SETAC North America Governance and Staff Are Working Hard for Their Members: A Mid-Year Report
Lisa Ortego, President of SETAC North America Board of Directors
It has been a busy year so far for the SETAC staff and governance; lots of exciting things are happening! SETAC Europe led the way with the first in-person meeting we’ve had since 2019. By all measures, the meeting in Copenhagen was a huge success; congratulations to the organizing committee and the SETAC staff for putting together a successful meeting. This was quickly followed by the Non-target Analysis for Environmental Risk Assessment SETAC North America Focused Topic Meeting held in Durham, NC, which had been delayed from 2020. The SETAC North America Board of Directors has returned to representing SETAC at regional chapter meetings, in person, when possible, after a two-year hiatus. We have missed engaging with our members, but we are on a roll in 2022!
During the General Assembly at the SETAC North America 42nd Annual Meeting last year, I shared with you the Board’s priorities for 2022: Advancing scientific excellence, ensuring operational heath, and increasing governance transparency, all with a focus on inclusivity and belonging. I’d like to update you on some of the progress we’ve made.
In the area of transparency, you will see an updated SETAC North America webpage with lots of useful information. It houses important documents, including our bylaws and tax filings. It also includes information about our work such as our annual plan, budget, and how we plan for our annual meeting and the important role of program committee members in that process. You’ll also find leadership development materials that describe the roles and responsibilities of Board members and other positions and provide guidance for SETAC committee chairs. At the last General Assembly, there were questions about how we select meeting venues and about our inclusion initiatives. You will find fact sheets and assessment reports on those topics on the webpage as well. These are recent steps toward transparency in governance, and there’s more to come! If you’d like to attend a Board meeting, please contact SETAC North America Executive Director, Tamar Schlekat.
In the area of operational health, we’ve been overhauling our financial policies in conjunction with the SETAC World Council. These changes will simplify and focus our financial statements and make it easier to prepare our tax filings and undergo audits. They also increase our tracking abilities and help us build efficiency and better accountability in financial matters. You will notice a modest increase in the annual meeting registration fees for some registrant categories. This was a difficult decision for the Board as this was the first increase we’ve had in over ten years. Our goal is always to ensure the meeting is financially solvent, and the increased fees balanced the budget and improved our ability to provide high-quality in-person and virtual offerings. The increase does not apply to students, early careers, retirees or those in low- income economies. We want this meeting to be accessible to as many in our community as possible and offer attendance grants, and we are currently accepting applications for grants for professionals for the SETAC North America annual meeting in Pittsburgh.
On the topic of inclusiveness and belonging, we’ve made progress on many of the action items identified in our assessment last November – see our most up-to-date inclusion report. Early this year, we held an externally facilitated workshop on diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion (DEAI), which was attended by SETAC staff, board members, representatives from each of SETAC North America committees and a representative from SETAC’s Indigenous Knowledge and Values Interest Group. The objective of the workshop was to gather and summarize ideas to lay the groundwork for the future SETAC inclusion strategy. More recently, we have been participating in the U.S. National Science Foundation's project Amplifying the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success (ACCESS+) to collaborate on these issues with other scientific societies and experts in the area. We are grateful to all participants in these activities and our SETAC members and committees who are committed to advancing inclusivity and belonging at SETAC. The board has also worked diligently on tackling bias and fostering a welcoming atmosphere that encourages civil scientific discourse.
I’ve already touched on the Nontarget 2022 focused topic meeting. Focused topic meetings and our annual meeting in November are two vehicles SETAC North America uses to advance scientific excellence. At our annual meeting, we are committed to promoting specific sessions in emerging areas, such as multi-stressor risk assessment, immunotoxicology, environmental justice, and more. At the global level, the Board supported the establishment of an Immunotoxicology Interest Group and the partnership with the International Consortium to Advance Cross-Species Extrapolation in Regulation. Finally, we were glad to promote the development of a SETAC webinar program to support our members in advancing scientific excellence year-round.
At the time I’m writing this, planning for the SETAC North America 43rd Annual Meeting, which will be held from 13–17 November in Pittsburgh and online, is well underway. We are excited about our first opportunity to gather in person in Pittsburgh, while still providing opportunities for virtual participation. Mark your calendars so you can register early and save on the discounted fees. If you missed the abstract deadline, stay tuned for when we open the call for late-breaking science abstracts in early August. Either in person or virtual, we look forward to seeing you at SETAC Pittsburgh in November!
Author's contact: Lisa Ortego, [email protected]