OVC History and Future

The Ohio Valley Chapter was founded in 1984, and was initially known as the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio (IKO) Chapter. The name of the chapter was changed to the Ohio Valley Chapter (OVC) in 1992, and if all goes as planned could change again in 2007 to the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes Chapter.

The OVC currently has over 70 members and exists to promote research, education, training and development of environmental sciences through student grants and scientific programs. OVC SETAC encourages interactions among local environmental scientists and sponsors scientific and educational programs to foster communication among professionals in government, business, academia and other segments of the environmental science community. This year we generated over $1,400 dollars at our Annual OVC meeting and were able to give virtually all of it away in the form of Student Travel grants for the SETAC North America 26th Annual meeting in Baltimore, MD.

Goals for OVC in 2008

1. Membership expansion – Waning participation, especially by Academia and students, at the Annual OVC meeting the last few years prompts a swift and targeted response to regain past involvement. In 2008, a long term initiative will be launched to develop an OVC (or possibly National Regional Chapter) SETAC Undergraduate Research Grant.

2. Outreach and Volunteer Activities – Greater involvement in our local and regional scientific communities is critical for future growth. An OVC or SETAC presence and involvement at state and regional science fairs and other scientific meetings and forums, which really focuses on young collegiate scientists, could go a long way in advertising who we are, what we do, and why young scientists need to get involved. Our goal is to mobilize our membership to participate in such local and regional events.

3. Affiliate members – As noted above, this year OVC generated over $1,400 dollars at our Annual OVC meeting and was able to give virtually all of it away in the form of Student Travel grants. These funds were generated in part through our annual meeting, but would not have been possible without the support of our Sustaining Members. Garnering more financial support from increased Affiliate and Sustaining memberships is critical for the continued development of OVC and its immediate and long-term goals.