AOS Community Forum

The American Ornithological Society (AOS) invites members to join us online on Thursday, 2 December at 5:00 p.m. (EST) for our next AOS Community Forum, Leadership Within AOS: Pathways and Opportunities. AOS President Mike Webster and President-Elect Colleen Handel will provide an overview of leadership opportunities within AOS. Membership Committee Chair Sara Kaiser will discuss initiatives to help members understand opportunities within AOS and introduce resources that highlight ways to engage, and Nomination of Fellows and Elective Members Committee Chair Lauryn Benedict will explore different categories of leadership and describe our efforts to make leadership pathways more transparent and equitable. In particular, this conversation will center around creating greater equity and access to leadership pathways within the AOS, and we are looking for your suggestions on how AOS can broaden our leadership pipeline and engage emerging leaders within our Society.  

Our AOS Community Forums provide opportunities for members to get involved, share ideas, and guide our work in key areas to help us better serve you. In our March 2021 Forum (view recording), we invited the leaders of the Society’s various funding programs—designed to support, recognize, and advance the careers of our student, postdoc, and early professional members—to describe the goals of these programs, how their committees work, and how these programs benefit members early in their professional journey. Based on your feedback during this Forum, we are revising our award guidelines and eligibility criteria to make our awards process more transparent and equitable. 

In our December 2020 Forum (view recording), we discussed challenges and potential supports to help our student and early professional members whose education and career paths have been affected by COVID-related disruptions. In response, AOS developed a suite of new supports for our student and early professional members to close gaps in research funding, subsidize Society membership, and help students and early professionals gain connections and skills through career development workshops and networking opportunities hosted by our Early Professional and Student Affairs committees.

We hope that our AOS Community Forums will continue to inspire positive change within our Society and strengthen our efforts to deliver on our mission to support ornithologists and advance ornithology. Our Forums are designed to be a welcoming and safe environment, knowing that we’re both united and enriched by our diversity. 

REGISTER NOW

We hope you’ll join us on 2 December—we look forward to connecting with you!

NOTE: By registering for this event, participants in this webinar agree to abide by the AOS Virtual Meeting/Event Code of Conduct.