[PDF] International Biogeography Society Board Meeting Washington, DC

31491_7Draft_Minutes_Board_Meeting_October_2015_longer_notes.pdf

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 1 International Biogeography Society Board Meeting Washington, DC - October 9, 2015 FRIDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING (Oct 9, 2015) 1. Approval of minutes See documents: Minutes - Teleconference September 2015 table.docx; Draft Minutes Teleconference Sep 21 2015 full notes.docx Motion to approve the September 2015 Teleconference minutes and notes without changes. 1st GS, 2nd LA. All approved, minutes accepted. Action: KF to post minutes to Board-Only website 2. Orientation (George) a) Draft Board Orientation Manual See document: Board Orientation.docx This document would be given to new board members as they come in, but also covers the ethos of how things have been done within IBS in the past. Long time board members reviewed the history of how the IBS was formed through NCEAS working group, and things that have been learned that would work well to include in the orientation about international and regional meetings. Additions to add: - Review of job responsibilities - Review of financial responsibilities - Interaction between incoming and outgoing members Action: GS to update document with history, comments and additions. Timing: Early December 2015. b) Disconnects between Bylaws, Constitution, and current culture The Bylaws and Constitution have areas that differ from what is currently done by the IBS Board. These disconnects are highlighted in yellow in the draft 'Board Orientation.docx' document. Historically, a bunch of society bylaws were looked at, and the IBS Bylaws were put together trying to guess what would work well for the society. It was discussed whether we should change the bylaws, or change behaviour to match the Bylaws. Suggestion was to form a committee that looks at bylaws, compares with IBS actions and comes up with recommendation on whether to change bylaws or change actions to align with bylaws. Proposal: Move to form a committee of 3 people to review and recommend changes to bylaws, looking at discrepancies and making recommendations to the IBS Board. 1st GS, 2nd DNB. Unanimous. Action: CR to appoint members. Timeline? c) Archives See website: http://biogeography.org/html/Board_Only/indexboardonly.html The 'Board-Only' website has been put together as an archive site for the society. Feedback is needed to determine whether this is an appropriate format, whether more is needed, and what further documents would be useful for the IBS Board to have (e.g. missing information). Board members generally agreed that the format seemed sufficient. Some concern about holding financial information on web (not currently online due to this concern). Discussed whether to form a committee of past board members, and/or get advice from a professional archivist.

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 2 Action: GS to find a professional archivist to contact the employee in an advisory capacity, for further developing the archives. Timing: Oct/Nov 2015 Action: KF to check with JG about adding archive site to website redesign. Timing: Oct/Nov 2015 4. Financial Review a) IBS Dashboard See document: Dashboard as of 1Sep2015.xlsx Intention is that the dashboard is a quick, easy to absorb page that gives key information and will be shown at each board meeting. From the current one: George is concerned that the membership numbers have plateaued. Need to think how to get them growing again. Employee's time is also shifting towards meeting management and the website - work has changed slightly as the society has grown. b) P&L & Treasurer's Summary See documents: - Profit and Loss - End Fiscal Year 2014-15.xlsx - 2015-16 FY Projections.xlsx (sheet 2014-15 FY) - FY Bank Summary 14_15_June.xlsx Projected vs. Expected Profit and Loss in two different formats, plus detailed summary of transactions in all accounts for detail if needed. Most projected expenses and income matched actual with the following exceptions: Membership income was greater than projected, and the difference between projected and actual meeting expenses and income were way off. This was due to the fact that the meeting finances were largely outsourced to Germany rather than money moving through IBS accounts. Concerns on the ease of reviewing the finances were discussed. The Board's role is to check and scrutinize, and it is difficult when the figures are so fluctuating because of issues like the above. Reports allow comparisons between years and have been manageable to date, but are getting difficult to track as the IBS is becoming involved in an increasing number of projects. One possibility is that we could have a separate account for each meeting, closing after the project is done. The aim would be to move towards budgeting and accounting that is less confusing with multiple projects. There is also the issue of conference income coming in across two fiscal years. Alternative options were briefly discussed, but much of the discussion was left for section 'Maintaining a Financially Stable Organization'. Note that this is not a reflection of anyone's work, but rather a development that comes with the growth of the IBS. Action: GS, LA, KF to develop a different way of reporting the finances, with input from any audit or partial audit performed. Timing: September 2016 Action: PPN, RD, GS to develop a package for meeting accounting, which can then be passed to future VP conferences, local hosts, and treasurers. Timeline: Shortly after Jan 2017. c) Balance Sheet See document: Balance sheet (1st quarter) 2015-16.xlsx Current funds in all accounts total $200,215 USD at the end of the first quarter. This marks an increase of $21,909 USD from the end of the fiscal year. Much of this income is from the final Bayreuth conference profit. Concerns expressed: Labeling of the accounts is a little confusing as most are marked 'reserves', when none of them are really reserved for a particular use. None of the accounts are restricted except a small amount that should be in an endowment account, meaning that all of this is available immediately if needed. Cleaning up the way the various accounts are reported would help distinguishing between unrestricted and restricted funds. This would make deciding on expenditures for the coming year easier.

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 3 Action: KF, LA to look into altering labels on accounts and general cleaning up of accounts for board reporting, with input from any audit performed. Timing: September 2016. d) Projected Budget See document: 2015-16 FY Projections.xlsx Document was introduced only, and compares our current expected expenses and incomes with those of last year. The main expectation was that there would be a decrease in membership income from last year as it is a non-meeting year. Changes to make regarding reporting appearance: Lump employee costs for reporting (but not for accountant), and combine General meeting and advertising categories. Changes to the projected budget amounts were left to the end of the board meeting, to allow for revisions based on board reports and planned projects. Action: LA, KF to incorporate above changes for next board projected budget review (September 2016) and align with any audit recommendations. 5. Maintaining a Financially Stable Organization a) Investment Policy Statement See documents: - Investing Long Term Funds.docx - Draft IBS Investment Policy Statement.docx - IBS Sample Portfolio Comparison Report.pdf An investment manager (an outside, accredited, and independent advisor) could work with the full Board or committee, to review the Investment Policy Statement and rebalance the investments annually, and track performance quarterly. We need to define out what our investment policy is, (not at this meeting) and plan for long-term stability. Depending on our targets, we may want to manage funds differently. Consensus was that a more focused investment strategy would be best now that the accounts have significant funds in them. It would be a good idea to keep a database of what our members' professions and competencies are for future advisory help, and to involve members. Proposal: Move to create a small committee tasked with producing a preliminary investment policy statement, to bring back to the Board for approval. The committee will also provide information for the Board on the options and trade-offs available (e.g. How much less return we can expect to get if we go for ethical investment). 1st GS, 2nd LA. Unanimous. Responsibility: CR. Timing: December Action: CS to nominate members for above committee for approval by the Board. Include GS, LA, plus one or two IBS members with financial savvy. Action: Board members email GS with any suggestions/intelligence about people with potentially useful competencies for above. Action: KF to consider survey asking for useful info on member professions and competencies (e.g. lawyers, financial advisors, etc). b) Audit See document: Steps Toward Audited Financial Statements.docx The IBS Bylaws call for an annual audit of financial statements. Past boards have been reluctant to do so because of the cost of a full audit. An auditor based in the US would check bank records, confirm with the banking institutions that the accounts exist, test the internal accounting procedures by sampling documentation for expenses and revenues, and produce a letter to management with suggestions for improvements to the financial systems, recordkeeping, staffing, and conduct of the organization. The current system places an unfair burden of trust on Lois. A few different options exist: 1) Do nothing

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 4 2) Full audit ($8,000) - letter that says the money is there and the financial systems of the society are running appropriately. May give advice on changes to the system that could be made. 3) Partial Audit ($3,000) Conduct a review of our financial statements, but not test policies and procedures. Auditors should help write those policies and procedures and then return in subsequent fiscal year to test how those policies and procedures have been applied. Advantage is that we quickly get and apply outside expertise and get sound policies and procedures in place at a much lower cost. Disadvantage is that we still cannot claim "audited financial statements" vouched for by a professional accounting firm until a future full audit. Proposal: Move forward with option 3. 1st DS, 2nd PPN. Unanimous. Action: GS, LA to move forward with setting up a partial audit. SATURDAY (Oct 10, 2015) 6. Vision for the future a) Chair's Vision The society has been well run, and suggestions for change are not a critique of the past - it all has a history and a time. 1) In order to carry out IBS visions, we need to have financial stability, transparency and accountability before we move on. Setting up a goal for a 'rainy day' fund is important, and should be at least $100k, (preferably $200k), but does not need to reach these levels very fast. As a society, we need to be fairly conservative, but we do have money to invest and spend. 2) We want to retain and promote the feeling that if one works in biogeography, the IBS is 'my society'. We need to be interdisciplinary, but not too blurry. 3) Need to start looking at providing more member benefit options in addition to what we have. 4) We need to change how the board works so that there's more time for strategic development, and less time spent on practicalities, maintaining a good balance between action and thought. We need to figure out the infrastructure that allows our members to be active and contribute. Decentralization of the practical work the board is doing is key, with activation of members (in committees and other activities). Also more detachment of the board is needed from the various IBS meetings organization. We can have more IBS meetings of various sorts if we don't do the micromanaging. Moving more of the financial responsibility of the financial aspects and shift to organizers of the conferences would be preferred. Activities and infrastructure should be geared more towards board members talking science. 5) We need to step up and think about the communication between members and the society (social media). 6) Membership growth: a) Very important that we maintain and increase our position in the US and Europe (remains the core of the society). Worry is that we're currently losing NA, and that the next biennial meeting should be in US or Canada. b) Increase diversity while being sensitive to different cultures. This includes diversity issues (including gender). 7) Want profit for the society from meetings, to invest in member benefits. After Brazil, we should make clear and specific demands from conference organizers. 8) Frontiers needs to be listed and become a major journal in biogeography. Probably needs an investment. 9) Need a different way of communicating to the members that is not through Frontiers. Could be through a newsletter, but would like to discuss with JG. 10) Need to decide whether to go for growth vs. other things such as member benefits. Could decide to stay at much the same size, but with improved experience for members. Why do we want to be larger (economic or establishing biogeography)? Also slow vs. rapid growth. We need to be clear about the reasons for growing. Expansion brings potential economies, but

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 5 also risks and costs (e.g. the point where we need an extra employee). How much do we value the intimacy of a relatively small society? Would prefer to build slowly, ensuring the values of the society stay strong and consistent, rather than trying to grow for growth's sake. Focusing on the economic reasons may deflate the values of what the society is about. b) Chair-Elect Vision: The initial excitement of the IBS was in a shared sense that biogeography did not have a voice or outlet for meetings, and the society enabled that goal. The society has a strong role to play for a considerable time to come, but it could also collapse relatively easily still with one or two bad boards or meetings. The society is not yet big enough - 900 members right now is fine, but in 10 years would like to see a wider membership base to draw on and feed off. There are also other geographic areas that would enjoy and would like to be engaged with the society. One of the best things about biogeography is how it can integrate across disciplines and career stages. That sort of integration is important and there are areas in which the society is under-represented. Would like to see growth of approx. doubling in size over the next 10 years. To do this we need to do 3 key things: build benefits, build identity, and build capacity. Goals: - Continue to have great meetings and consider having them more often. - Engage membership more effectively - a more effective set of active committees, which have board representation, but are driven by non-Board members. This would then become the pipeline for more board members. - There are lots of people out there who do lots of biogeography, but do not consider themselves biogeographers. They might increasingly do so if there are more regular meetings. - Develop Frontiers into a really strong, top journal. - Build an endowment. Set an ambitious goal and then try to ensure we get it. Could involve fundraising. - We probably need 2 employees, both for capacity and redundancy. It would be very bad for the IBS if employee were to leave. - Consider at what point we move to an annual meeting cycle, what are the triggers and is that something that we want to do? If we do have 1800 members and only biennial meetings, then we have a problem of meetings that are too large. Right now it's also a problem that people aren't able to go to all meetings if they don't have the funds. c) Discussion from Vision statements - We may want to switch to targeted symposia and targeted locations for the next few cycles. Rather than opening bids for the biennial meetings, we could have an annual email to people, asking whether they are interested in putting on a conference (i.e. at some point in the future). This would be a good way of transitioning from open calls for the biennial meetings to more targeted, board-determined locations. - History of past meetings (title of symposia, past meetings, searchable) would be beneficial to have online to engage new biogeographers and coordinate strategic planning by the board. The key to understand the dynamics of the field is by looking at past talks and topics of the meetings. - Why wouldn't we target a specific person if we are looking for a particular location (e.g. Puerto Rico)? We are in danger of losing much of our N. Am. core base. A lot of people in N. Am. think: I like the subject, I'd like to go to a biogeography meeting, Do I want to go to the location? Local hosts are really important. - We've had a couple of successful meetings, and some less successful, and we aren't learning from them. Sometimes it's the location, sometimes it's the content that determines lack of excitement about the meeting (either before or after). How active are we in strategizing about the meeting? What is success? How do we measure it? A few years ago we measured retention of members, and we can do this again by looking at a number of things and deciding what our target is. - A newsletter would be helpful in communicating to members how we represent the discipline, e.g. at the IPBES. We can also integrate this with working with regional societies. Having a

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 6 hardcover newsletter (with opt in/opt out) is a possibility. Board in favour of reinstating the newsletter (separate from Frontiers), but not in hardcopy format. Possibility of having a pdf of the newsletter emailed to members, with the content also on the blog. Proposal: Move to reinstate the newsletter, moving society info from Frontiers. The aim is the communication of information to members that is separate from communicating research findings. 1st DS, 2nd PPN. Unanimous. Action: JG to integrate newsletter into communications strategy. Timing? 7. Employee Review a) Annual report See document: Annual Report - Year End 2014-15.docx Annual report for the past fiscal year, outlining employee hours spent on different activities, changes from the previous fiscal year and goals for the 2015/16 fiscal year, for board review and archiving purposes. Employee requested the Board to examine the employee position within the scope of long-term planning, to determine the focus of the position. What tasks would be the most effective use of employee time? Employee would like to have the system automatically review the employee role (salary, hours, allocation of time on different areas). Some concerns about doing things that have not been part of the employee position in the past. Current employee is ok with doing the work, but is sometimes put in the position of potentially stepping on toes or doing things that the Board would rather be done by board decision, in order to get things done. Quite often there is not enough response by the Board, which can mean the employee doing things by default. Employee should be able to contact someone for input on how to proceed, or if Board members are not pulling their weight. Recommended that this be 3 people copied: President, President Elect, Past President. Employee currently does a lot that is in the Secretary role. Fine, but needs updating in the bylaws. Also frees up the Secretary for other activities - should be discussed in the future. Action: Employee to use the contact route of President, Past-President, President-Elect for issues that arise. Action: Board interested in receiving email reminders for upcoming tasks related to the 2 year calendar of events. KF to add to employee tasks. Action: KF to Archive Annual Report b) Board discussion We should have an annual appraisal. Should contribute to a retirement account (5% of gross pay). Should index-link pay. Should have merit-related pay. These were all agreed upon. Proposal: Increase hours to just short of half-time, at $20/hour, with 5% of salary as retirement provision. 1st DS, 2nd LA. Unanimous. Action: RF to increase pay in Paycycle. GS to research retirement account custodian. 8. IBS Conference and Meetings a) Goals of IBS Gatherings See document: GoalsofIBSGatherings.docx Discussion and amendments: Document was reviewed and additions/changes made. Workshops - the policy of offering workshops in different places all over the world, with different goals. One model should be associated with the biennial conference (for small profit), and one that's a membership benefit (neutral, sometimes a profit), potentially attached

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 7 onto a regional meeting. There are people who would like to put these on, but use the IBS name. We need to think whether we should be pro-active about getting these going. Workshops often suffer from very mixed skill levels in the class. It is important to have quality control, especially for stand-alone workshops. Explanations from workshop presenters, and questions beforehand can allow people to self-assess whether they have the skills needed to do the workshop. Missing a column: How much time should be invested by the Board and employee for the different gatherings? Volunteer opportunities - some people will expect money, some will do as an IBS benefit or for other reasons. What makes an IBS meeting? What is our trademark? A heavy part of the meeting is organized symposia - and that we don't just represent one aspect of biogeography. Stepping outside the one group you normally meet. We have a strong component of mentorship, but we should advertise this more. The big names come and give talks, but they also sit and talk to ~20 early career researchers. We also have a strong focus on poster sessions. We need to brand these things more. Action: Incorporate self-assessment questions for any independent workshops. KF to monitor as independent workshop ideas develop. Action: Make a list of people that already do workshops, and send to ?PPN?GS?. (All) Action: Put Frontiers in the goals of IBS gatherings (GS) Action: Add column - time investment by the Board and Employee (GS) Action: Brand trademark components of the biennial meetings in advertising (organized combined symposia, mentorship, and strong poster sessions). JG, PPN, KF Action: GS to send KF updated document. b) Biennial and Satellite Meetings and calls See document: IBS Membership Strategy - draft points Sept 2015.docx No firm decision on how to do the calls. Mainly part of a larger conversation on how we view the suite of meetings over the next 6 years. For the next couple of biennial cycles, the meetings need to re-engage the core membership (US, Europe). Location needs to be affordable to get to, and easy to get to. We need to think about the constellation of what we're doing over the next couple of cycles. The next location of the Biennial conference should be focused on the US base - but in an attractive location: E.g. Puerto Rico, Caribbean, or Western Europe. At what point do we move to annual meetings (if any)? If we go to largely outsource the meetings, then we could move to having more than one meeting per year. If we only have an early career meeting once every 4 years, this doesn't help the early career group much. Action: KF, PPN to figure out the optimal timing for sending out calls. Late Nov. Action: Board to decide on how to do the next calls for Biennial and Satellite Meetings (open vs. targeted). Nov to early Jan. c) Current Meetings 1. Brazil Convention a) Financial Review See Document: Breakeven Brazil 2017.xlsx Document outlines draft working budget for Brazil. There will likely be a large number of students that will attend, which may cause difficulties for budgeting

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 8 and attendee balance. Board reviewed the pros and cons of capping of student numbers as a possibility (open or silent). Early/Regular/Late registration fees were discussed, with the decision to not offer an early registration price. Catering can often be the largest cost of a conference and the inclusion of a banquet/party in the registration price has resulted in controversies in the past as it can substantially affect the profit of the conference but is valuable for networking and socializing. In this case the inclusion of the banquet is ~25 USD per person (check with RD/GS), so less of an issue. We also don't have a lot of control over the quality of food, as there's no catering option other than the hotel. Local host and Board both in favour of including a party with music and nice atmosphere, covered by registration fees, but with 2 free drink tickets (rather than all inclusive) and remaining cash bar. Cash bar at poster sessions was deemed important. Professional meeting planners - at this point much has been organized by the local hosts that a meeting planner might do, so not much benefit. There is the possibility that a meeting planner for the registration site might be useful. Action: RD to make plans for including group party one evening, and incorporate cost into registration budget. Action: RD to research cash bar options for poster sessions Action: RD to check in on the cost of using a meeting planner to set up registration site and make payments necessary for Brazil conference from funds obtained (registration fees). Action: Set regular and late (substantially higher) registration prices for student and regular attendees (but not an early rate). (RD, KF) Action: Promote the fact that the visa issue means you need to get visas sorted in good time. (KF, JG, PPN) Action: Price student registration so that it's not at a loss (RD, KF, PPN) Action: Choose a 50/50 balance of students/established researchers, with a silent capping for students. Students are defined as studying for a degree and not yet finished PhD. When full, an automatic notice that student registration is full will pop up, and an offer to go on a waitlist. RD, KF to ensure this gets incorporated into registration website. b) Contract review See document: IBS_contrato.docx Quick review of the contract, with more detailed review to be undertaken by a small Board committee. Action: RD, GS, PPN, KF to review contract and look for gaps or problems. Return to IBS board with any revisions necessary. Timing: November Teleconference. c) Event Insurance US Companies have not come through with offering a quote on international meetings in the past, as it is seen as too small an amount and too high a risk. Action: PPN to ask insurance broker friend in Rio to see whether they will offer, and report back. Timeline: November teleconference. d) Meeting pre-payments & timing The hotel/conference centre wants half of the cost of the venue on signing the contract (this year) and half a week before the conference. The amount is estimated

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 9 at 240,000 Brazilian Reals which includes the room rentals for the conference and the food for breaks. This does not include the party or food for poster sessions. Action: Firm up amount required after finalizing contract. RD, KF e) Sponsorship (local & NSF update) Application for sponsorship has been sent in by local hosts - we should hear back from them before registration opens which will allow for more accurate pricing of registration fees. Suggestion to apply for funds from the Funcacao Grupo Boticario and VALE (and any other appropriate companies) but not Petrobas. Action: Board support given to apply for funds, excluding Petrobas. 1st DNB, 2nd Richard. Follow up by RD and local crew with board involvement as needed. f) Logo 3 different logos were shown to the Board. All were great, with the Board preferring the first with some slight modification, and light discussion about the appropriateness of using a palm tree (arguably invasive). Action: RD to use logo #1 with possible slight revisions suggested by Board. g) Number of Symposia Historically have had 4 symposia. The local crew would like to move down to 3, to allow for more contributed sessions with expected larger meeting size. Start time of conference and length of lunch and keynotes discussed. Main concern was that we ensure there are enough opportunities for social engagement in between talks and sessions. Proposal: Move from 4 plenary symposia down to 3. 1st RF, 2nd PPN. Unanimous. Action: RD to bring forward alternative time slots for length of symposia and talks, timing of concurrent sessions etc, and present to the board. Timing: Nov Teleconference. h) Fieldtrips There may be longer fieldtrips (2-3 days) with still aiming for ~20% profit for the IBS. Are there health issues for 3 day fieldtrips? Action: RD to check on health concerns for longer fieldtrips and communicate during registration process. 2) China Conference a) Update CR visited and met with the organizers. Some of the top people in China are involved and will be getting significant funding for the conference. It will be a big boost for biogeographical research in China, and having this conference has greatly increased biogeography within the Chinese structure. Sponsorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Peking University has been obtained, and then more depending on the number of attendees. They should deliver at least $3,000 USD to the IBS in profit, and we should try to increase this to $5,000 to cover unforeseeable issues given the sponsorship available. Expected attendance is 300-400 people, including quite a lot from Japan and people from all over China. The main room seats around 400-450, but the conference center can accommodate larger rooms at any point if we need them. They are counting on 3-4 concurrent sessions at 90 people each, and rooms are right next to each other within the conference center. A registration company has been hired to handle registration, and no pre-payments need to be made by

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 10 the IBS (being handled by China). Flights from most of Europe are inexpensive, and accommodation is ~40 USD for 2 people. Zhiheng is aware of diversity and gender issues, invited keynotes included men and women, all women turned down the invitation, and the men didn't, resulting in Bob Ricklefs, David Currie, Steve Hubbell, and Carsten Rahbek. They agreed to get at least two female keynotes in addition and are working through a list of names. Fieldtrips will make the usual cultural tours and will make some tours a couple of hours drive into the surrounding mountains. There was potential interest in Alice Hughes' suggestion of tacking on a workshop in Yunnan. Action: Contact Alice Hughes to suggest getting in touch with Zhiheng to discuss idea. PPN. Action: KF to keep reminding Zhiheng about things needing to get done (e.g. website). b) Board attendance at meeting Current expected board attendance in China includes CR, DS, RG, DNB (potentially also PPN). Funding is available for any board member who is able to attend. The local crew would like the IBS Board members to be present if possible to network and as a sign of engagement and support, but they are not expecting the entire board. Action: KF to confirm this with Zhiheng. Timing: Nov Teleconference. SUNDAY Oct 11, 2015 9. Service to Members a) Frontiers i) Overview: Originally Frontiers was a newsletter that was run by Jaoquin Hortal. Mike Dawson got involved and then Richard Field, and now it is run as a triumvirate. At some point the aim is to generate revenue that would feed into the society. It's not independent from the society, just independently run by the editors in chief (EiC's). The IBS board should support their efforts. In terms of content, the scope would be approximately similar to the Journal of Biogeography. ii) Proposal: See document: Frontiers_Proposal2IBS.docx The goal is to get Frontiers listed and indexed, so that it is a service to the subject as well as the society. It is aiming to be the type of journal that publishes topics that other Biogeography journals don't publish (e.g. book reviews) as well as more standard biogeographic submissions. There is a need to put in place the framework it will need to run effectively after it gets listing. An advisory board needs to be set up with oversight to include an annual report of journal performance, and review of EiC's. Discussion of the various proposed actions in the document. Action: Frontiers EiC's to have 4,000 USD in the Frontiers budget allocated this year to use as they see fit to advertise and support Frontiers activities and solicit articles. (LA) Action: Identify designated driver of the Editorial Advisory Board, and person designated for reminders from the editorial leadership (RF/JQ/MD). Action: Contact Dave Richardson about moving onto the editorial advisory board (RF)

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 11 Action: Get the advisory board together and activated. Determine a location for the meeting and devise a strategy to sit down to present a plan to the board within the next 3 months. (RF/MD/JQ/Advisory board members) Proposal: Allocate an additional $2,000 to set up and have the advisory board meeting. 1st DS, 2nd DNB. Unanimous, except RF abstained. Proposal: Move that the three EiC team members get the option of free registration for IBS meetings. 1st DS, 2nd LA. Unanimous, except RF abstained. iii) Legalities Frontiers needs to be Trademarked and the name needs checking for legalities of ownership. Action: Hire corporate lawyer to get the ownership of the name for Frontiers trademarked. (GS/RF) Proposal: Move to allocate $1,000 in the budget to this. 1st DS, 2nd FV. Unanimous. (LA) b) Membership i) Status Report See document: Membership report October 2015.pdf General review of membership numbers, and tactics for recruitment and retention, with some overlap of previous topics or documents discussed (e.g. Dashboard). Membership recruitment appears strongly tied to meetings. Employees assessment is that increasing the number and type of meetings (workshops, off-year, Early Career, etc.) seems like the fastest way to build new member numbers. Membership retention strategies include involving members in society committees, improving or increasing benefits, and online engagement. All areas could use more time spent developing. Feedback from the board on additional information to have in the report includes country and academic level of members per year in database. Concerns that we are missing core members from Holland and France, from Europe. See article: LadleEtAl'15-research_trends_biogeography.pdf for information about where to focus membership drive efforts Biology '16 - Swiss Conference on Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, Biogeography and Conservation (http://wp.unil.ch/biology16/ . IBS member initiated and spearheaded idea to promote the IBS at Biology '16 by using the IBS as a sponsor. There is minimal financial support from the IBS (288 USD), but is a great advertising opportunity. Action: Board members should think about IBS members who may be able to offer similar opportunities. ii) Membership Strategy See document: IBS Membership Strategy - draft points Sept 2015.docx No time for discussion, though many points had been reviewed during President-Elect's vision and Meeting type discussions. Action: Board to review document prior to next teleconference (Nov 2015). All. c) Journal Access (Wiley Partnership) i) Sponsorship Ongoing. CR has been trying to strike a deal with the journals directly, but no new progress to date. The China organizers have been asked not to approach Wiley directly

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 12 for sponsorship. Ecography (which is already in a deal with China organizers) is much bigger in China than the other 3 biogeography journals. Wiley does not get as much money from Ecography, as they do not own the journal (they just distribute it), so Wiley is very keen to get a bigger presence in China and also to get into other emerging markets, especially Brazil and India. Action: KF to send CR information on what Wiley Blackwell has given as sponsorship in the past. (Dec) d) Early Career Award See document: ECC_Award_June2015.docx Proposal brought forward to change the Early Career Award to be given out at the biennial meeting instead of the off-year meeting. There may be an adjustment of the article requirement to align with Frontier's goals to get listed. More funds than previously required should be allocated to the award, to enable the awardee to attend the biennial conference. General support for the changes. No formal approval. Proposal: The ECC award should be whichever is greater out of $1,000 and getting the student to the biennial meeting. 1st RF, 2nd DS. Unanimous. Action: KF/LA to make notes for next fiscal year to: - Increase of the ECR award to $1000 or more (if costs of getting to Brazil meeting, more). e) Advocacy (IPBES update) See document: Email Re IPBES Oct 2015 Lars Opgenoorth.docx IBS (via Lars) nominated about 20-30 people for selection by the IPBES. IBS can nominate people for IPBES, which is potentially particularly useful for people in some countries, such as the UK, for whom it is very difficult to get involved in any other way. 6 people were selected (success rate about 1/4 - 1/6). This is more or as many as any other non-governmental organization, except for IUCN and International Council of Science. Requested discussion of better communication routes to improve outreach (e.g. newsletter - the blog is not very effective). There have been other things that he's been involved with in the name of the IBS (e.g. stakeholder engagement process - in which the IBS was one of a handful of organizations who drafted the initial Terms of Reference (ToR) of the IPBES stakeholder Network). Ecosystem services have been the main focus of IPBES so far, but biodiversity is next. It is likely that a lot of funding will follow; e.g. lots on invasive species. While there are a number of additional activities IBS members could be interested in, Lars has a current lack of time available. Would need assistance from the IBS to continue to be more engaged. Action: CR to contact LO to thank, and to ask to submit an editorial to Frontiers quickly (or for December). Action: KF to ask LO what kind of assistance needed (e.g. filling out forms), to determine if feasible. Consider for possible inclusion on work KF does. Action: JG to add IPBES to considerations for inclusion on future newsletter. 11. Review of Goals for 2015-2016 1) Meetings ASPIRATIONAL GOALS - Select site of next international convention DEFINED GOALS - Sign contract and create a budget for Brazil to generate $50,000 to $100,000 in profit

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 13 2) Building Connections between Members ASPIRATIONAL GOALS - Create new website and social media presence Action: Proposal pending - Hold more meetings - Retain more members DEFINED GOALS - Governance Committee sets up structure to engage members Action: December teleconference Governance Committee reports out on plan membership composition for diversity and membership 3) Serving Membership ASPIRATIONAL GOALS - Create an inner structure within IBS that increases membership engagement - Double the number of members in ten years - Reduce costs of publishing in Frontiers for members DEFINED GOALS Frontiers: Goal of listing within two years Action: Convene Advisory Committee Action: Recruiting 80 to write manuscripts Action: Recruit manager to process manuscripts and encourage authors Action: Recruit copyeditors to assist editors of Frontiers 4) Financial Stability ASPIRATIONAL GOALS - Build an endowment - Maintain long-term savings needed for IBS - Obtain event insurance - Expand fundraising DEFINED GOALS - Create an investment account Action: Create an Investment Policy Statement Action: Engage a Financial Manager 12. Budget for 2015-2016 See document: 2015-16 FY Projections.xlsx The projected 2015-16 fiscal year budget was adjusted to include proposals of increased expenditure for the coming fiscal year, including: - $2000 extra to Frontiers, to get the advisor board together - $1000 to get proper ownership and trademark for Frontiers - c.$10,000 in extra pay and benefits for Karen - $3,000 extra for the financial audit - Not yet decided on proposal, but $8,000 provisionally put into the budget: Expected that JG (absent) had documents to bring to the board for discussion, with estimated cost of $10,000. - Removed the budget line of $5000 to the long-term fund. (This is just a transfer between accounts. Once the audit has been done, we may put the long-term fund into something we can't easily touch, such as an endowment). Proposal: Move to accept the budget with above adjustments, which has an expected profit of $293 for this fiscal year. 1st GS, 2nd DS. Unanimous. Action: KF/LA to make notes for next fiscal year to allocate $1000 for the get-together of regional co-ordinators and the board, during the biennial meeting - to be part of the meeting budget.

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2015 14 Adjourn Not covered: 3. Building Connections Between Members a) VP Communications proposal - Social Media via Twitter, Facebook - Blog - Website Encouragement to put forth a proposal for review with changes desired, with $8,000 USD set aside in budget towards this (with arguments being able to be made for more if necessary). Action: JG to send proposal for expenditure on communications and web strategy to board prior to November teleconference, for review and discussion.