20 Years SAC: Evolving to Better Serve SETAC’s Next Generation
Jana-Sophie Appelt, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel; Bianca Stadelmann, University of Amsterdam; and Micha Wehrli, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)
The SETAC Europe Student Advisory Council (SAC) has been an established committee for more than 20 years. With students making up roughly 25 percent of the SETAC community, the SAC was founded to give students a voice in SETAC governance and to provide opportunities for networking and insight into how the society operates. Today, the SAC holds a seat on the SETAC Europe Board of Directors, organizes events at the annual meeting, such as the Toxic Tales and Science Slam, and leads the Young Environmental Scientist (YES) Meeting in Europe. The YES Meeting takes place each year, alternating between Europe and North America. The next YES Meeting is scheduled for 4–7 August in Columbia, South Carolina, and a recap of the most recent meeting in Europe is also available.
Many active SAC members leave after a single two‑year term, often due to increased workload in the later stages of their doctoral program or upon graduation, making them ineligible for reappointment. In many cases, students only discover SETAC or the SAC late in their studies, leaving too little time for sustained involvement under current rules. This creates a recurring loss of experience, weakens project continuity, and leaves a gap in representation at a critical career stage. In addition, the transition from student to recent graduate can be isolating, with shifting networks and limited support structures.
Alongside students, supporting recent graduates has always been part of how the SAC operates in practice, fostering strong connections within SETAC’s next generation. Yet the current council structure does not reflect this.
To address this, the SAC is extending eligibility to include SETAC members within three years of completing their highest degree. This change will improve continuity and retention of expertise, ensuring that recent graduates remain supported and represented through a vulnerable career transition. Additionally, this creates the opportunity to include the multisectoral principle of SETAC within the SAC, building connections between academia, government and business.
Including recent graduates within the SAC ensures that both students and recent graduates feel represented and may lead to a deepening of engagement in SETAC from both groups. The extension of eligibility for the SAC formalizes an existing practice and does not represent a new direction.
In practice, this change means that starting with the next SETAC Europe General Assembly, members within three years within their graduation will be eligible to stand for election to the SAC. A maximum of four of the available ten positions will be designated for recent graduates, with the remaining six reserved for students. SAC leadership, including both chair and co-chair positions, will always be student-led, ensuring that the student voice remains at the heart of the council. Recent graduates may serve one renewable two‑year term, provided they meet the eligibility criteria at the time of appointment. Members can complete their term even if they exceed the three‑year limit while serving. Applications for available SAC positions will open during the SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting in May.
In this way, we hope to better reflect the community we are serving. We invite all SETAC Europe student and recent graduate members interested in joining or supporting the SAC to attend the General Assembly in Maastricht.
Contact: [email protected]