefully emerge as stronger and more creative ornithologists with new insights about our discipline and life. Your professional home with AOS is safe, and we want it to be rewarding as well.
Sincerely,
Kathy Martin, AOS President