ExCom meeting summaries (which are also distributed to the Council via email) are publicly available in this Google Drive folder.
Meeting Notes
The APECS Executive Committee (ExCom) is meeting every two weeks and a short summary of their calls is posted here. So if you are interested in what the ExCom does, check this page regularly.
© Fiona Tummon, Francisco Fernandoy, ECMWF, Cynthia Sassenroth
Meeting Notes 2021-2022
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October 4, 2021
1. Updates from the Directorate
1.1 Transition into the new term 2021/2022
- For now applications to join a project group (PG) are closed, but may be opened later on depending on the needs of the PGLs.
- There are only two groups without PGL: APECS workshop at UArctic Congress 2022 and APECS workshop at Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2022.1.2 New host
-The draft of the MoU between APECS and the new host has been prepared.
- The official announcement of the new host and the APECS Director position will be released soon.
- Some ExCom members will be part of the hiring committee for the new Director.1.3 Requests for collaboration from other organizations:
- IASC sent an invitation to nominate an APECS representative to the ICARP IV Steering Committee.
- Polar Educators International (PEI) wants to organize a workshop with APECS during the ASSW, and to have ECRs involved in the drafting of a new Polar Resource Book.
- ASSW2022 is wondering if APECS would be interested in organizing or helping organize a social (hybrid/online) event for ECRs during the event.
- Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) wants ECRs involved in the working groups of the AOS.2. Organisation of the ExCom meetings
- The Excom will strive to send the summary of the meetings by email to the Council prior to the next meeting.
- The Council leadership will be invited to the first part of the meetings every two meetings.3. Organisation of the new term
- The list of the ExCom contacts for the PGs will be created soon. There will not be ExCom contacts for Individual Council members since it does not seem necessary given the new structure of the Council.
- The ExCom will work on the priorities for this new term. This will include priorities from the past term that are still ongoing, and priorities for the new term. The list of the ExCom priorities will be shared with the Council shortly after it’s prepared.4. Some priorities for the new term
- The layout of the new handbook needs to be prepared.***Next meeting: 18 October 2021, 16 – 18 GMT ***
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October 18, 2021
1. Updates from the Directorate
- Announcements;
for New Host Institute and Executive Director,
for IASC Fellowship Webinar are now online- Reviving APECS Norge
Working on layout of Handbook to be published soon2. ExCom meetings
- Next meeting date & time will be on Monday 1 November, 13.30-15.30 GMT
- Council co-Chairs, SMCs, NCs are invited to join the first part of the next meeting.- These are the dates of the ExCom meetings for the rest of the year;
Monday 15 Nov: 17.00 - 19.00 GMT
Mon 29 Nov: 15:00 – 17:00 GMT
Mon 13 Dec: 17.00 - 19.00 GMT3. Organization of the new term
- ExCom contacts sent out welcoming emails to the Project Groups and PGs started to have their first meetings
- The PGL meeting will be held on 27 October at 14.30 GMT
Meeting agenda & minutes- The ExCom contacts will organise the first meeting of the PGs without a leader which are;
APECS Workshop at ASSW 2022, and
APECS Workshop at UArctic Congress 2022- Applications are still open for PG co-leadership positions via this form
The application for co-leadership positions will be open until the end of the year
Selections will be considered on first-come-first-served basis- A new position called APECS Representatives Coordinator (ARC) will be established over the term, in order to keep track of the work of APECS reps in other organizations and strengthen the relationships between APECS and partner organisations
4. Priorities
ExCom Priority List for 2021-22 term is in progress
Once the full list is ready, it will be shared with the Council5. Collaborations
5.1 APECS reps
- The call for SOOS APECS Representation
The application deadline is October 315.2 Workshops
- A workshop on reviewing skills building under SO-CHIC project (with European Polar Board) is planning to be held online in July/August 2022
Another workshop opportunity (i.e. SCAR Open Science conference) will be discussed with New Host Institution
APECS India will be invited to co-organize the workshop5.3 Sponsorship
- LoA will be prepared for Netherlands Polar Program
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Next meeting: 01 November 2021, 13.30 – 15.30 GMT -
November 1, 2021
1. Updates from the Council leadership
We held our first APECS Leadership meeting where we invited the Council Co-Chairs (CCs); the National Committee Coordinators (NCCs); the Social Media Coordinators (SMCs).
Each leadership body had a transition meeting that went well. For both CCs and SMCs, there will be no specific ExCom contact to reach if needed, but instead the whole ExCom. For the NCCs, due to Susana’s previous position and knowledge, she will be the ExCom contact.1.1 Discussion on the request from PGs to have their own social media channel/accounts. Final decision of ExCom on the subject will be provided soon.
1.2 Request of CCs to combine PGL and Council meetings. Discussion on what kind of meetings need to be organized during the term, due to the new structure of the Council. Final decision of ExCom on the subject will be provided soon.
1.3 CCs, NCCs and SMCs will be invited once a month to the first part of the ExCom meeting throughout the term.2. Updates from the Directorate
The APECS Handbook is now online!
Application for the next Executive Director is still open! (Nov 7th)
Representatives of ExCom are required to be part of the Screening and Hiring Committees. ExCom should put together some criteria to select the candidates.3. Organisation of the new term
ExCom reviewed the applications for co-leadership of some Project Groups.
ExCom discussed the case of PGs with a low number of participants; and the opportunities to open new Project Groups.4. Priorities
ExCom discussed the possibility to hold their annual in-person meeting on either the ASSW in April 2022 (Tromso), or YOPP in May 2022 (Montréal); and Deniz volunteered to be responsible for organizing it.
ExCom is finalizing the Priority list, before preparing a list to be shared with the Council.5. Collaborations
5.1 APECS reps
APECS Office did not receive any application for the SOOS APECS representation call.
ExCom is pursuing the work on improving our Representative systems (i.e. call; selection).6. Decision on funding request
The APECS Portugal funding request is under review by ExCom.
7. Next meeting: 15 November 2021, 17 – 19 GMT
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November 15, 2021
1. Updates from the Directorate
Last annual reports
2018/19 + 2019/20: almost finished
2020/21 planned as soon as previous ones are done
Hiring of new director:
On-going process in collaboration with UiT, FRAM and NPI.2. Organisation of the new term
Discussion on the restructuring of the Council and NC Rep meetings with the new Council structure
Possibility of creating a meeting where PG and NC can reach out to the entire membership
Work with Council Co-chairs and NC coordinators on the new structure of the Council meetings necessary
Discussion on social media accounts for Project Groups: requires further discussion with Social Media Coordinators and Project Groups interested in having a social media feed to evaluate the most relevant solution.
Decision to keep the possibility to create new PG throughout the term taken.
Discussion on the deadline for PG plans: aim for mid December.3. Priorities
Decision for the leadership in person meeting at ASSW on March 26 - April 1, 2022 (Tromso). Deniz and Mathieu organising.
Continued assignment and work on the rest of the priorities.4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
Nomination of reps for ICARP IV finalised, and SOOS, and SCAR ongoing.
4.2 Workshops
The organization of the SO-CHIC skills building workshop is ongoing. The workshop is planned together with the European Polar Board (EPB) and other organizations , and its aim is to help improve the reviewing skills of ECRs
5. Funding requests
Funding request from APECS Portugal: Event approved, suggested to explore alternative funding options for the website, as website maintenance is a permanent financial support which is not supported in the framework of NC funding requests.
Funding request APECS Canada, APECS China and IPCC Project Group under review6. Next meeting: 29 November 2021, 15 – 17 GMT
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November 29, 2021
1. Updates from the Directorate
EU Projects:
INTERACT: GA last week, good progress in Guide on CO2 reduction
ARICE: last webinar of this year 2 Dec, next in Jan, Marine Training EMD Workshop
Arctic PASSION: set of 4 project plans as first Deliverables, Early Career involvement for AOS
An update on the IASC Fellowship review process
Office closing over Christmas/New Years 23/12 - 05/01
Discussion on communication channels within PGs (use of Slack, etc.)
Antarctica Day on 1 December2. Day-to-day activities
PGs:
No new applications to become co-leaders of PGs
Assessment of PG plans is ongoing
Additional members:
Communication Climate: approved (1), Remote Sensing: approved (1), APECS Art: approved (2), Mentorship Database: no reply (2), Mental Health: approved (1), Podcast: approved (1), UArctic: approved (1)
A Council member question : in-person get together at EGU22 next year amongst the Council if there was interest in this? Not supported administratively due to COVID-19 but invited to discuss this point at the next Council meeting to gather interest/people available
APECS Handbook: Creation of a feedback form for suggestions on changes to parts of the Handbook.
The Council members will be asked to provide short videos that will be put together to create the APECS Christmas greetings video.3. Priorities
Priority#4: The ExCom is working on the organisation of an ExCom - Directorate in-person meeting in the context of the ASSW from 26 March - 01 April 2022 in Tromsø.
4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
Call for SCAR representative to be released shortly4.2 Workshops
Work on the SO-CHIC skills building workshop at the SCAR Open Science conference is ongoing4.3 Funding requests
APECS China: Waiting for their response to the questions ExCom asked prior to releasing a decision.4.4 Other collaborations
IASC & Polar Impact are holding a workshop on Race and Systemic Bias at ASSW 2022. They have asked APECS to help identify ECR candidates.
Women in Polar Science (SCAR) has reached out with the hopes of featuring some women involved in APECS. An email is forthcoming.*** Next ExCom meeting: 13 December 2021, 17:00 – 19:00 GMT ***
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December 13, 2021
1. Updates from the Directorate
• Transition of the APECS office to the Norway office:
-13 and 14 December, retreat of the current office in AWI Bremerhaven to prepare the transition process
-New director is currently being hired, starting 50 % in January, overlapping with current office, Feb-April 60 %
-Meeting between Josefine and the new director planned from 17 to 21 of January
-Meeting between ExCom and the new director to be organised.2. Day-to-day activities
• First Council meeting took place 8 December
• New PG co-leader for the APECS Podcast PG
• 4 PG plans submitted and approved, more to come!
• Discussion about the replacement of a member of the Advisory Board, still ongoing.3. Priorities
• All the priorities have been attributed to one or more ExCom members and task forces will start working on them
• Organisation of the leadership in-person meeting planned in Tromsø for Spring: discussion on the date to be done between ExCom, the new director and the host institution.4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
• Call to apply for SCAR representative positions (see the previous emails of Gwen)
• Incoming call for APECS reps with IASC for the organisation of the ASSW 2023
4.2 Other collaborations
• Work on the SO-CHIC workshop, including material that the IPCC review PG built that could be used ahead of the workshop.
• Feedback provided to IASC & Polar Impact regarding their application form for their Race and Systemic bias workshop6. Next meeting: 20 December 2021, 15 – 17 GMT
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December 20, 2021
PART 1: ExCom meeting with the Council leadership
Council Chairs:
Council meetings: suggest to make them periodic and therefore known in advance ;
An APECS meeting for information with the membership should be set for the beginning of 2022.Social Media Coordinators
Project Group wants to reach out to a younger audience than ECRs, Suggestion: Teach out to PEI to clarify communication channels of kids and youth The person to contact will be shared with you at a later stage.
Informations on use of APECS’ social media & guidelines will be shared with the Council members in January.National Committee Coordinators
Two of the three NCCs were unavailable in November-December but before their period of leave they already decided to share responsibilities among the 3 of them to be in charge of specific NCs. Proceed to organize 1-to-1 meetings with NCs in early January.PART 2: ExCom meeting
1. Updates from the Directorate [Josefine]
The office is preparing documents and meetings for the transition after the holidays break.
Issue for log in during the APECS Art Webinar last Friday that started delayed (password entered incorrectly 5-times, resulted in locked zoom account for 30 min). The recording will be shared with the 28 registered participants.2. Day-to-day activities
Enjoy the APECS Christmas greetings video!
PG plans approval/disapproval are ongoing, your ExCom contact will follow up with you about the decision.
Discussion about status/possibility of removal of a Council non-active PGL.
Polar Week March 2022 will be on 20 - 26 March 2022 ! Place it to your agenda !3. Collaborations
3.1 APECS reps
STAY TUNED !
IASC | APECS rep for ASSW2023 will be released in January.
A call for an APECS rep to the ECR NoN Council (alongside Susana) will be released during next yearEXTENDED DEADLINES:
Call for representative for the SOOS EDI till 15 January
SCAR representative for the SCAR sub-committees for the next Strategic Plan (Email of Gwen on Dec 21th) till 10 January4. Next meeting: 10 January 2022, 17:00 – 19:00 GMT
*** The ExCom sends you happy Seasons Greetings to you and your loved ones ****
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January 10, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
Directorate handover is in process (meetings, file sharing, tours through various processes, overview documents)
In-person meeting of Directors planned end of Jan/beginning of Feb
Shipping freight from Germany to Norway are being prepared
ExCom and the new Executive Director are meeting on 12 January2. Day-to-day activities
PGs:
Two people have shown interest in becoming leaders for UArctic 2022 PG
Antarctica Day Handbook shared for feedback
Save the date: Polar Week March (20-26 March)
New registrations in PGs
Save the date : Online Conference (17-18-19 May - TBD if it will be a 2 or 3 days- conference).
NCs:
Priyanka is the new NC Rep for IPRN3. Priorities
All priorities are underway, especially the ones regarding the transition to Tromsø. ExCom is meeting with the new Executive Director on 12 January.
The ExCom is uncertain regarding an upcoming in-person meeting at ASSW ‘22 due to Norway’s COVID protocols and the possibility that the ASSW moves entirely online.4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
Calls are currently out to be an APECS-IASC rep for ASSW2023 [Deadline : 18 January] and to join SOOS as an APECS Rep for the EDI Group [Deadline: 15 January].
4.2 Other collaborations
Helen Wiggins (ARCUS lead) is joining the APECS Advisory Committee.
5. Next meeting:
*** Next ExCom meeting: 24 January 2022, 15:00 – 17:00 GMT ***
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January 24, 2022
Welcome Sarah Strand, new APECS Executive Director!🎉
1. Updates from the Council leadership
Council Chairs:
- Project Group Leaders meeting: 28 Jan 13.30 GMT
- There will be a discussion on selecting a regular meeting time for the rest of the termSocial Media Coordinators:
- PGs will be able to provide SM content with their own logos
- PGs agreed on using the APECS International SM channels
- An email on how to use APECS SM channels was shared with the Council on 17 JanNational Committee Coordinators:
- A meeting was held between ExCom and NCCs on 17Jan
- APECS Pakistan is settling a National Committee
- 1:1 meetings in progress with other NCs
- NCCs will follow up with the NC’s missing reports for 2020-21 term, as well as partnership agreement status2. Updates from the Directorate
- Transition process is ongoing with the new Host Institute/Director
- The meetings of current APECS Director (Josefine), new APECS Director (Sarah), UiT, NPI and FRAM, and APECS Norge will be in Norway between 30 Jan - 5 Feb
- Working on organizing the google drive, managing info@apecs/email lists, newsletters, as well as APECS webpage and finances- The pocket guide on CO2 Reduction in Arctic Science will be finalized by Svenja in February
APECS Office: Heike and Svenja are saying goodbye to APECS soon😢
- We will miss you a lot!!
- Josefine, Lisa and Franziska will be continuing 🙏🏼🥰3. Day-to-day activities
- The ExCom has approved several PG plans, and it will evaluate the PG plans of the remaining PGs as soon as they are submitted
4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
- APECS rep in ISSG for ASSW2023 has been selected and shared with IASC
- SCAR/IASC/CliC: Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) Group: New call for one APECS rep: deadline February 74.2 Other collaborations
- SCAR Open Science Conference: ExCom will be in touch with organizers about holding a workshop idea
- The Polar Symposium from Arctic to Antarctic: The Cold is Getting Hot! 24-25 Feb 2022
- Gwen and Susana from APECS ExCom are attending in-person as well as other APECS selected members from the previous call last Autumn.
- The event may turn into an annual event - multi-year collaboration with APECS- Request to DEI PG from IASC Action Group on Carbon Footprint to give feedback on a report with recommendations till end of February
*** Next ExCom meeting: 7 February 2022, 17 – 19 GMT ***
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February 7, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
Sarah is in her first days as new APECS Director
Meeting with Sarah and Josefine in Tromsø for a transition week went well
Key Activities: meeting with new host (UiT/NPI/Fram partners), meeting of APECS Norge, visit to Fram Centre, ICARP IV meeting with Josefine, meeting on collaborations and grants coordination with UiT.
Directorate-based work slightly delayed due to last week’s schedule, day-to-day activity to be on track again this week.2. Day-to-day activities
National Committees: LoA for Italy under review
Social Media: SMCs have suggested assigning a social media contact to each PG, and ExCom agrees it is a good idea
PGs: ExCom will reach out to PGLs to explain how to handle inactive PG members
PGL meeting (28 January) attended by Sarah, Deniz, Susana3. Priorities
ExCom priorities we explained to the new director
Continued alignment of all 10 current priorities, including
Transition to new host– done
In-person meeting in Tromsø– in process
Council reporting forms– in process4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
Nomination of rep to SCAR/IASC/CliC | Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS) to be decided
4.2 Other collaborations
Request for support of the application for a IASC DEI Cross-Cutting Activity at ASSW2023– approved
*** Next ExCom meeting: 21 February 2022, 15:00 – 17:00 GMT ***
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February 21, 2022
0. Updates from the Council leadership
- Council co-Chairs: updates and questions about the reporting form for the Council reports, in particular the participation of NC members.
- Social Media Coordinators:
- Discussion about the social media contact for specific cases (large activities requiring coordinated social media presence)
- The Alpine Cryosphere PG will merge the Twitter account that they inherited with APECS’ Twitter account1. Updates from the Directorate
- Projects
- Svenja’s last week in the office. Work on the CO2 reduction guide almost achieved, submitted to INTERACT for final edits.
- Multiple upcoming webinars with ARICE and ArcticPASSION2. Day-to-day activities
- PGs: No new applications. ExCom approved the request from the Remote Sensing Database PG to have an APECS-EO GitHub “Organization account”.
- Time change:
- 13 March: Canada, US
- 27 March: Europe
Possible change of the time of the ExCom meetings in the future.
- Filling out Council Reporting Form and Project Group member Survey: deadline is March 73. Priorities
- Priority 1: organisation of a survey for best practices for social gatherings for APECS events
- Priority 3: discussion on the transition process from a term to the next, and thoughts on how to improve the transitions in the framework of the new APECS restructuration
- Priority 4: organisation of the APECS Leadership in person meeting at ASSW. Accommodation and dates of the meeting decided.4. Next meeting: 7 March 2022, 17:00 – 19:00 GMT
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March 7, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
Russia-Ukraine situation in the international scientific context -- APECS will release a Statement shortly. Due to the SWIFT sanctions it won’t be possible to transfer funds to anyone in Russia for people winning any competitions.
2. Day-to-day activities
PG plans: Almost all approved! Well done.
ASSW 2022 : Inactive members were removed from the mailing list.
DEI : Discussions about the survey The ExCom would like to discuss with the DEI PG about this.
Mentorship Database : Difficulty to deal with people not showing up in available chosen time for meeting. Starting discussion with other groups to find a way to engage people more efficiently.
International Online Conference : Sickness and Ukrainian situation make it hard for the PGL to fulfill her duties. ExCom contacts (Deniz and Gwen) will take the interim leadership and try to find volunteer(s) to fulfill an interim PGL position.
Mental health : Requests made to the group to the Office will be treated by Sarah shortly.
Council reporting form will be updated accordingly for the missing infos spotted, for later use.3. Priorities
Priority #1 - Social gatherings : A survey will be released soon ! Stay tuned to provide your inputs.
Priority #4 - ExCom in-person meeting : Flights and Accommodations will be booked soon.4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
Welcome to the new APECS Canada Representative !
4.2 Other collaborations
We are in contact with Polar Impact to build a collaboration.
Susana, and Gwen had the chance to meet in person with some other APECS folks and representatives at the Symposium in Monaco on 24th-25th February. Report of this event in which APECS was a partner will be shared shortly on the website !5. Funding requests
NA
6. Next meeting: 21 March 2022, 16:30 – 18:30 GMT
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March 21, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
- Meeting with Rector of UiT, Dag Rune Olsen planned at ExCom in-person meeting
- SOOS EDI positions have been filled
- Meeting with Jenny Baeseman (Original founder of APECS) to discuss the possibility of submitting an opinion piece to Science or Nature as a symbol of peace and international collaboration, APECS want to use its unique position to represent the voice of scientists during this time
- Finalization of the opinion paper - while ExCom is all together in-person in Tromsø- Handbook to update
- Old NC Guidelines will be investigated to see if these contain any additional information that is not already in the Handbook. If they do they could be added as an Appendix- NFR/NRC opens a call for funding for international science organizations working in Norway
- APECS Directorate will write an application, APECS Norway will be included in the process2. Day-to-day activities
- Project Groups updates:
- APECS Workshop at UArctic Congress
- Email to send to discuss the new status of PG- Inactive members
- APECS Directorate will inform the PG Leaders when the removal of inactive members completed3. Priorities
- APECS in ASSW 2022
- Schedule
- 26 March - PEI meeting
- 28 March - APECS Workshop
- Share the session recordings on APECS Vimeo
- 29 March - ExCom in-person meeting
- Meeting with UiT, NPI and FRAM
- Meeting with the ExCom only4. Council leadership
- Council Chairs
- Council members and PG members reports
- Collection of the reports to deliver the summary in the next couple of weeks
- Council meeting on April 6th- SMCs
- Managing to assign each SM coordinator to different PGs
- Providing support to the groups that need help- APECS International Polar Week March 2022
- Meeting with Franziska to talk about each individual APECS channel for posting
- PW started yesterday, a lot of materials to publish- APECS Workshop at ASSW 2022
- Publish the workshop details on SM channels at the end of Polar Week- Other updates
- Research on what the other NCs are doing
- Set up a meeting between SMC and responsible for each NC communication- NCCs
- NC meetings
- Meetings are ongoing, waiting for the remaining ones to set up a general meeting all together- New Ukraine NC to be created (see APECS statement on Ukraine)
5. Next meeting: In-person ExCom meeting in Tromsø on 29 March!
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March 29, 2022
UiT Universitetsbiblioteket, Tromsø, Norway
1. Meeting between APECS and UiT, NPI and FRAM
- Round of introduction to get to know each other.
- The APECS Director and the Executive Committee provided a description of APECS’ mission and activities, and explained how APECS’ work benefits ECRs.
- There was a discussion about ways in which UiT, NPI and FRAM can support APECS’ work: e.g., opportunities for ECRs, possibility to cover the costs of publishing articles in scientific journals, DEI resources.
- A summary of the meeting has been published on UiT’s website (link here; in Norwegian only).2. Discussion with APECS Executive Director
- Communication tools: Many Project Groups (PGs) use Slack to communicate. It is important that the APECS Council and PG members use the same tool to communicate so that it is easier for everyone, including the Director and the Executive Committee, to follow what the PGs are doing. However, email should still be the basic means of communication for important messages to the PG.
Decision: Next term, we will have a one-year testing period using a free Slack workspace as a tool to communicate within APECS’ PGs. Each PG will have its own channel within this workspace.
- Website: The website should be improved with a more modern design. If feasible, the future website could include a ‘member space’.
Decision: Moving APECS’ website to another website platform will be done in the long term.
- Communication between the ExCom and the Director: The Director should present a summary of APECS finances and funding to the ExCom at certain times of the year.
Decision: The Director will provide the ExCom with a table with information about funds when necessary (e.g., at the beginning of the term, halfway through the year or during the in-person meeting).
- Sharing databases: Some databases are duplicated since the Director and the ExCom use different documents (e.g., the list of APECS representatives).
Decision: The Director will prepare the Excel spreadsheet with the list of APECS representatives, and ExCom will approve the applications.
- Management of workflow and follow-up on tasks: There is no need to use a specialised tool.
Decision: The ExCom and Director will continue using action lists in a document to keep track of the tasks that need to be done.
- Need to update some documents: Some parts of the APECS Handbook, the Funding Guidelines and the Council Guide need to be updated.
Decisions:
- The ExCom members who will not be working on the election committee will work on the modifications of the Handbook.
- The Council can help update the Council Guide so that the new structure is included.
- The Council will be invited to vote on the updated Guidebook before the end of the term.- Statement on Ukraine: APECS has received some positive comments about APECS Statement on the Invasion of Ukraine.
Decision: The Director and the Executive Committee will try to publish an opinion article in a scientific journal.
3. Work on the priorities of the APECS Executive Committee
- Priority #1 - Promote online social gatherings between APECS members: A survey about potential social gatherings for APECS’ members has been prepared.
Decisions:
- A new PG, the “Community Development PG”, will be created to organize social gatherings (including social gatherings at conferences).
- A 24-hour social gathering session will be prepared in collaboration with the International Polar Week September PG.- Priority #2 - Ensure a smooth transition to the new host institution
This priority has been achieved!- Priority #3 - Improve APECS leadership transition: The timeline for the APECS leadership selection process has been thoroughly discussed. A new timeline has been prepared with the aim of ensuring that those who are not selected for certain leadership positions have the chance to apply for other leadership positions. There was also a discussion about whether ExCom candidates should be required to submit a video, and about how to make the ExCom transition smoother.
Decision:
- The calendar of elections will be shared in the newsletter of April.
- When each call is released, the members will be reminded of the deadlines.
- Newly elected ExCom members will be encouraged to participate in meetings during the two months before the new term to gain exposure to the role.- Priority #4 - Organize an ExCom in-person meeting
This priority has been achieved!- Priority #5 - Improve PG operations: Some ideas were discussed regarding a potential training session on project management for APECS leadership, and how to improve the documentation of PG activities.
Suggestion to have only one ‘Polar Week PG’ that will take care of the two annual editions (March & September) to avoid duplicated work for a similar event.- Priority #6 - Improve membership inclusion/diversity: Developing DEI training is one of the priorities of this term; however, the DEI training can only be prepared once we agree on a definition of DEI for APECS. Providing funding opportunities for ECRs from underrepresented and marginalized groups is important, although it is hard to put in practice as it is difficult to decide who should be prioritised for the funding. A meeting with the DEI PG is needed to discuss how to move forward regarding the survey, as well as to discuss other topics related to the promotion of DEI.
Decisions:
- Need to define what DEI means for APECS.
- Organize a meeting between the ExCom contacts and the DEI PG to discuss about :
> The survey.
> Taking part in the initiatives of SCAR and IASC and SOOS- DEI groups.
>Having a mentor for the group.
>Suggesting that PGLs introduce DEI work to the membership & try to recruit members from different countries.
>Contacting other organizations working on DEI issues.- Priority #7 - Improve the selection process and follow-up of APECS representatives: The new position of APECS Representative Coordinator will be developed as a support for the Director and the ExCom.
Decision: If feasible, the APECS Representative Coordinator position will be announced for the new term.
- Priority #8 - Support NCCs
Due to time constraints, this priority was not discussed.-Priority #9 - Improve internal communication between ExCom, Council leadership, PG members and NCs
Due to time constraints, this priority was not discussed.-Priority #10 - Improve communication with the Advisory Committee (AC) and the Internal Evaluations Committee (IEC): The AC and IEC should be renewed.
Decision: An email will be sent to the AC and the IEC to organise a meeting with them.4. Next meeting: 18 April 2022, 16 – 18 GMT
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April 18, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
Things have been EXTREMELY busy in the office since ASSW, Sarah about to have Easter holidays.
Heike is now fully on maternity leave, so Sarah is the only one in the office.2. Day-to-day activities
NCCs:
Meeting on 11 April between Hugo, Susana and Gwen to improve NC communications.
Current NC questions:
Status of Pakistan (LoE sent but no response)
Italy (inquiries about funding pre LoA)PGs
Updates:
Temporary merger of Indigenous Collaborations and Language Barriers due to geopolitics. Susana has spoken with both Stas (Indigenous) and Élise (Languages) to facilitate this and plan forward motion.
Membership database and DEI: Meghan (PGL) proposes a merger due to low membership in the Membership Database Group.Election Committee: members are set and preparing for ExCom elections.
Council meeting on 6 April: Susana and Deniz attended and provided ExCom updates. Sarah shared Directorate updates.
Clare suggests we want to ensure meetings are scheduled in advance to maximize attendance.
Polar Impact: Susana and Deniz had a meeting with Polar Impact to discuss our DEI platform, engagement and support.3. Priorities
Priority #1 - Social gatherings [Deniz]
Deniz, has prepared an email about some intra-APECS social gathering that will be going out shortly.
Priority #3 - APECS leadership transition [Jilda]
Application timeframe is approved and the election committee has been formed.
Priority #6 - DEI [Meghan]
Susana and Deniz attended the Polar Impact meeting.
Priority #8 - NCs [Susana]
Susana shared about NC issue (follow up to Gwen’s email)
Will prepare a call to recruit two new NCCs.
Priority #10 - AC & IEC [Mathieu]
Mathieu has informed that some responses have come in, and we are still waiting for some contacts from Sarah.4. Collaborations
Meeting with Mariama Dryak, Polar Science Early Career Community Office (PSECCO), on 28 April.5. Next meeting: 2 May 2022, 16 – 18 GMT
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May 2, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
▪April has been a very busy month for the Directorate.
▪The final version of the opinion letter - signed by the APECS Directorate and the ExCom - has been submitted to Nature Correspondence.
▪Remote Sensing PG request for funding for a website server and a domain for their website has been discussed. The ExCom agrees that the free website servers or APECS website is preferred over paying for a website server since the latter is a long-term cost, and it would not be possible to ensure long-term funding or support similar initiatives for every PG and NC. APECS website will be revamped in the future, so the needs of the PGs could be considered during the development of this new website.
▪Anna Gielas, affiliated to Scott Polar Research Institute, has offered to provide resources for the publication of papers that could be added to APECS’ website.
▪The International Institute for Astronautical Sciences is interested in a partnership with APECS.
▪The Arctic Graduate School in Umeå has requested collaboration from APECS.2. Day-to-day activities
▪The Handbook needs to be updated, and some documents (e.g., Council leadership Advice Documents) will be included in the Handbook.
▪Project Groups:
oIndigenous Collaborations PG and Overcoming Language Barrier PG are working on the merging of the two groups.
oUArctic PG is meeting on 5 May to discuss the next steps of the group.
oThe APECS International Online Conference 2022 will take place on 18 May!
oExCom is taking action after a number of instances of unprofessional communication within PGs. As with any organization, APECS expects a minimum standard of collegial communication.▪National Committees:
oThe requests received from the NCs will be answered soon.
oGwen is helping Hugo (NC Coordinator, NCC) with 1-1 meetings with the NCs since the other NCCs have been inactive for a long time.
oThe two inactive NCCs will be removed from their role, and two temporary positions as NCC will be released soon.3. Priorities
▪Priority #1 - Social gatherings: The deadline to fill in the survey is 8 May.
▪Priority #3 - APECS leadership transition: The call for ExCom applicants 2022-2023 was released.
▪Priority #10 - Renewal of the Advisory Committee (AC) and the Internal Evaluation Committee (IEC): The ExCom has met some members of the AC and will organise a meeting with the IEC soon.4. Collaborations
▪APECS ExCom and Director met with the newly-established Polar Science Early Career Community Office (PSECCO) to discuss how they can collaborate with each other. There will be another meeting with PSECCO in July to continue discussing.
5. Next meeting: 16 May 2022, 16 – 18 GMT
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May 16, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
▪ Cooperation with INTERACTo The call for funding will be created for applicants who have the skills to create a web version of the INTERACT Fieldwork Planning Handbook
▪ Mental Health Resources
o The database is under construction
▪ It will be displayed under Career Resources
▪ The meeting held with International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)
o Potential MoU to sign for long term development
▪ Collaboration with (JAMSTEC)
o Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research (IACE - Arctic research center of JAMSTEC) wants to collaborate with APECS on a 2023 Arctic cruise. Potential opportunities;
▪ ECRs can apply for berths
▪ Satellite APECS office (20% working time of an individual)
▪ Mentors will be contacted to lend instrument/material to go to the field
▪ Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS)
o Reviewing the applications for the position on SIOS SESS Report Editorial Board
▪ Rally for Antarctica: 27 May 2022
o An event of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), Greenpeace Germany, UNLESS, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, Fridays for Future Germany, Scientists for Future, and AWI's for Future
▪ APECS correspondence in Nature
o An article to write for APECS Newsletter, including the statement and the correspondence of Jenny Baseman
2. Day-to-day activities
▪ Temporary position National Committee Coordinator/so Send a short statement of interest to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
o Deadline to apply: 5 June 2022
▪ National Committee Representative Meeting
o It will be on 27 May 2022, at 12 GMT
o Meeting link & agenda
▪ 1:1 National Committee Meetings
o Almost done, one meeting remaining
▪ APECS Handbook and PG & NC Funding Guidelines
o to be updated
o PGs and NCs can apply up to 3 times per term for funding up to max of €350
3. Priorities
▪ ExCom 2022-2023 Electionso The ExCom applicants are now published on the APECS web page
o The videos of the applicants, also available on the general documents for the Council
o Submit your questions to the applicants: deadline 30 May 2022
▪ Either via the form
▪ or you can submit your questions by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
▪ If you are an NC rep, please share this information with the leadership of your NC, and provide questions that your NC has for the applicants (by submitting one form on behalf of your NC)
▪ Priority #1 - APECS Social Gatherings
o 84 responses to the form. According to that;
▪ Event type: "Speed Dating" Networking (27.4%)
▪ Event frequency: Every two months (61.9%)
▪ Event language: English (85.7%)
▪ APECS channel to receive the news about the activities: APECS Newsletter (67.9%)
o The first event on “Speed Dating" Networking will be prepared with the help of Council co-Chairs
▪ Priority #3 - APECS leadership transition
o Project Group Leaders need to provide their updated description of their groups - the form to be shared soon
o The email will be sent for NCs to nominate their NC representatives
4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
▪ EU-PolarNet 2 Workshop on 7 June 2022o 5-7 rapporteurs are needed for the workshop (there will be an honorarium for contribution)
o The call will be open/shared once it is forwarded from EU-PolarNet
▪ Oxford University Polar Forum
o Assistance needed for translation
o Advertisement will be published soon
5. Next meeting: 30 May 2022, 16:00 – 18:00 GMT
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May 30, 2022
Summary of the ExCom Meeting #18
Chairs: Marta Moreno Ibáñez & Gwenaëlle Gremion
Summary: Gwen Gremion
Present: Deniz, Gwen, Marta, Mathieu, Sarah, Clare
Apologies: Susana, Jilda, Meghan1. Updates from the Directorate
Since last meeting:
IOC went smoothly
met with Tetsuo Sueyoshi about the collaboration and cruise with JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) and their Arctic research center (IACE: Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research). Will work on developing a MoU
ExCom elections closed and the applications of the 9 applicants are on the website (https://apecs.is/who-we-are/leadership/executive-committee/executive-committee-elections-2022-2023.html)
APECS Arts had the webinar “Art in a time of conflict” in collaboration with S&D PG
Coming up:
Mentorship Awards nominations close tomorrow
Newsletter tomorrow
Finally transfers and random tasks :)2. Day-to-day activities
PGs :
PGL meeting (agenda and updates): June 7, 8 am GMT
PG plans missing for 2021/22:
APECS International Polar Week September 2022 : ExCom encourages this PG to make a call to the other PGLs and PG members to join the efforts.
APECS Workshop at University of the Arctic Congress 2022
The group has decided to merge with one of the APECS Project Groups that both PG leaders can work together to organize a joint workshop through a conference/annual meeting happening late September/early October
The opportunity will be adressed in next PGL meeting
DEI PG will meet with ExCom on June 14, 4 PM GMT.
IOC PG : The conference went pretty well, congratulations to the organizing committee !PG for 2022/23:
Current PGL needs to send their PG description for next term.
New Project Group event-based submission to ExCom - Discussion to come with the person who submitted to agree on the feasibility to add it on the list of the offered APECS PG for 2022/23.
Community Development PG to be developed, too !
Due to lack of a PGL and low number of active members for the APECS Workshop at ASSW 2022, this group won’t be offered in 2022/23. An individual who wants to organize something can reach out to ExCom at a later stage.NCs
The applications for the call for temporary NCC positions will be evaluated after the deadline (5 June).
All the NC 1to1 Meetings are now done ! Except Oceania that will meet Hugo at the field season end of the NC rep.
The NC Overall meeting on 27 May was fruitful. The following NCs shared their activities :
Turkey
Canada
Denmark
China
France
Argentina - Not able to present due to technical issues
UK Polar Network
South Africa
Germany
Colombia
Netherlands
Oceania
LuxembourgAnother meeting with all NCs is planned to talk not only of activities but also to brainstorm a solution to the issue raised in NC boards and brainstorm on international collaboration between the NCs.
LoA/MoU agreements of Belgium, South Africa, Uruguay Luxembourg, USA and Turkey have been approved by Excom and will be forwarded to the NCs for their inputs/approval.
3. Priorities
Priority #1 - Social gatherings
Deniz is putting effort in it, especially with the creation of the first event and the description of the next term dedicated PG.
Priority #10 - Advisory Committee & Internal Evaluation Committee
Mathieu is working on the renewal of the Advisory Committee and ExCom will work on the nomination of new members for this committee.
Priority #3 - APECS leadership transition
Jilda, Clare, Deniz and Sarah are working hard to ensure a smooth APECS leadership transition within the summer.4. Collaborations
4.1 APECS reps
NA
4.2 Other collaborations
Discussions on the various requests the APECS Directorate received for potential collaboration :
Fellowships ISMASS workshop (https://www.apecs.is/news/apecs-news/5033-call-for-early-career-scientist-travel-fellowships-to-the-2022-ismass-workshop.html) ;
Polar Educators International (PEI) ;
Session at the virtual SCAR Open Science Conference 2022: Inclusive Collaborations in Antarctic Research ;
NASA request for collaboration on their Transform to Open Science (TOPS) program and 2023 Year of Open Science (https://science.nasa.gov/open-science/transform-to-open-science) ;5. Funding requests
NA6. Next meeting: 13 June 2022, 16 – 18 GMT
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June 13, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
- Sarah is employed 100% by UiT for APECS 🎉. Email volume is unmanageable but working with Lisa, Franziska, and eventually, a new person to divide
- Sarah will investigate how soon another office member can be hired
2. Day-to-day activities
- Council Chairs. working on Council report - will be shared with ExCom, then Council soon
. 19 PG members have responded to the survey (low participation - %16 of total PG membership)
- will separately feedback on the Council reporting form and PG member survey to
- integrate into the end-of-term versions of both forms
- NCCs
. The NCs renewals with the new documents are done
. Another email will be sent as a reminder to look at the LoAs prior to signature
. Updating NC mailing list
- People, who change their email addresses and are thus not on the mailing list, can either update their info via here or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
. Preparing a report including the feedback from all NCs
- This will be shared at the next NC meeting
- will reach out to APECS Pakistan for further NC action (LoE prepared in January 2022)
- PGLs
. The call for PGLs for the term 2022/2023 will be released at the end of June
- Please provide the description of your PG to help use it in the call for PGLs
- The deadline: 23 June 2022
. New APECS PG proposal on the UN Climate Change Conference
- Updating the PG description
- Other organizations (PAGES, IPCC, CLiC) to check collaboration opportunities for COP27 (application deadline 24 June)
- The alternative is to join network connections for this year and apply as an observer at the next COP28
- PGs
. PGL meeting held on June 7
- Meeting minutes
. Inactive members
- PGLs, please contact your ExCom contact person if you have members that you can not reach out to for a while
- A list of recommendations will be shared with the PG to let the rest of the group know about PGs structure, communication duration, etc.
- ISMASS Workshop Grant selection
. has since been done and the nominees have been shared with ISMASS
3. Priorities
- Priority #1: Social gatherings. There will be a 2-hours event with the “Speed Dating Networking” concept
- The speaker has been contacted
- The email will be sent to the Council to select the meeting date/time for late July/early August
- Priority #5: PG operations
. Currently working on
- streamlining and improvements to project documentation
- the slides to introduce new PGLs to project documentation and where to get help
- Priority #10: Advisory Committee (AC) & Internal Evaluation Committee
. The demographics which include AC member's representation;
- Before the transition
- After the transition
- Ratio woman/man : 28% / 52%
- The new list has been voted to select the Advisory Committee for the next 2 to 4 years
4. Next meeting: 27 June 2022, 16:00 – 18:00 GMT
You can follow the away periods of ExCom & Council here: APECS Leadership Away Times -
June 27, 2022
1. Updates from the Directorate
Sarah moves to Tromsø on 4 August, only after which an administrative assistant can be hired.
Discussion on role of corporate sponsorship and affiliations2. Day-to-day activities
PGs:
Follow up with inactive PGLs
Review new PG proposalDiscussion regarding goals and next steps from DEI meeting on June 14
Call for PGLs to go out soon (deadline 4 July)
Leadership transition
Discussion on improving the voting system for next term
Draft transition plan for new ExCom3. Priorities
Priority #1 - Social gatherings Speaker identified for a social gathering event.
Tentatively Friday 12 August 11:30 UTC
Priority #5 - PG operations Goal 1: presentation on APECS project management procedures + where to go for help
Goal 2: end-of-term PGL reporting and PG survey
Goal 3:
updated checklist for PGLs and guidance on archiving/handing over projects
Request folder for model PG Project Plans
Multiyear project “Handover Manual”
Priority #8 - NCs LoAs and MoUs in process:
Luxembourg
Türkiye
Italy
Pakistan
USAPECS
South Africa
Uruguay
Belgium
Priority #10 - AC & IEC
New Advisory Committee (AC) validated.4. Collaborations
4.1 Other collaborations
SO-CHIC workshop at SCAR: Wednesday, 10th August 09:00-16:00 UTC
Advance meeting 30 June between APECS and SO-CHIC (Gwen, Deniz will attend)5. Next meeting: 11 July 2022, 16 – 18 GMT: Newly elected ExCom members will be invited to join meetings throughout July, August and September as part of the transition process
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July 11, 2022
****WELCOME, CHARLOTTE AND SASHA!!!****
1. Updates from the Directorate
▪ APECS accepted an invitation to join the EU Polar cluster
▪ Exploring possibilities to liaise with IACS (International Association of Cryospheric Sciences)
o Potential for new PG and APECS Germany members to plan events for the IUGG General Assembly in Berlin 2023
▪ Request to join ANT-ICON Advisory Committee (a SCAR science program)
▪ APECS Poland is interested in rejuvenating the group
▪ Our APECS Project Officer in the Arctic PASSION project at AWI, Lisa Grosfeld, is developing an Indigeous youth & ECR sharing circle to be held in Scandinavia, October 2023. Details in August and September 20222. Day-to-day activities
▪ Elections
o Voting for Council Leadership deadline July 18
▪ Next Council meeting will be in 2-3 weeks–keep a lookout!
▪ National Committees in progress:
o Pakistan (LoE)
o Türkiye (LoA - pending feedbacks from NC Rep)
o USAPECS (LoA renewal - pending feedbacks from NC Rep)
o Luxembourg (MoU pending feedbacks from NC Rep)
▪ Discussion with Anaïs Orsi, head of the Cryosphere, Atmosphere and Climate division of IACS, about:
o How IACS can support mentorship opportunities & The possibility of APECS to be involved in the organisation of a session at IUGG 2023?
o There is a desire to offer APECS ECRs to co-convene sessions at the IUGG 2023 - call to be released at a later date3. Priorities
▪ Priority #1: Social gathering
o August 12, at 11.30 GMT! Put it on your calendar! Information to be shared shortly, but Deniz is organizing it, so you know it will be amazing—and very beneficial!4. Collaborations
4.1 Other collaborations
▪ MOU between APECS Canada and ArcticNet supported by ExCom and the Directorate
▪ SCAR workshop with the European Polar Board, APECS and IRPN happening on Wednesday, 10th August 11:00-13:30 “ Participating in large-scale international scientific assessments” - Free registration on the Online at SCAR OSC 2022 website.5. Next meeting: 25 July 2022, 16:00 – 18:00 GMT
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July 25, 2022
Notes coming soon.
Meeting Notes 2020-2021
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October 12, 2020
The ExCom kicked off the new term with a meeting on October 12th. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order were; Jilda Caccavo, Mathieu Casado, Gwenaëlle Gremion, Carrie Harris, Meghan Helmberger, Neelu Singh and Deniz Vural.
- ExCom has voted for the late applicants (Individual Council Members (4) and NC representatives (10)) of the new term 2020-21.
- The creation of a new mailing list combining ExCom, Council and NC Coordinators (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) was approved .
- Decision to decrease the number of reporting phases from 3 to 2 for individual Council members and NC reps was approved.
- Each member of ExCom was appointed to be the contact of individual Council members. It was noted that Council members should be encouraged to sign upfor project groups before the deadline of the 18th of October.
- ExCom members chose the project groups in which they will be involved to be the connection among Project-Group and ExCom. Decision to place 2 ExCom members for bigger projects groups was taken.
- Leadership of PG (number of terms) and co-leadership positions was discussed, and will remain a topic of discussion in coming meetings to codify it in the future application of the Strategic Plan.
- The ExCom approved the launch of the upcoming PG Antarctica Day, which will take place on December 1st. Due to the limited remaining time, discussion about spreading the survey towards the impacts of COVID-19 in all aspects of Antarctica will be handled via email.
The following topics will be discussed during the next ExCom meeting (26 Oct 2020): the Indigenous Collaborations working group, the possibility of a new Early Career Workshop with the Year of Polar Prediction including other partners,, the priorities of the 2020-21 term and the report of the Internal Evaluation Committee.-
October 26, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 26th October 2020. Present at the meeting were -Mathieu Casado, Deniz Vural, Neelu Singh, Gwenaëlle Gremion, Meghan Helnberger, Jilda Caccavo, Gabriela Roldan, Juan Hofer, besides José Queirós, Shalaka Patil and Susana Hancock as Council Chair and NC Coordinators. ExCom gave suggestions to Council chairs on how they can improve the attendance of Council members in Council meetings and also asked them to inform the Council that they need to attend a minimum of 3 meetings over the term (as mentioned in the Council handbook) on the basis of their availability. Updates from National Committee (NC) Coordinator: ExCom member and ex officio had a meeting with NC Coordinator to discuss the breaking up the APECS national groups. NC Coordinators are in the process to organize the one meeting with NCs where they will discuss the NC document them. Updates from Social Media (SM) Coordinator: Two Social Media Coordinators from the last term had applied and been elected for a new term as well. SM Coordinator will focus on APECS Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn social media accounts and website. They are also working to develop the guidelines for Twitter takeover and other social media guidelines. They are planning to work together with DEI and NC Coordinator on the Twitter takeover in order to represent the diversity in APECS. ExCom point of contact has been assigned for SMC and NC Coordinators. Updates from Project Groups: Some project groups have potentially too many members (compared to the estimated amount of work), while some others reported not having enough, and some Council members are part of more than 2 groups, ExCom suggests giving Council members the possibility to change project groups if they feel that this could be interesting. APECS International Mentorship Award 2020 PG from last year will wrap up publishing the news soon. Few of the new PGs have started scheduling their first meeting and the remaining groups are also in the process to do the same. Two new PG proposals have been submitted and under review - Science Diplomacy PG and Workshop in March-Polar prediction education. IPRN is creating a PG plan to conduct a side meeting in collaboration with APECS International during the SCAR conference in Hyderabad, India, in 2022. ExCom is working on the ExCom 2020-21 Priorities document to finalize the final draft and reviewing IPRN agreement. ExCom discussed engagement with WCRP and CliC and planned to join their meeting. A point from the past ExCom on call for another representative from the southern ocean observational group was raised. Issues of changing the structure of NCs leadership roles, restriction of sharing of NC member mailing list as per European law were also discussed and ExCom decided to schedule a meeting soon with APECS Directorate/Office to discuss this in detail.
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November 9, 2020
Summary of the ExCom meeting of 09 November 2020. Present were Josefine, Mathieu, Deniz, Gwen, Meghan, Jilda, Juan, Susana, and Sakshi.
- News from the directorate included the departure of Lisa and Andrea from the office. A new position is advertised on the APECS website. External requests for collaboration that were approved include: continuation of the participation to the IASSA Workshop, participation to the Franco-Russian Dialogue on Climate Change and collaboration with Claire Cullifod on 6 children books.
- Updates from APECS leadership includes queries from the NC coordinators for unresponsive NC reps. A list of advice for the Council chairs regarding the council meetings have been made, there will be a dedicated time slot to discuss them with the Council chairs ahead of the next council meeting. Lastly, 2 more Council applications have been approved.
- Updates from Project Groups report that the process of choices of leaders continues overall, as well as draft of the project plans. The Polar Organisations Overview doesn’t have any candidate for the PGL position yet. Antarctica Day Project Plan has been approved.
- The ExCom priority list has been approved. The contact point persons have to be decided. Communication to the Council will follow.
- ASM3 webinar will be attended by 3 ExCom members, and discussion with Mia will be organised to facilitate the process.-
November 23, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 9th November 2020. Present at the meeting were -Deniz Vural, Gabriela Roldan, Gwenaëlle Gremion, Jilda Caccavo, Josefine Lenz, Juan Hofer, Mathieu Casado, Meghan Helnberger and Neelu Singh.
ExCom members agreed to remove the word “interim” for the directorate title as it is technically not correct. For the upcoming ExCom meeting, Excom members will pick the task in advance from the ExCom priorities list. The ExCom priorities of the coming term will be shared with the APECS membership and published on the website.In December, the directorate will provide an overview about the 2021 budget and discuss potential expenses towards ECR support.
Project group updates: In order to improve inclusion for people with different time zones for which attending PG meeting is sometimes difficult, the audio of the meeting will be recorded and uploaded on the Council google drive. This will also help with minutes and for non-native english speakers. Antarctica day PG is working very hard for the upcoming Antarctica day and soon they are going to release the webpage announcement. The submission form will be prepared by the APECS office. ExCom contacts were discussed for DEI PG. For IASC PG, Deniz would be the new ExCom contact. The project plan submitted by Remote Sensing PG has been accepted with some suggestions. The Indigenous collaboration PG has shown their interest in conducting a seminar or webinar with Indigenous knowledge holders and is seeking financial support for potential speakers.
New NC representative of Sweden was accepted.
APECS representative positions for various organisations were discussed, and the opportunities will be advertised to the council.
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December 7, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 7th December 2020. Present at the meeting were: Josefine, Meghan, Neelu, Mathieu, Gwen, Deniz, Jilda, Juan, Shalaka, Sakshi and Susana.
Updates from the Directorate included: a new PG leader email address (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) was created to improve communication with PGLs. Also, the APECS Office and ExCom will be away during the Christmas holidays (December 21st - January 8th). APECS will compile Season’s Greeting videos from the APECS Leadership! The videos submitted are accepted until December 14th. A gentle reminder to fill in the APECS Leadership Away Periods spreadsheet to ensure this information is available to all. Boris Radosavljević will join APECS Office between January to the end of April to complete tasks in EU Project ARICE.
Council Chairs will meet with PGLs on December 17th and 3 new PG applications (ASSW, ICASS X, and reviewing travel fundings for ICASS X) opened their registration. EDI Officer can be reached out to DEI Group’s PGLs to exchange the ideas. Polar Organisation Overview PG will have its transition call. Mental Health Resources wants to create a survey regarding mental health and they will focus this on their project plan and doing this with SMCs can increase the visibility of the survey. IASC Fellowship Reviewing is closed. Antarctica Day had a great achievement and continues with the activities in the rest of the month. Meetings going on with ECRs and working on potential funding opportunities for speakers towards ASSW21. 4 PG project plans have been accepted.
Priorities: Josefine has started grouping to find the new host institute. Upcoming tasks on the priority list and the roadmap to consider will be focused with the start of the new year. Announcement of Priority List
After the fruitful meeting of ExCom with CliC-WCRP, the call for an APECS Representative will be prepared that will help focus the engagement processes between the organizations.
APECS Spain started discussions with PolarCSIC. The LoE with Netherlands, LoA with IPRN and LoE with Colombia were approved and APECS Oceania expects the new LoA to be prepared by Susana. A contact person will be followed up for APECS Italy. APECS-Iceland is going to have their 1st meeting.
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January 18, 2021
- News from the directorate included the publication of the Strategic Plan 2021-2025 (Now online), the start of the contract of Svenja Holste working on INTERACT III Project, a report on the budget of APECS as of 15 January 2021, and updates of NC mailing lists. The call for bigs for a new host institute was also released on the website and through partner organisations.
- ExCom priorities updates revolved mainly around preparing timelines for the Council restructuring, the IEC restructuring, and the list of APECS representatives within other organisations.
- For Project Group updates: new Main page with project group list and possibility for them to have a page, discussion on organising further a meeting between the DEI PG and ExCom, as requested, was brought up, and will be organised shortly; possibility of interviews within the Mental Health PG was discussed, as well as using the experience of the Podcast PG for both technical and logistical point of views. The Project Plans of the APECS Online Conference 2021, Non-academic Careers PG, Mental Health PG and the T-MOSAiC Vlogs.
- Contact with CliC WCRP to provide opportunities to ECS in the Arctic, as well as with IACS.
- For NC updates: the letter of Agreement with APECS Canada was approved.-
February 1, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate:
APECS Director introduced a new person (Svenja Holste) who is going to work with the APECS office until December and then on the INTERACT 3 project. Excom discussed the involvement of Excom members in the hiring committee. Advertisement for APECS new host lookout would be published soon and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. would remain the point of contact for the questions. As a yearly routine process password has been changed for different APECS accounts. Reporting from NCs and council has been reduced from 3 to 2 in a year. The Directorate discussed the lack of data of APECS representatives in different organizations. In this regard, excom discussed starting a process to review the APECS representative information (One prioritiy of Excom).2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities:
2.3. Documents for restructuration Council document restructuring work is under process.3. Varia:
3.1. APECS representative for Artic Code of Conduct Approval (5/5) : Lauren Thompson would be the representative for the Arctic code of conduct
3.4. SCAR Messaging Board Juan and Jilda and Deniz would join the SCAR meeting.
3.5. Inquiry APECS-Arctic Institute Collaboration Interest Meghan will contact the Arctic institute in order to conduct a meeting to discuss potential collaborations.
3.6 APECS partnership in Ocean Decade Southern Ocean Programme Ocean decade southern ocean program has contacted APECS excom for a partner. Waiting for more infos.4. Next Meeting:
Meeting time: Monday, 15 Feb, 18-19h GMT
Minutes: Meghan
Summary : NeeluA. Updates From Council Leadership National Committee Coordinators The letter of Agreement (LoA) for APECS-Columbia, APECS Turkey and APECS-Malaysia is under process. APECS Sweden's LoA has expired and presently is in the process of renovation. Other NCs have submitted their progress report. Along with this NC Coordinators discussed how to organize a call with NCs.
B. Project Group - News - Updates DEI After seeking for advices from APECS mentors, Excom set up an course of action to set up a meeting with the
DEI PG
Art PG
Approved (3/5): Project Plan the Art PG.-
February 18, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate:
APECS host search process dissemination strategy has been prepared. A new employee (Franziska) has started work in ARICE and APECS office as of 15 February. APECS newsletter and information about technician online training as part of ARICE was published on 16th Feb 2021.2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities:
Excom discussed advancement and actions for : The Mentorship database ; Strategic plan council restructuring ; APECS data policy; APECS representative roles; Adrian Dahood Memorial fund.3. Varia:
3.1. Meeting with Victoria Herrmann (Arctic Institute) A meeting with Victoria Herman from Arctic Institute has been conducted on 13th Feb 2021 to collaborate with the science policy and diplomacy group, were present, Meghan, Deniz and Gwen.
3.2. Internal Evaluation Committee (IEC) Current Internal Evaluation Committee (IEC) members will continue on for the rest of the term.
3.3. Recording Procedure of the meetings Excom also discussed the GDPR acknowledgment for recording- storage of recording, period to keep the recording in the drive, consent for recording, handling the access of the recorded files, alternative options for the storage of recorded files.4. Next Meeting:
Meeting time : Monday, 1 March, 13-14h GMT
Minutes: Mathieu
Summary : DenizA. Updates From Council Leadership
National Committee
Excom approved (5/5) to support the ASA-APECS Canada Mentor Award 2020 ;
Excom approved (5/5) to support the APECS Canada MOOC Project ;
Excom approved (5/5) the Renewal of LoE of APECS Denmark.
B. Project Group - News - Updates
Mental Health Group
The mental health group survey project is under review by ExCom for suggestions.
Podcast Group
The Podcast group disclaimer is under review by ExCom for suggestions.
C. Council Member - News- Updates Excom approved (3/5) the new council application.-
March 1, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate:
New project officer, Franziska has joined the family! She will be working on the annual report of 2019 and 2020. Besides, help on the ARICE project, and posting online.
Opportunities for involvement of APECS reps for AANCHOR, FARO Workshop and fieldbook pictures will be shared with the Council Mailchimp announcement will be released with the Council:
- Polar Week Contest as well as whole Poler Week program,
- APECS/YOPP/YESS Workshop at ASSW2021,
- Online Conference Abstract Submission open,
- ARICE Technical Training2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities:
Finding New Host Institution
- The list of contacts and shared addresses will be updated Mentorship database
- Timeline and tasks will be followed as it is scheduled Strategic plan Council Restructuring
- The last comments on the relevant sections of the Handbook will be made.
- The updated version of the Handbook will be shared with the Council for their feedback with a timeline in the coming weeks APECS Data Policy
- Directorate has contacted Ævar to ask for backup of APECS Website + Cookie handling
The content will be similar with EU Project APPLICATE uses
Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund
- The fund will be kept open. The fund will be distributed to the conference fees and related expenses if the Dahood family also approves it
- Long term actions needs to be taken regarding this fund3. Varia:
ASM3 Organizational Overview Update for Final Report
- will be updated by the Directorate APECS Canada
MOOC Project
- was reviewed and approved by ExCom Re-adjusting the ExCom meeting hours by April
- will be rotated to the most suited time of majority due to the DST Partnership with UKPN to Submit a Proposal to COP26
- Help improve the abstract on 2 days session about climate crisis
Approved: MoU of APECS Bulgaria (⅘), LoA of APECS Oceania (⅘)A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs - Hugo Guimaro / José Queiros / Priyanka Rajput
The 2nd PGL Meeting on Feb 22/2021
- The minutes can be found on the website. 125 Council reports submitted by the deadline of March 1st
The 2nd Council Meeting on Feb 2/2021
- The minutes can be found here.
The queries on accessing the Google Drive raised
- will be linked with the email address that people are using.A.2 National Committee Coordinators - Shalaka Kiran Patil / Sakshi Mankotia/ Susana Hancock
Call for Bids will be spread into NCs
18 NC reports submitted (Status: 26 Feb) - please submit the missing ones asap
APECS Iceland has a meeting on Thursday
- the leadership will be clarified
- the connection will be made with UKPN to work together on some projects
- email address will be controlled over the weekend
Partnership between APECS Brazil and International/National/Local Organizations
- the possibility with National Organization (Brazilian Antarctic Program - PROANTAR, coordinated by the Brazilian Navy)
- the template document on partnerships will be sent
- seeking out for guidance
LOE Colombia has been renewed
Structuring common file on agreements of National Committees
- Access to different LoAs and MoUs will be eligible.A.3. APECS Social Media Coordinators - Lina Madaj / Melanie Stammler / Mia Bennett / Rupa
Polar Week March 2021 Announcements
- Contest announcement will be shared Meeting with Social Media Coordinators On February 25
- Josefine & Deniz have joined and the meeting went fruitful.
- 3rd round of Call for Bids will release and Facebook advertisement function will be used to increase the visibility
- The International Days (e.g. Polar Bears Day) will be celebrated within social media channels to increase the communication with early career researchers and their network
- Email on how to submit posts on social media accounts will be shared by SMCsB. Project Group - News - Updates
Polar Organization
- Joseph Martin step up to be PGLC. Council Members - News- Updates
2 members who didn’t show up in the meetings & answer emails in Polar Organization PG will be contacted.
2 members who didn’t show up in the meetings & answer emails in Online Conference PG will be contacted.4. Next Meeting:
Meeting Time : Monday, 15 March, 17-18h GMT
Minutes: Neelu
Summary: Meghan-
March 15, 2021
Chair: Gwenaëlle Gremion
Minutes: Neelu Singh
ExCom Summary: Gwenaëlle Gremion, ExCom
Present: Josefine Lenz, Executive Director, Gwenaëlle Gremion, ExCom, Meghan Helmberger, ExCom, Deniz Vural, ExCom, Neelu Singh, ExCom, Mathieu Casado, ExCom Jilda Caccavo, Ex-officio, Gabriela Roldan, Ex-Officio, Juan Höfer, Ex-Officio
MINUTES:
1. Updates From Directorate
-HAPPY POLAR WEEK!
-The Zoom meeting/webinar still challenging: Recording settings are discussed.
-Svenja will announce the new PG “Guideo on CO2 reduction” this week : Mathieu and Gwen will be the ExCom contact.
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
-New Host institution
There is still the need to continue the dissemination over our network of the call for a new host.
-Mentorship database
A meeting with Carrie will be set up. The idea to include mentors as contact for the different PG was discussed. The mentorship database needs to be completed (lack of information, only numbers are available). Mentors need to be contacted to update the database.
-Strategic Plan Council Restructuring
All need to do the final review of the Handbook, prior to sending it to the entire Council for the first round of review. Contact need to be made with Project Group that may contribute to specific section (Code of Conduct, Data Policy)
-Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund
The first call and form is under review by ExCom before it went out (soon)
3. Varia
3.1. DEI/ExCom meeting scheduling
Finalization of the date and time for the DEI/ExCom meeting in agreement with Daniela availabilities, and the majority of DEI members' attendance.
3.2.INSTANT kick-off meeting report
Review of the report made by Lara Perez regarding her attendance to the INSTANT meeting.
3.3. ExCom Meeting with Changing DST
March - 29 - 2021 : 13-15 GMT (APECS ExCom - Leadership)
April - 12 - 2021 : 19h-20 GMT(APECS ExCom)
April - 26 - 2021 : 14-15h GMT (APECS ExCom - Leadership)
3.4.Council Member - News- Updates
Follow up on certain Council members not attending/participating on the PGs activities.Their ExCom contact will reach out to them to figure it out what is going on.
4. Next Meeting
4.1. Regular ExCom Meeting
Meeting time : Monday, 29 March, 13-15h GMT
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A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
APECS Turkey LoE : Approved-
March 29, 2021
Important note: Call for Bids - Help from National Committees is really needed: it is really crucial that national committees are
1. aware of the host search and
2. approach people and plant the seeds in their respective countries.1. Updates From Directorate
Updates on first contacts with potential host institutions (still waiting for letters of interests).
Contacts for APECS representatives in activities of several partners (AANCHOR, PolarPredictNews, IASC ASSW 2022), more updates to follow.
Discussion with the European Polar Board (EPB).
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
Mentorship database, first discussions in progress.
Strategic plan and council restructuring: progress on the handbook made, missing illustrations to help simplify the structure of APECS (ExCom will prepare first drafts and might ask help from the Council to move further).
Date for when the handbook is shared beyond ExCom still to be decided.
Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund: preparation of a call for applications.
3. Varia Since the meeting had to be short, varia were not discussed in detail.
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A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
Council reports have been compiled and a summary is prepared and will be sent to the Council.
Next Council meeting on 31 March 2021.
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
UKPN MOU approved by ExCom.
A.3. APECS Social Media Coordinators
APECS-news page link on the Instagram account to simplify sharing news and events.
B. Project Group - News - Updates Collaboration with European Geosciences Union (EGU) : no problem with ExCom, decision to be taken at the PG level.
C. Council Member - News- Updates
Some Council members have been inactive, to be contacted to check that everything is fine.-
April 12, 2021
Updates from Directorate
1. New Project Group ‘Guide on CO2 Reduction’ (INTERACT Project) has started and had their first meeting last week.
2. IASC Webinar.
3. Online Technical Training activities + soft skill webinar (ARICE Project) is happening this week.
4. Finding a new host: Internal deadline (end of March) for Expression of interest. APECS' hosting mission meeting with AWI would be conducted on 13 April 2021.Excom Priorities
1. Find a new host institution.
2. Mentorship Database: Setting up a meeting with Carrie is in progress.
3. Adrian Dahood Fund: Draft of call for application is at a final stage and soon will be ready to announce on APECS website and in a newsletter.
4. Restructuring Internal Evaluation Committee: Document is under construction and review by ExCom.
5. Evaluating criteria Council application- Neelu and Meghan had a meeting in this regard and started developing a document for the ExCom to review.
6. Handbook: Draft and figures are at the final stage and soon will be ready to share with the council for the first round of review.
7. Raise profile of under-represented areas of polar research: Deniz and Jilda have started working on this.Varia
1. ExCom members would reach out to the people who expressed their concerns on the council progress form.
2. Implementation of anonymous feedback form in the handbook.
3. Including information in the handbook regarding the role of the advisory committee and when ExCom consults with the committee, sending yearly reports to the Advisory and including “living document” to specify what the Advisory Committee is consulted on for internal use among ExCom and the Directorate.
4. Code of conduct: Included into the handbook as an appendix. It will be shared with the Council for review later in the term.
5. Approved : ExCom approved LoE of APECS ItalyNext Meeting Monday, 26th April, 2021.
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April 26, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
▪ Online Conference will take place on May 12
- Interested volunteers in presentation judge and session coordinator to help facilitate the conference can fill out this form by April 30
▪ Closing of the Bidding to host APECS Directorate by the end of May
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
▪ New Host Institution
- The internal criteria for reviewing the applications will be prepared soon, Council will be asked to provide input
▪ Council Restructuring
- Call for the Council to review APECS Handbook was shared on 23/04
▪ Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund
- The call for a grant is opened 20/04 - The form will be open until May 25
▪ APECS representatives & improving the rep system
- A new project group, which will have one or more chairs, that would liaise between the different representatives and the Council, might also be beneficial to report/improve integration of the roles on actionable items
▪ A new APECS representative for their Capacity Building, Education and Training (CBET) Advisory Group for SCAR is announced
- deadline for application is May 3
▪ SOOS SOFLUX APECS representative
- SOOS are looking for an early career researcher to join their Southern Ocean Air-Sea Flux Capability Working Group
- The following criteria are shared on the call and applications are open until May 31
3. Varia
▪ INSTANT Logo contest announced in Partner News and the deadline is May 1
A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
▪ 3rd PGL meeting : 29th of April at 16:00 GMT
- The agenda and updates or concerns table for the meeting
▪ Suggestion: Trivia Game for the upcoming Council Meeting - Anybody interested can help organize the game/questions - please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
▪ Virtual Outreach/Lecture series by IPRN (APECS India) are approved by ExCom
▪ APECS Germany renewed the LoA ▪ APECS Italy is back as NC!
▪ Meeting amongst NC Coordinators will be organised in the upcoming months
C. Council Member - News- Updates
▪ One new Individual Council application was approved by ExCom-
May 10, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
▪ Mentorship Award nomination deadline extended to 29 May
▪ APECS Online Conference! May 12
▪ Host search: Interesting input from Council: https://padlet.com/info15625/APECS
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
▪ New Host Institution
- Deniz and Josefine spoke with Denmark and Norway; mostly a general discussion, waiting on funding applications before applying
▪ Council Restructuring
- The first round of review will close May 14
▪ Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund
- So far we have received 25 applications - Application submission closes on 25 May
▪ Restructuring of the Internal Evaluation Committee
- ExCom is working on a draft restructuring
- This will be sent out to the current IEC members for review before further development
3. Varia
▪ Council trivia game night
- Questions prepared by Deniz for a trivia night during the next Council meeting
4. Next Meeting
4.1. Leadership- Ex.Com Meeting:
Meeting time: May - 24 - 2021: 14h-16h GMT
Minutes: Deniz
Summary: Mathieu ----
B. Project Group - News - Updates
▪ ICASS X APECS Workshop Project Group plan Approved!-
May 24, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- New grant agreement signed for the EU project Arctic Passion: APECS is involved as co-lead of the dissemination, communication & training work package
- Final week for input on potential criteria for the Host Institution evaluation Council can provide their contributions
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- Urgent progress to be made on the APECS Handbook (delays to be expected compared to the original schedule shared with the Council)
- Preparation of the criteria to judge the Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund - Brainstorming done on the APECS representative roles
- New document for the restructuring of the IEC finalised, to be shared with the IEC current members for feedback
3 . Varia
- ExCom Temporary position: Reminder about the application for temporary position within the ExCom (1 July 2021 - 10 September 2021). Deadline : 6 June 2021 (refer to the email of Neelu Mai 21th)
4. Next Meeting
- June - 7 - 2021: 19h-20 GMT
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A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
- Organisation of the Council Meeting, discussion about the trivia game
- One new Council member approved.
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
- NC Coordinators will hold a meeting with NC leaders next week
- MoU of APECS France and APECS Bulgaria approved
- LOA of APECS Germany and APECS Switzerland approved
- New NC rep for APECS Switzerland approved
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June 7, 2021
1. Updates from Directorate
- Bids for Host APECS International Directorate - APECS office received 2 bids for a new host institution along with one sponsorship offer to support the directorate. The evaluation process and next steps in this regard are under process.
- APECS Newsletter - Newsletter would be published on 15th June with new highlights and announcements.
- APECS Workshop at ASSW2022 in Tromsø- Directorate will register for the APECS workshop for the business meeting part during ASSW 2022. A new project group would be proposed in the next term for this workshop.
- APECS representative at UArctic Congress in Russia, October 2022 Program Committee- A call for an opportunity to join the UArctic Congress organizing committee would be shared with the council.
- Josefine is away for 2 weeks: summer holidays, 28 June - 12 July (Directorate Away Times)2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- Strategic Plan Council Restructuring- ExCom is working on the handbook on suggestions and questions mentioned by council.
- Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund- Total 68 applications have been received. ExCom members and Council volunteers will work together to review the applications. An announcement would be shared with the council for volunteers to review the applications.
- The Database for APECS Reps, restructuring of the internal evaluation committee, Evaluation criteria for council application is under process.3. Varia
- Marta Moreno’s application for temporary ExCom position has been approved.
- Inactive members from different project groups (Mentorship Award, CO2 Reduction, Art Group) would be contacted by ExCom.
4. Next Meeting
Meeting time : June - 21 - 2021 : 14h-16 GMT (Leadership)
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A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
PGL group leaders meeting: Doodle poll has been shared to organise the next meeting.-
June 21, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate New term
- Office is starting the ExCom election procedure in July
- Announcement will go out to the whole membership APECS Office members will be on a leave of absence (June-August) respectively
- Detailed period can be found here Final interview will be with the bidders on June 22.
- Voting form for the bidders will be sent end of the July
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- Adrian Dahood Fun: Applications in review process
- Handbook including Council structure will be shared with the Council for approval to take into force for the new term
- APECS representatives: Creating database is done - The reporting form is in progress
- IEC: - The updated version of restructuring document will be shared with Advisory Committee after incorporating reviews
3. Varia
- APECS representatives for UArctic Congress 2022 Program Committee: Applications will be reviewed and selected representatives will be shared with the UArctic Congress Program Committee
- Reaching out to the inactive members: Sending email to the members who are members of a project group but have not been involved for a very long time
4. Next Meeting Meeting time: 5 July, 2021 : 19h - 21 GMT
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A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
- 4th PGL Meeting on 24rd of June at 10:30 AM (GMT), Meeting agenda & minutes
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
- A new application for National Committee representative was accepted
- The agreements (LoE, LoA, MoU) of some of countries will be updated
- NCs can be asked to make a 1 slide presentation to give updates from their chapters at the next Council meeting
A.3. APECS Social Media Coordinators
- Sending a letter on how to publish events/news on the APECS social media channels will be sent via the Council and NC email lists
- APECS LinkedIn account: 1,300 members in APECS LinkedIn group, depending on the settings merging two different APECS accounts
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July 5, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- Preparing the call for the new ExCom application, the call will be launched during this week
- The Directorate is also working on the NC statistics
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- New Host Institution: Final review in progress with the bidders. Afterwards, the decision will be shared with the Council for final approval
- Handbook: Most of the comments by Council were integrated to the new version of the book, last compilations are to be made, conditional version of the Handbook will be sent to the Council with the new structure of the Council for approval
- Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund - The grant will be distributed by 3 categories (research project, in person conferences, online conferences) for the applicants, the proposed funding 17 211.34 EUR (€7621.93-Adrin Dahood-Fritz Funding, €5850-Antarctic Science Ltd., €3739.41-APECS travel/online registration support) was approved by ExCom; answers will be sent out to applications shortly
- APECS representative roles/Improve APECS rep system: Prepared draft form and email will be reviewed
- Council election for the new term 2021/22: The call for new Council applications will be launched at the middle of July
- New email about Project Group applications will be sent to entire membership
3. Varia
- One new individual Council member and one National Committee representative applications were approved
- APECS reps in the UArctic Congress 2022 Program Committee: 3 APECS representatives were approved for the Committee
4. Next Meeting
- 19 July 2021: 14 - 16 GMT
A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 National Committee Coordinators: A new LoA will be prepared for the countries who had LoEs to be expired
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July 19, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- Holiday season but office is open. Heike away till 8 August, Josefine will try her best to keep up daily office business
- ExCom applications are underway, deadline 16 August.
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- New host institution: Final ExCom vote for recommendation on new host will be finalized on 19th July. Then recommendation is shared with Council for the Council vote on the new host institution
- APECS representatives roles/Improve Rep system: Email existing representatives with questions regarding their position and activities in both organizations they are involved in.
- Mentorship database: Discussed the mentor database with Carrie Harris moving forward. Mentors will be contacted regarding sharing their emails on our website for easier contacting option.
- Improving ExCom transition: Gathering information in order to build a better transition plan.
3. Varia
- PLOS climate journal’s request to cooperate with APECS - Mathieu, Marta & Meghan want to make this a project group for next term. Highly supportive of the idea but the end of the term is approaching fast and there are time constraints that could impact the setting up this term.
- New SCAR action group: RINGS - Approved to send a call to Council first.
- Workshop on IPCC process by SO-CHIC: Approved
4. Next Meeting
- Meeting time : 2 August 2021: 19 - 21 GMT
---- A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs NCs from Brazil, Canada, and Denmark were presented at Council meetings.
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
Approved- Brazil MoU
Approved- Colombia LoE converted to LoA
Approved- Denmark LoE converted to LoA
Approved- Netherlands LoE converted to LoA
Approved- Sweden MoU Approved- Norway LoA
Approved- China LoA
Approved- Portugal LoA
Approved- APECS event funding for APECS Germany-
August 2, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- Lisa Grosfeld is back to Office. She will be the Project Officer for the German Arctic Office and help APECS Office in the new EU Project Arctic PASSION.
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- New host institution: The Council can vote until 8 August, 23:59 GMT.
- Council applications: Since the new Council structure has been approved (45 individual members and 6 NC rep voted: 42 approvals, 6 disapprovals and 3 abstentions), the call for Applications to the APECS Council 2021-2022 has been opened today. - APECS handbook: An email will be sent to the Council asking for a second review of the Handbook. An email will be sent to the Advisory Committee asking for feedback on the Handbook, particularly on the section about the Internal Evaluation Committee.
- APECS representatives roles/Improve Rep system: An email will be sent to existing representatives with questions regarding their position and activities in the organizations they are involved in.
- Adrian Dahood - Fritz Memorial Fund: An email will be sent to the Dahood-Fritz family with an update regarding the Adrian Dahood-Fritz Memorial Fund.
3. Varia
- The ExCom will contact the Indigenous Collaborations APECS project group to provide some ideas regarding their suggestion of extending APECS resources to Non-English Speakers.
- Workshop on the IPCC process by SO-CHIC: Gwen, Deniz, Mathieu and Marta will get involved in the organization of the workshop from the beginning. A call for additional members to contribute to the organization will be released at a later stage of the planification.
4. Next Meeting
- Meeting time: 16 August 2021: 14-16 GMT -
August 30, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- Host for APECS Directorate MoU is currently prepared between NPI, UiT, FRAM and APECS International draft expected by mid-September. Official announcement of new host and job announcement will be released accordingly. Until then information is not official. There will be a meeting with CU Boulder to discuss the possibilities of an APECS Office as part of the APECS International Offices
- Term Transition The voting for ExCom 2021-2022 is open until September 8th For voting form please see the email sent by APECS information on August 24
- APECS Council Leadership positions will be open until September 15th Applications for Council Chairs, National Committee Coordinator and Social Media Coordinators
- Nominations for National Committee/Partner representatives (this form) are still open until positions filled National Committees can nominate maximum 2 representatives Partner Organizations can nominate only 1 representative
- Project Groups Project Group reports and registration to PGs for the new term due September 15th
- International Polar Week September Polar Week will be held great activities between September 19-25 with the activities; the Polar Poetry Contest the Photo Competition Fun Facts on Social Media Instagram Live with Polar Artists the Polar Party and many more!
2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- Selection of Project Groups Leaders for the Term 2021/2022 APECS PGs and its descriptions
- APECS representative roles & Improve APECS rep system Email sent to current APECS reps
Please provide feedback if you want to continue or step down by September 12th
- Handbook The latest version of the Handbook (including preliminary version of the restructuration of Internal Evaluation Committee) Some important dates on reviewing; Council/NC final review: September 8 ExCom implements the produced comments: September 19 Council vote on the new Handbook: September 27 The Advisory Committee is being asked to review the new Handbook, as well
3. Varia
The New Council Training Sessions The topics are:
- The structure of APECS International Thursday, 9 September 2021, 14.00-15.00 GMT
- APECS National Committees and the role of representatives Friday, 10 September 2021, 13.00-14.00 GMT
- Organizing online events and meetings in APECS Friday, 10 September 2021, 17.00-18.00 GMT
4. Next Meeting Meeting time : September 13th - 14 - 16 GMT -
September 19, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
- ExCom Elections
- Participation to voting was 59%
- The new Executive Committee 2021/2022 have internally announced with the Council (please see the email from Josefine on September 15) and the official announcement will be released on October 1st
- APECS September Newsletter is published this Monday (including Polar Week September)
- Polar Educators International is looking for APECS Representative in Polar Resource Book Project, selection process currently under discussion with PEI
- APECS representative on SCAR's RINGS Action Group
- The announcement is now online - you can send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 30 September 2021
- IASC Fellowship Review
- The 6 IASC Fellowships (one for each IASC WG - Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Marine, Social / Human, Terrestrial and an Indigenous Fellowship), two more special Fellowships are to be announced & reviewed:
- SDWG-IASSA-IASC Fellowship for an ECR to get involved in the SDWG of the Arctic Council
- The Fellowship is co-sponsored by the three organisations.
SAON-IASC Fellowship for an ECR to get involved in SAON
- The Fellowship is sponsored by IASC
- Tentative timeline currently under discussion with IASC:
- Application deadline 4 October
- Review + short list 8 - 26 November
- Contacting with successful candidates mid December / unsuccessful January
- Official announcement January
- Arctic Frontiers (31 Jan - 3 Feb) asked for involvement in Norwegian Science for Schools event (in person) Arctic Frontiers Young program but level of involvement under discussion due to directorate transition2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
- Host for APECS Directorate
- Draft MoU is currently being prepared
- Draft Job description of Director position in under review
Official announcement of the New Host and job announcement will be released soon - until then information is not official
- APECS Office of second bidder under discussion
- Request about MoU with APECS emailed to AWI Directorate
- Followed up with Netherlands on their sponsorship offer- APECS representative roles & Improve APECS rep system
- APECS reps, who said they will not continue to their positions in the upcoming term, will be reached out and asked for possible candidates to replace their position
- The up-to-date version of the list will be uploaded to the website
- Current APECS partners & representatives
- Handbook
- Second review of the Handbook is completed by the Council
- ExCom is currently implementing the produced comments
- The vote of the new Handbook will open to Council by next week
A. Updates From Council Leadership
A.1 Council Chairs
- Second Council Report
-Thank you for joining the report!
- The point on time zone constraints was discussed and agreed to set up a meeting schedule in the beginning of the term, i.e., Council members will periodically meet on the same day of the week and time so that they can plan in advance
- Other details and format of the reporting in future terms will be discussed
- The report will be shared with the Council soon- PGL and Council Meetings
- The minutes of 5th PGL can be found here
- The minutes of 6th Council meeting can be found here
A.2 National Committee Coordinators
- No NC representative nominations for APECS Council 2021/22
- Sweden
- UKPN
- USAPECS
- Bulgaria
- Malaysia
- Italy
3. Varia
- New collaboration possibilities with SESS Editorial Board for the 4th State of Environmental Science in Svalbard Report
- The board is looking for an Early Career Scientist as the fifth member of the Editorial Board
- The details about application can be found here4. Next Meeting
Meeting time: September 27th - 19 - 21 GMT -
September 27, 2021
1. Updates From Directorate
ExCom Leadership
Marta voted in as president for 2021/22 term
Votes for Ex-Officios occurred at the end of the meetingCouncil Leadership Review:
co-Council Chairs: Jose, Ryan, and Tayana
NC Coordinators: Manasi, Hugo and Lei
Social Media Coordinators: Anika, Lina, Nadine, and Sakshi
Gabriela Roldan and 2020/2021 Social Media Coordinators will stay on for an extra week or so to help with the transition2. ExCom 2020-2021 Priorities
Host for APECS Directorate
Draft MoU is being finalized
Draft Job description of Director position is being finalized
Official announcement of the New Host and job announcement will be released soon - until then information is not official
The second bidder will not be able to provide a second international office after all.Handbook
Handbook is finalized and waiting on a vote from the Council for approval.
Mentorship database
Emails will be provided for mentors listed in our database for easier contact
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Meeting Notes 2019-2020
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October 2, 2019
The new ExCom for the 2019-2020 term has held their first meeting on 2 October 2019. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Lara Perez, Gabriela Roldan, and Neelu Signh. Busy times for the six new members with Kyle Mayers filling in for Carrie Harris while she at the MOSAiC School. Everyone is working hard to prepare for new the roles and responsibilities this term. ExCom is working on establishing priorities for the term and they will work on this during the upcoming weeks. The 2019-2020 ExCom will focus on pushing forward the MoUs already started in by the outgoing ExCom. Gerlis has been attending many meetings related to APECS participation in INTERACT, MOSAiC and Nunataryuk projects.. The APPLICATE online course is currently running with about 80 attendants coordinated by Andrea. During the next few weeks the Mentor Awards and IASC fellowship will be reviewed by APECS council members. SCAR/IASC/PEI are cooperating on the second edition of the Polar Resources Book! There will be plenty of opportunities for APECS participation. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 14 GMT on 14 October.
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October 14, 2019
On 14 October 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jennifer Cooper, Juan Hofer, Kyle Mayers and Neelu Singh. First, ExCom discussed the priorities and workflows for the next year and decided to review these before the next meeting. Next information regarding each of the project groups was discussed, along with an extension to the deadline. The handover calls for Council Chairs and National Committee Coordinators are in progress to prepare new members for their roles. The possibility of an in person ExCom meeting during this term was discussed, and the potential of the SCAR2020 meeting being used was mentioned. Finally, a Joint Science workshop on science communication between APECS and YES was discussed, with a final workshop draft currently being reviewed. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 20:00 GMT on 30 October.
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October 30, 2019
On 30 October 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jennifer Cooper, Juan Hofer, Kyle Mayers, Lara Perez and Gabriela Roldan. First, ExCom discussed the priorities and workflows for the next year and decided to review these before the next meeting. Updates for the upcoming full Council call were discussed, which will be on 5 November. Next, information regarding each of the project groups was discussed, along with an extension to the project plan deadline. Additionally, ExCom is reviewing options for an in-person meeting to be held at SCAR 2020 along with the APECS Workshop in Hobart next year. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 14:00 GMT on 11 November.
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November 11, 2019
The APECS ExCom met on 11 November 2019. Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, Kyle Mayers, and Neelu Singh attended. The ExCom discussed the first Council call, which took place last week as well as the Council project group proposals that we have received. ExCom will provide feedback to project groups on their proposals one week after receipt of the proposal. ExCom also discussed APECS National Committees — including which committees need to have their APECS agreements renewed, as well as individuals interested in creating exploratory activity groups in countries without a large APECS memberships. New membership statistics for APECS as a whole are available. ExCom also discussed current and upcoming funding opportunities. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 27 November at 20:00 GMT.
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November 27, 2019
The APECS ExCom met on 27 November 2019. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Cacavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed the Council project group proposals that we have received and are in the process of giving feedback to each of the groups. Several APECS Members are interested in kickstarting APECS-related activities in their country, so the ExCom has worked on establishing an ‘Emerging National Initiatives’ process for these situations. Videos and other media from the MOSiaC expedition are being posted online, so keep an eye out for more great footage! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 9 December at 14 GMT.
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January 27, 2020
The ExCom met on 27 January, 2020, at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, Gabriela Roldan and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed the Project Group plans submitted to date, and is also reviewing the report sent by the Organizational Review Committee, which will be distributed to the Council in the near future. The use of copyright material by APECS members was discussed at length and measures are in the process of being put in place to avoid incurring any breach in the future. Finally, preparations are being made to begin the distribution of funds donated to the Adrian Dahood-Fritz Memorial Fund. ExCom’s next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 12 February, 2020, at 20 GMT.
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February 12, 2020
The ExCom met on 12 February, 2020, at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, Sasha Leidman, Lara Perez, and Gabriela Roldan. The ExCom did a review of all Project Group plans submitted to date. Also, ExCom is working to create a feedback reporting form for members to communicate arising issues in a confidential manner. The use of copyright material by APECS members was discussed at length and measures are put in place to avoid incurring any breach in the future. Also, the Organizational Review Committee submitted their report, which is currently being reviewed by the ExCom. The Directorate informed that two new Project Groups are being advertised now to collaborate with our partners at INTERACT, and that Lisa and Josephine (from our office) have successfully led the publication of a report on science and policy interaction on our behalf. Congratulations to both! ExCom’s next meeting will be held on Monday 24 February, 2020, at 14 GMT
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March 11, 2020
The ExCom met on 11 March, 2020 at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Meghan Helmberger, and Sasha Leidman. The ExCom reviewed the feedback reporting form that they are working on for members to communicate arising issues in a confidential manner. Due to a number of groups struggling with inactive members, ExCom discussed potentially limiting the number of PGs for next term; no decisions have yet to be made. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are delaying the release of the Adrian Dahood Memorial Fund that will provide travel funds for students and early career scientists. Additionally, we are cancelling the upcoming Nunataryuk school in Sweden, with the hope of rescheduling in 2021. Funding will still be made available to participants who couldn’t get reimbursed from the airlines. The APECS website is being updated to assure that all photos are used with the appropriate permissions. Finally the APECS office will be reduced starting in the summer because Lisa Grosfeld from the APECS Directorate was asked to join the MOSAIC expedition from June to August.
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March 23, 2020
The ExCom met on March 23 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Meghan Helmberger, Juan Hofer, and Neelu Singh. Welcome back to Juan, who is returning from summer fieldwork in Antarctica! And many thanks to Meghan for filing in during this extended period. And congratulations are in order to Gerlis, who has accepted a position as the new Executive Secretary of IASC! APECS is immensely grateful for all the dedication, support and leadership that Gerlis has provided over the past decade. While we are sad to see her go, we are thrilled for her to start this new chapter in Akureyi, Iceland in August. A job announcement regarding the open APECS Directorate position will be circulated in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes out if you or anyone you know would be interested in applying. ExCom is continuing to work with Project Groups and National Committees on transitioning events, workload, and expectations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The next ExCom meeting will be on April 8 at 20 GMT.
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April 8, 2020
The ExCom met on 08th April 2020 at 20GMT. Present at the meeting were Juan Hofer, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Jilda Caccavo, and Lara F. Pérez. The new initiative of collecting anonymous feedback from Council members has been started. This feedback form has been included in the “Advice to Council Members” document. APECS/SCAR Workshop in-person events have been canceled but organizers are planning for a virtual meeting where individual session chairs will convene Zoom sessions. The ORC report will be hosted on the APECS website and also shared with the Council members. ExCom discussed the timeline for the Strategic Plan and decided to make it ready by September. In regard to the hiring committee for the Executive Director, Jennifer Cooper and Jilda Caccavo will be the ExCom representatives on the hiring committee at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) where the position is hosted, with the rest of ExCom helping to examine the applicant pool.
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April 20, 2020
The ExCom met on 20th April 2020 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Juan Hofer, Gerlis Fugmann, Jennifer Cooper, Jilda Caccavo, and Neelu Singh. ExCom discussed PG and Council updates. For our Council pronoun survey we received 61 responses; thank you to everyone for contributing your thoughts. The Mentor Award PG is currently working on last year’s applications. ExCom discussed the timeline for the Strategic Plan and planned to prepare a spreadsheet to divide related tasks within ExCom. An email will be shared with Council members for recruiting volunteers for the strategic plan writing teams. Updates from the Directorate included that Lisa is joining the MOSAiC expedition after quarantine from mid-May until end of August, several volunteers from the Council will be helping with Directorate tasks as Gerlis transitions from her position, and the Nuntayuak School will be pushed back a year due to the COVID19 situation.
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May 6, 2020
The ExCom met on May 6 at 20 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Juan Hofer, and Lara Pérez. First, new initiatives from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Project Group were discussed, including a potential partnership with the American Geophysical Union (AGU). APECS in partnership with the ARICE (Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium) recently held an extremely successful webinar with 140 attendees. Development of the APECS Strategic Plan 2021 – 2025 was discussed, confirming lead writers and writing teams, and moving forward with the agreed upon writing schedule. Updates from the Directorate included Lisa’s departure for the MOSAiC Cruise, the development of the posting for the APECS Interim Director position, and the imminent completion of updates to the APECS website. In addition, news regarding an update of the Polar Resource book, a collaboration of SCAR, IASC, APECS, and PEI, was discussed, including the goal to have an online version published, the need to seek funding to find an editor, and making sure that the APECS representatives to the process continue their active involvement after Gerlis’ departure. The next ExCom meeting will be on May 18 at 14 GMT.
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May 18, 2020
The ExCom met on 18 May, 2020 at 14 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Carrie Harris, and Neelu Singh. The ExCom discussed project group updates. It also has initiated groups for working on the goals within the Strategic Plan and is beginning to develop concrete ideas, with the hope of a full document draft in the next few months. Lisa has officially departed for MOSAiC for the next several months - we wish her the best on the expedition! The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 3 at 20 GMT.
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June 3, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 3rd June 2020. Juan Hofer, Jennifer Cooper, Gabriela Roldan, Jilda Caccavo and Neelu Singh attended. Inactive members in the Council PG will be tracked with help from the PGL. The organisers of the ASM3 meeting have requested some information from APECS on our activities over the past year in the Arctic region. Mia Bennett is the APECS representative for ASM3 and will be contacted for representation at the upcoming meeting. ECO has offered a potential partnership with APECS for a Polar Special Issue to be published in September. Mid-term Council reports are due within this month to document each of their activities, contribution, and feedback on their experience. The APECS Online Conference has been a huge success this year with attendance of 400+ people from around the world. Congratulations to Jan-Lukas Menzel (PGL) and the rest of the PG. The Mentor Award proposals are currently under review for the 2019 and 2020 submissions. The ExCom and Ex-Officio members are working on the first draft of the Strategic Plan chapters, which will be circulated to the Council for review shortly. SIOS has requested ECRs to join their working group panel and APECS is investigating this opportunity. SOOS SOOS working group in the Western Antarctica Peninsula and the Scotia Arc will hold an online workshop using APECS Zoom Webinar license. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 15 June at 14:00 GMT.
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June 15, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on the 15th of June and was attended by JiIlda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, and Neel Singh. First, ExCom discussed the updates from project groups. ExCom reviewed a new project group initiative that will develop a polar-themed podcast - we are very excited about this potential project. Additionally, the next Council meeting doodle poll will be sent around by the Co-Chairs for a meeting sometime in July, along with a link for the 2nd Council Report. The DEI project group, in conjunction with the Social Media Coordinators and ExCom, is working to coordinate a Twitter takeover to highlight diverse voices in polar science. Finally, ExCom and members of the Council have been working very hard to draft the next Strategic Plan and it will be circulated to the Council for review shortly. There will be at least 3 review rounds to allow for comments, suggestions, and incorporation of revisions before a vote is held to approve the plan before the end of the term. The Advisory Committee will also have the opportunity for giving feedback and comments as senior members of APECS and/or the polar field. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 1 July at 20:00 GMT.
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July 1, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on 1st July 2020. Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Carrie Harris, Jilda Caccavo, Neelu Singh, Lara Perez, Gabriela Roldan and Jack Buckingham attended. First, Jack introduced the idea for a new project group dedicated to creating an APECS podcast to showcase APECS and its members to a wider community. Jack and ExCom agreed on how to proceed so stay tuned for more on the APECS podcast. The agreement between ECO magazine and APECS has been finalised and the opportunity to submit pieces for the special issue has been advertised by APECS and SCAR. ExCom prepared the next steps for creating the elections committee in charge of running the upcoming ExCom elections. ExCom also discussed the low attendance of the last Council meeting, as well as some cases of low engagement throughout the term. This is a recurring issue and ExCom is thinking about possible solutions that will be incorporated into the new Strategic Plan. SCAR and APECS are collaborating in organizing the SCAR 2020 online conference that is taking place during the first week of August. APECS International is now legally registered in Germany as a nonprofit organization, which will ease the management of the association. Finally, ExCom wants to thank and acknowledge Gerlis Fugmann, our Executive director, for all the years of hard-work and passion for APECS. Good luck with moving to a new country and starting a new job, Gerlis! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 13 July at 14:00 GMT.
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July 29, 2020
The APECS ExCom met on the 29th of July and was attended byJiIlda Caccavo, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer and Lara Pérez. First, ExCom discussed the updates from project groups. The Mentor Award PG has finalized reviewing the applications from 2019 and is working now on the 2020 applications, aiming to announce the winners of the 2019 and 2020 call soon. ExCom welcomes the September Polar Week PG, which has already started planning many interesting activities for the upcoming week of activities to be held from the 21-26 of September. The current ExCom has started preparing a series of documents containing all the information that will be transferred to the upcoming ExCom next October, which will include a guide on how to respond during a national crisis and priority task list to complete during the upcoming term. After the Council finished reviewing the Strategic Plan, ExCom and the writing teams are working to incorporate and respond to the comments and suggestions. During the first week of August, a second draft of the Strategic Plan will be shared with the Council and Advisory Committee for a second round of comments and suggestions. Finally, ExCom along with other Council members are working to publish two articles featuring APECS in ECOS Magazine and Witness the Arctic from ARCUS. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 10 August at 14:00 GMT.
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August 10, 2020
The ExCom met on 10 August and Jenn Cooper, Jilda Caccavo, and Carrie Harris attended. APECS has partnered with ECO Magazine for an upcoming Polar Special Issue that will debut in September, along with SCAR and Arctic Circle. In addition to advertising in the issue and on social media, a portion of the agreement involves a feature article on APECS, which ExCom is currently composing. ExCom is also preparing for the transition to the new term, which involves reviewing Council applications, project group activities, and creating a priority list of items for the new ExCom. A reminder: applications to be on ExCom are due at the end of the month! Feel free to ask us any questions you have about the position. The Strategic Plan is underway for a second round of reviews after ExCom incorporated comments and suggestions in July; both the Council and Advisory Committee have the opportunity for review and we really appreciate everyone that has contributed their thoughts. The next ExCom meeting will be on the 26th August at 20 GMT.
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September 7, 2020
The ExCom met on 7th September 2020 at 14:00GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, and Juan Höfer. First we discussed the new timeline for the upcoming ExCom elections that now will consist of a reviewing period (10 - 20 September) and a voting period (21 - 25 September) after which APECS office will count the votes and announce the incoming ExCom on the 1st of October. The current ExCom continues preparing the transition for the new leadership by planning a joint meeting between the current and future ExCom as well as drafting a guide for the incoming ExCom. Then ExCom commented on the updates of the projects groups and their final reports. Amazing activities were carried out by the Council during this term, congratulations! Finally, ExCom defined a final timeline for the new Strategic Plan, which consists of an editorial review period of the final draft (14-21 September) and a final voting on the Strategic Plan that will take place between the 23rd and the 30th of September before the new Council and ExCom arrive. ExCom will hold its last meeting of the term on the 23rd September 2020 at 20:00 GMT before passing the baton to the incoming ExCom.
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September 23, 2020
Happy September Polar Week! The 2019-2020 ExCom convened for their last biweekly meeting on 23 September 2020 at 20:00 GMT. Present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Carrie Harris, Juan Höfer, Lara Pérez, Gabriela Roldan, Neelu Singh. We kicked off the meeting with plans for the transition call that will take place between the outgoing and incoming ExCom. NC updates were then discussed, including the need to reconsider recommendations for leadership body-naming, as some NCs need to have certain titles for their leadership based on regulations in their respective countries. ExCom is currently voting for next term’s ExCom and Council ex-officios – among the nominees for ExCom ex-officio, the three with the most votes will be invited as ExCom ex-officios, and any Council ex-officio nominee with at least three votes will be invited (with no limit on the total number who can be invited). The September Polar Week Project Group has had their hands full doing an amazing job coordinating myriad online events in collaboration with NCs this week, congratulations are in order to all the Project Group members for the hard work they have poured into this year’s events. The Mentorship Award Project Group is finalizing the announcement of the last Mentorship Awards. Stay tuned (literally!) for the APECS Podcast, Polar Times! Jack and the Polar Times Project Group have done an incredible job kicking off this exciting new Project Group, and the first episode is now available to download or stream. We are excited that Mia Bennet and Rupa Rupa, our Social Media Coordinators, will return to these roles for the 2020-2021 term, this time looking to recruit 1-2 new members to their team to help manage and increase APECS’ presence on Social Media. The start of a series of Twitter take-overs by underrepresented ECR voices in the polar sciences is planned to take place sometime in October. APECS will be represented at the 3rd Arctic Ministerial Meeting by Mia Bennett. ExCom discussed which Project Groups will be recommended to continue for the next term, including a new group suggested by Juan about collecting and providing mental health resources for ECRs in the polar sciences. The deadline for final comments from the Council on the Strategic Plan has passed, and information regarding how to vote to approve the Strategic Plan text will be circulated to the Council this week. APECS remains without a Director since Gerlis’ departure at the end of July, as the hiring committee works with AWI to complete the bureaucratic steps necessary to invite someone to begin the role ASAP. Voting for the 2020-2021 ExCom will be completed by the end of this week, and the newly elected ExCom will be officially announced October 1st. The five newly-elected leaders of the APECS Council will have their first meeting as the 2020-2021 ExCom sometime near mid-October.
Meeting Notes 2018-2019
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October 10, 2018
On 10 October 2018, the APECS ExCom held their first meeting of the year. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Höfer, Gabriela Roldan and Alex Thornton. We discussed an initial proposal for a new project group that will focus on outreach to the broader public. ExCom will be working with Max Van Wyk De Vries to further develop this project group proposal over the coming weeks. Gerlis has been invited to represent APECS on a discussion panel at the Second Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting. Jenn provided an update on the recent APECS Turkey Education and Outreach workshop; many of the points raised will be passed to the National Committee Coordinators to add to their regular calls for discussion. A news item will follow on the APECS website. Project Groups are starting to get going, and most have a Project Leader in place. The Secretariat has been incredibly busy over the last few weeks with the start of the new Council term, setting up mailing lists, working on funding opportunities, chairing a workshop for the APECS-Nunataryuk Summer School and creating Guides for Project Group Leaders, Council Chairs, National Committee Coordinators, and National Committee representatives. A guide for the new Social Media Coordinator role is currently being developed. The most exciting update was that the newest member of the APECS family arrived on 5th October: welcome to Marc and congratulations to Heike and family!
The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 22 October.
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October 22, 2018
On 22 October 2018, the APECS ExCom held their second meeting of the year. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Juan Höfer, Hanne Nielsen, and Gabriela Roldan. As the new president, Jilda is continuing to work on the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding that Hanne initiated with both SCAR and IASC in order to keep APECS engaged with these organizations in the coming years. All project groups now have a leader or two as required and are beginning to submit their plans for the term; Antarctica Day (December 1) is just under a month out, so be on the lookout for these activities in the near future! Event-related groups are reaching out to local National Committees to coordinate efforts at various conferences throughout 2019 with the support of APECS ExCom and the Secretariat. The Council Co-Chairs are organizing a project leaders meeting to be held at the end of October, which will help to guide new leaders on management and success of their groups. There was a videographer present at POLAR2018, so we are hoping to get some highlights from the World Summit shortly. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 19:00 GMT on 5 November
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November 5, 2018
On 5 November 2018, the APECS ExCom held their third meeting of the year. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Clare Eayrs, Juan Höfer and Gerlis Fugmann. First, the ExCom reviewed the Project Groups they’re overseeing, which are progressing adequately since our last meeting. A new NC has arisen. Welcome to the family APECS China! ExCom discussed the welcome email that all new NC reps will receive. Afterwards, the steps needed to set up an Organizational review in preparation for defining APECS Strategic Goals 2021 - 2026 were outlined and discussed. ExCom also discussed the priorities (global and particular) that they will focus on during the present term. Finally, the secretariat has already incorporated a new member (welcome Josefine!), and Lisa will join them by mid-November. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 19 November.
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November 19, 2018
On 19 November 2018, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Hanne Nielsen and Gabriela Roldan. First, we shared project group updates: most project groups have submitted their plans for the year, and others are in the process of finalizing these. Feedback on these plans will go out to the respective project groups soon. A point raised for the next Council meeting Is to remind those who have yet to contribute to their project group to reassess their time commitment and to join other groups where they can contribute best. A moderate level of engagement in the project groups is expected from all Council members. Also, we discussed the Priorities 2018-19 and decided to divide priorities among ExCom and revisit the progress on these every 2-3 months. In the interest of time, it was decided to concentrate efforts on Data Policy in the next ExCom meeting. The Secretariat update included information of the IASC fellowship applications, the MOSAIC summer school opportunities, and having Lisa now at the office in full-time capacity. Hanne reported back on the progress made on the APECS video, which will soon be ready for final revision. Hanne also reported that APECS has been involved with the initial organization for SCAR 2020 in Hobart, and asked for suggestions on how to further involve APECS and ECRs participation in this Conference are welcome. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 19:00 GMT on 3 December.
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December 3, 2018
On 3 December 2018, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer, Hanne Nielsen and Alex Thornton. Best wishes to Gabriela Roldan who was submitting her dissertation! First, we shared project group updates: nearly all project groups have approved plans and are starting to work on steps towards completing their goals for the term. Also, we continued the discussion on the Priorities 2018-19 and will be reporting our progress at Council meetings. The Secretariat update included the MOSAiC and ARICE summer school opportunities, and Lisa is taking photo submissions for a Season’s Greetings announcement. Be on the lookout for a temporary ExCom position while Juan is on fieldwork in Antarctica this coming January and February. The APECS video was released on Antarctica Day - a big thank you to Stephen Curtain for all of your hard work to put this together! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 17 December.
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December 17, 2018
On 17 December 2018, the APECS ExCom held their last meeting of the year before the start to the Holiday Season. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Juan Höfer and Gabriela Roldán. First, the ExCom reviewed the priorities for the present term to ensure that all the important matters (previously identified by ExCom) are attended to by at least one ExCom member. Also, the current ExCom is working on a guide to assist future ExCom members to quickly adjust to the position. ExCom reviewed the applications received for the temporary position to replace Juan’s time away in Antarctica, and we are glad to announce that José Queirós has been appointed, unanimously. Welcome on board José! Afterwards, ExCom reviewed the updates coming from several PGs, including the activities held during Antarctica Day. Well done everyone! Finally, ExCom, along with the Council co-chairs, is studying possible updates to improve engagement during Council calls. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 14 of January after the holidays. The ExCom wants to wish a happy holidays, and a safe and successful field season to the whole APECS community!
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January 14, 2019
On 14 January 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 19:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, José Queirós, Gabriela Roldán, and apologies from Clare Eayrs. This was the first meeting for 2019, so there were plenty of updates and discussion. First, we welcomed José as a temporary ExCom member, who is taking over Juan Hofer’s place while the latter is doing Antarctic fieldwork. The ExCom Guide is almost ready, comments have been incorporated and it’s being edited now. Also, we initiated the discussion on how to seek further funding for APECS’ multiple activities for the near future; a small group was formed to look at funding opportunities and procedures. In addition, we discussed the Council co-chairs’ suggestions to improve participation on Council meetings, the replacement of Stas while he is away, and how to encourage participation from inactive PG members. The Secretariat updates were many: preparations are underway for APECS participation at the Arctic Frontiers Conference later in January 2019, with events organized jointly with APECS Norway; the INTERACT Planning fieldwork book has been submitted and work is being done with graphic designers to make it appealing to users; the call for applications for the MOSAIC school has been successful with hundreds of applications and enquiries being attended to by the office; and the Annual Report will be finished soon. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 19:00 GMT on 28 of January.
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January 28, 2019
On 28 January 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 19:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, José Queirós, Gabriela Roldán and Alex Thornton. First, project group progress and updates were discussed, and all are on track for the most part. A topic for discussion at the next Council and Project Group Leaders meeting is to limit the Doodle poll response time to 1 week instead of 2-3 in order to expedite meeting planning, which ExCom agreed upon. Our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SCAR and IASC is near finalization, and one suggested wording change by the IASC EXCOM was discussed. Progress on drafts of the Council oversight flowchart, manuscript preparation guidelines, and data policy were discussed. Alex shared materials that could be useful for developing further fundraising strategies. Jilda put forward the idea of having APECS observers on meetings. The concept was discussed extensively, and she will prepare a summary of that discussion before the next meeting, so that details of such a position could be sorted out further. Several ideas were debated at length as to how to best manage and engage Council leadership. Gabriela’s meeting with the newly established APECS Uruguay was quite successful, and we look forward to welcoming this National Committee into the APECS fold. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 19:00 GMT on 11 of February.
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February 11, 2019
On 11 February 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 13:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Clare Eayrs and Swati Nagar. The meeting began by discussing project group updates, including that the Online Conference group will be announcing their call for abstracts at the end of the month. It was discussed shifting oversight of National Committee (NC) reports from the Council Chairs to the NC Coordinators, given that they already work more closely with the NC representatives on the Council. Clare provided an update on the APECS Art initiative in collaboration with Alex Thornton, Gabriela Roldan, Jill Diederich and Tania Gibéryen. Some planned activities included the organization of a webinar during September Polar Week and the creation of a database of artists who collaborate with scientists for the APECS website. It was suggested to reach out to APECS membership in order to recruit more ECR to participate in this initiative, given that there is currently not a large representation of artists on the Council. It was discussed making available to NCs a set of cartoons about permafrost currently available in four languages, in order to see whether there would be the opportunity to translate them into even more languages. This will be presented at the next overall NC meeting scheduled for 26 of February at 11:00 GMT. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 25 of February.
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February 25, 2019
On 25 February 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 13:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and José Queirós. The meeting began by discussing the role of ECRs in meetings as rapporteurs, observers, and participants, and how to distinguish between them. Project groups are back in full swing, with the March Polar Week finalizing their activities. Additionally, some project groups, such as the IPCC review group, are in the process of writing a manuscript for publication, so ExCom worked on a ‘Guidelines’ document for this, which will be available to all Council members shortly. ExCom is also working on a way for project groups to document their activities throughout the term, which can serve as a baseline for future groups and also provide insight into their function to the Council. The Data Policy and Social Media guidelines continue to be developed and will be available to the Council when they are ready. We are currently receiving applications from ECRs for travel funding to ASSW in May. SCAR has reached out to us for ideas about how to support capacity building in Africa in the polar sciences. Finally, welcome back from Antarctica, Juan! And thank you to José for filling in, it was great to have you on ExCom. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 18:00 GMT on 11 March.
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March 11, 2019
On 11 March 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 18:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and José Queirós. The meeting began by discussing the different definitions available for ECR and the updates on the data policy draft. Project group updates were shared and discussed (e.g. DEI group) and the March Polar Week is ready to launch on Monday! ExCom is planning to submit a presentation for the upcoming Online Conference and help with advertising the aforementioned Polar Week activities occurring during March. ExCom is continuing to work on Council member engagement and retention throughout the term. Suggestions for guest speakers at the next Council call were discussed along with the ExCom updates. Finally, the Ssecretariat had some news regarding EU projects in which APECS is taking part (e.g. MOSAIC workshop). The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 13:00 GMT on 25 March.
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March 25, 2019
On 25th March 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 1300 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and José Queirós. Project group updates were shared and discussed. We are continuing to follow up on responses to the Council Reports. In order to improve transparency, we are developing a Council Management Strategy that will be shared with the Council shortly. We discussed abstracts to submit for the Online Conference, Breaking Barriers, and encourage everyone to submit their own abstracts - it is a great opportunity to present your research and find out what other Early Career Researchers are working on. Our data policy has been finalised and is now being checked over by a lawyer before it is circulated around the Council for their comments and contributions. The Secretariat has been extremely busy over the last couple of weeks. Congratulations to the ASSW travel award recipients, who have now been notified. We wish them well at the summit in May. The MOSAiC School participants have also been notified and their information will be added to the MOSAiC School website within the next few days. The APECS website is currently undergoing a comprehensive renovation and we hope you find the site easier to navigate over the coming weeks. Thanks very much to José, who has stepped in as a temporary member of ExCom over the past few months. We really appreciate his contribution and wish him all the best on his upcoming time at sea! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 13:00 GMT on 8 April.
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April 8, 2019
On 8th April 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 1300 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Juan Hofer and Gabriela Roldán. First, ExCom discussed the inputs coming from the last meeting of Project Group (PG) leaders and planned a series of actions to help PG leaders succeed in their roles. Updates on the Development, Equity and Inclusion PG, and the PG which will develop an APECS Guide for collaborations were shared; ExCom discussed the best ways of moving these PGs forward throughout the term. Developments regarding the formation of a new PG (APECS Art) were discussed, with more updates expected soon. ExCom went through the feedback coming from the Council reports and agreed on ways to address them. Finally, ExCom evaluated the possibility of hosting an online conference in Spanish/Portuguese and agreed to start contacting potential NCs to see if there is enough interest for such an event. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held on the 22nd of April.
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April 22, 2019
On 22 April 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 13:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Juan Höfer and Neelu Singh. We followed up on responses to the Individual Council Member Reports - thanks to all those who provided suggestions and feedback. Project group updates were shared and discussed. The Online Conference, “Breaking Barriers: Promoting Interdisciplinarity in Polar Science”, is only a few weeks away and the project group is hard at work with their preparations. ExCom will be delivering a couple of APECS presentations at the conference. Neelu presented some topics for discussion at the next Council meeting. We considered these and brainstormed some ideas for presenters to initiate questions and conversations. We are delighted to announce that the APECS Memorandum of Understanding with SCAR and IASC has been renewed, confirming our engagement with these organizations over the next five years. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held on 6 May.
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May 9, 2019
On 9 May 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 15:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer, Gabriela Roldan and Alexander Thornton. During the meeting, ExCom discussed the program of the APECS online conference, which is taking place on the 20th of May, as well as the best way to provide the assistance requested by the project group. The project group preparing an APECS guide to establish fruitful collaborations has sent out the survey to collect the data that will be used to prepare the guide. The Secretariat is very happy to announce the official launch of the INTERACT Fieldwork Planning Handbook, which is available both on the INTERACT website and APECS website and will be also presented at the APECS online conference. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held between the 21st and the 24th of May, but the specific day and hour have not been set yet.
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May 22, 2019
On 22 May 2019, the APECS ExCom met at 13:00 GMT. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Höfer, and Gabriela Roldan. We were happy to review the successful broadcasting of the Online Conference on 20th May. Well done to the Online Conference Organising Committee who put in a lot of work to host 4 sessions comprising 37 talks over a 15 hour period. ExCom is now excited to announce plans for a Spanish Online Conference, to be held during September Polar Week - more details to follow. ExCom is currently working with the Social Media Coordinators to finalise the Social Media Guidelines, which will be available to the Council in June. We discussed some refinements to the Council Application Process - look out for advertisements about applying/reapplying to the next Council term in June. The Secretariat is busy preparing for the MOSAiC Summer School, in particular preparing the logistics and program planning around the expedition. They are also leading the organizing for the Nunataryuk School in 2020. The updates to the website following the recommendations from the Project Group that reviewed APECS Online Resources are nearly complete. The next ExCom meeting will be held on 5th June at 16:00 GMT.
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June 5, 2019
On 5 June 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting - in alphabetical order - were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Alex Thornton and Gabriela Roldan.During the meeting the ExCom discussed working closely with the Council Co-Chairs to improve the Council application forms in preparation for the next call of candidates to join the APECS leadership. Also, the National Committees coordinators are seeking a third person to temporarily join their team. The ExCom received updates from the Organizational review Committee, and the September Polar Week project group; the latter is looking for more active group members to join and help plan the next polar equinox celebrations. In addition, APECS organized a successful webinar in partnership with SCAR and COMNAP regarding tips for applicants of the several fellowship schemes that these organizations are offering to polar early career researchers. Also, the APECS Social Media Guidelines are in revision and will be made available to the public soon. Finally, the Secretariat updates included the report from a successful EU Arctic Cluster meeting in Belgium and current funding proposal they are working on. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 17 June 16:00 GMT.
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June 17, 2019
On 17 June 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting - in alphabetical order - were Jilda Caccavo, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and Gabriela Roldan. First, the ExCom received updates from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Project Group who is working hard to organize an event on harassment at the workplace. More details on this event will follow. Also, the call for rapporteurs to assist at the ICED session during the IMBeR conference was successful and all places were covered. The Social Media Guidelines have been finalized and the document will be available to all members in the APECS website in the near future. The Council co-chairs and ExCom are preparing three Council Information sessions to meet future applicants and answer their questions. These meetings will be held in different time zones to accommodate as many people as possible. The Secretariat updates included news that Jenny Baeseman was appointed to write the scoping document of the Polar Resource Book that APECS and several partners (IASC, SCAR, PEI) are working on. Also, all participants to the MOSAiC summer school are now confirmed, and registration for the APECS/APPLICATE online course is now open. The next ExCom meeting will be held on 8 July at 14:00 GMT.
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July 8, 2019
On 8 July 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting - in alphabetical order - were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, and Gabriela Roldan. First, the ExCom discussed the finalization of the Social Media Guidelines, which will be reviewed with the Coordinators in the coming weeks. Next, the mediation procedures within APECS were thoroughly examined and discussed, and ExCom is looking to make improvements to guidelines and processes for the new Council term to avoid potential conflicts. Secretariat updates and other agenda items were moved to the next meeting in the interest of time. The next ExCom meeting will be held on 22 July 2019.
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July 22, 2019
On 22 July 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and Morgan Seag. First, ExCom talked about the updates coming from the recently held Council meeting. Advances made by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group were discussed. In preparation for the transition towards next term in October, the current ExCom started planning guides, documents and training sessions for the new Council. In this regard, several topics were discussed: a new scheme for Social Media Coordinators, translation by NCs of the membership registration form to different languages, and updating the report system used by APECS representatives. After reaching out for legal advice, a final version of the APECS Data Policy is being reviewed ahead of voting by the Council for its ratification. The IPCC project group is starting early due to the IPCC review schedule, so new members are already welcome in the group! The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at 16:00 GMT on 5 August.
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August 5, 2019
On 5 August 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting - in alphabetical order - were Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann and Juan Hofer. During the meeting, ExCom discussed how to work with National Committees and their members while adhering to the EU privacy policy laws. One suggestion to reach and engage with members is by sending out a survey to gauge what types of activities may interest members. The Online Conference will be announcing the presentation winners shortly - a large thank you to everyone who contributed to make this a successful event. ExCom is beginning to prepare for the 2019-2020 Council term, so keep a lookout for announcements regarding the training sessions to be held in September. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for 19 August at 19:00 GMT
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September 2, 2019
On 2 September 2019, the APECS ExCom held their scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order, were: Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Clare Eayrs, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer and Gabriela Roldan. First, ExCom discussed and prepared information regarding each of the Project Groups that will run during the next term, which begins on October 1. The APECS Iberoamericana Online Conference (September 26), in conjunction with September Polar Week (23-29), is finalizing activities to be held in just a few short weeks, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements. The Social Media guidelines have been approved and posted to the website. New Council Members have been contacted and are starting preparations for the new term, including signing up for Project Groups and attending training sessions. The next and last ExCom meeting for this term is scheduled to be held at 13:00 GMT on 16 September.
Meeting Notes 2017-2018
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January 3, 2018
On 3 January 2018, the APECS ExCom held their first meeting of the year to discuss leadership updates and community development. Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order were: Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, and Alex Thornton. After renewing intentions to again post ExCom minutes, we discussed Secretariat updates, including partnership agreements as well as a new Google analytics account and how to use data to better meet APECS’ communication goals. ExCom members provided general updates - such as the status of projects like the IPCC Expert Review groups – and heard Council updates from Jenn (reminder: individual Council reports are due 31 January). Conversation shifted to fostering an engaged, cohesive, and transparent community and specifically what APECS is doing to create a network of ECRs. Towards this goal, Gerlis has created a new Council Events calendar that will be populated with project group and full Council meetings as well as other important Council deadlines. We also discussed how to show appreciation for members, including a new travel grant to acknowledge significant contributions of Council and National Committee leadership (ExCom excluded), which will be announced in mid-January. We finished the meeting by talking about how to encourage future leadership in APECS and using outreach events to reach specific audiences. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at the same time (20:00 GMT) on 18 January. -
January 18, 2018
On 18 January 2018, the APECS ExCom held a regularly-scheduled meeting to discuss Secretariat updates and community engagement (we now have >3,000 active members from around the world). Present at the meeting, in alphabetical order were: Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Jennifer Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Ruth Hindshaw, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, and Alex Thornton. We discussed funding calls for POLAR2018, web development, partner agreements, and an APECS leadership award to be announced soon. ExCom members gave reports on project group statuses, including highlighting plans for the upcoming March Polar Week, webinar ideas, and social media strategies. We addressed logistic changes, such as a switch to the Zoom meeting system and related access issues for members. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at the same time (20:00 GMT) on 1 February. -
February 1, 2018
The APECS ExCom had our regular bi-weekly meeting on February 1, 2018 to discuss updates from the Secretariat, follow-up about recent calls and meetings, and discuss Council Reports and the APECS World Summit. Present at the meeting in alphabetical order were: Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, and Jean Holloway. We discussed the travel funding for POLAR2018, the Arctic Frontiers and the ECR Network-of-Networks meetings, and various APECS council project groups including the Alpine Cryosphere, Webinars, and Polar Week groups. We also did an overview of the first National Committee call. Finally, we discussed the finalization of our guidelines for political involvement and a Code of Conduct. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled to be held at the same time (20:00 GMT) on February 15. -
February 15, 2018
On February 15, 2018, the APECS Ex-Com had their regularly scheduled meeting. Present at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Hanne Nielsen, Heike Midleja, and Alex Thornton. First, we discussed a new guideline to deal with inactive NCs. We also had an overview of the council reports which were submitted, including issues surrounding council meeting attendance and the potential to add a second council meeting to accommodate different time zones. The ExCom also delegated writing reports for the Arctic Science Ministerial and the WMO EC-PHORS group. Finally, the secretariat gave an update on the EU projects APPLICATE and ARICE, and we discussed plans for the POLAR2018 World Summit. The next meeting is scheduled for March 1, 2018. -
March 1, 2018
On March 1st 2018, the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. Those present at the meeting in alphabetical order were: Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen and Gabriela Roldan.First, we welcomed Mathieu Casado, a member of the Council who will be taking on ExCom duties temporarily while Alex Thornton is away. Then, Jean Holloway provided updates regarding the exciting activities planned for Polar Week, which will be celebrated March 18 - 25, 2018, such as a photo competition and a webinar series on grant writing. Also, we received hundreds of applications for POLAR2018 Travel grants and the reviewers will start working on those applications shortly. We discussed the benefits and disadvantages to have a professionally produced promotional video of APECS, as we have been approached by some of our partner organizations for sharing the costs of such video. No decision has been made yet as more information on the video and deliverables will be requested and circulated for further discussion. Nominations for Council members to represent APECS as part of the Future Earth WG for the ECR-NoN were discussed, and a call for nominees among the APECS Council members will go out soon. Finally, we got an update from the Secretariat who has been working hard coordinating future summer schools, funding opportunities and writing proposals. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for March 15 at 20:00 GMT. -
March 15, 2018
On 15 March 2018, the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. Those present at the meeting were Jilda Caccavo, Mathieu Casado, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, and Gabriela Roldan. First, we discussed a possible partnership with SCAR and the EPB to hire a filmmaker to a create short promotional video among others for APECS during the POLAR2018 conference. Then, we discussed inviting the Advisory Board to participate in the World Summit. The request of a potential partnership with the media organisation Ocean Imaging were also on the agenda. Jean provided an update on all of the events that the Polar Week project group has planned, including webinars, social media campaigns, and a blog series featuring outstanding APECS members. We discussed the submission of abstracts to the IASC Expo during POLAR2018 and the UArctic Congress. An update was also provided on the POLAR2018 Travel Awards for which we received 346 applications. All of them have been reviewed and the notifications will be sent out once the suggested recipients have been approved by the different funding sources. Finally, we discussed the need for the ExCom to finalise the APECS guidelines on a Code of Conduct and on Political Activity prior to distributing the drafts to our Council for comment. The next meeting is scheduled for 28 March 2018 at 20:00 UTC. -
March 28, 2018
On March 28, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Mathieu Casado, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, and Hanne Nielsen. First, we decided that APECS will partner with SCAR and EPB on the use of a videographer during POLAR2018. We discussed sad news from the Indian National Antarctic Programme where a tragic accident caused the death of an ECR, so APECS and IPRN sent condolences. Next, we discussed finalizing the Code of Conduct and Political Activity documents as soon as possible. Jean gave a summary of Polar Week activities, where we had fabulous attendance at both our webinars and got increased engagement on social media (particularly on Twitter). Winners of the photo contest will be finalized and announced in the next week. Finally, we got an update from the secretariat on the WMO EC-PHORS meeting, the ARICE and INTERACT projects, and the potential for APECS to contribute to the 2019 YESS Congress. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for April 11. -
April 11, 2018
On April 11, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Mathieu Casado, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan and Alex Thornton. We welcomed Alex’s return to ExCom, and thanked Mathieu for filling in for him. We considered a partnership with CryoConnect, a cryosphere outreach platform, and will be in touch with them to clarify several points that came up during our discussion. We discussed a proposal from Council Members for a project group concerning “Harassment in the Field”, and several suggestions were made to provide feedback to the proponents. Also, it was decided that we will restrict the in-person ExCom meeting in Davos to one day (Friday, June 15th), in order to allow for ExCom members to participate in other meetings and represent APECS widely. The meeting room is reserved in case the need for follow-up meetings arise. Several suggestions were made for how to increase Council participation in the Online Conference, which still needs judges and tech support. Several updates from the Secretariat included the office move, a status update on the review of the ARICE position applications, as well as that negotiations are underway with AWI for a new full-time project manager/scientist position shared between APECS and the German Arctic Office. Finally, procedures for handling Council resignations were discussed, as well as the extensions of the APECS mentor award nomination deadline. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for April 26. -
April 26, 2018
On April 26, 2018, the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Mathieu Casado, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan and Alex Thornton. First, we discussed how the recent Council Call went, and how well having two calls over two days to reach more time zones worked. Several ideas were put forth as to how future Council Calls could be restructured to encourage greater interaction of Council members during the call, including prior submission of project group updates and discussion topics (as is now done during the National Committee Calls). An agenda for the in-person ExCom meeting in Davos was created, and ExCom members were encouraged to contribute to it in the coming weeks. Final feedback was requested for the Code of Conduct draft. A short brainstorming session was carried out to field ideas for ways in which we could utilize the creativity of Council/APECS members. Updates from the Secretariat included the interview dates for selected applicants to the ARICE position, as well as the release of a more streamlined, interactive monthly newsletter format. Finally, several issues regarding different National Committees were discussed, to be followed up by engaging with the National Committee Coordinators in the coming weeks. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for May 9. -
May 9, 2018
On May 9, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen and Alex Thornton. The meeting began with discussion of partnership agreements with National Committees that require renewal/drafting. A deadline was set for the end of the month to draft the APECS posters for which abstracts were submitted for POLAR2018. Submission of a paper to a special WMO publication focusing on the legacy and future of IPY was discussed, which would help to highlight APECS and other ECR activities/organizations. APECS will be holding a communication workshop during the UArctic Congress, for which applications are currently being accepted. We considered partnering with ARCUS in hosting a “Celebrate the Arctic” event at POLAR2018. Alex will provide more details with regards to this event prior to the next ExCom meeting. Ways in which the SCAR/IASC partner/links project group could be given greater direction were explored, including an in-person meeting in Davos. The development of a data protection policy was discussed, including researching data management policies, and considering who could provide further insights into this topic at POLAR2018. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for May 23. -
May 23, 2018
On May 23, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan, Alex Thornton. We began the meeting by addressing the time sensitive imposition of compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) coming into effect 25/5 in the EU. We discussed the best way to obtain consent from our members so they can provide us with the basic data we require to maintain their APECS subscriptions. Immediate actions to comply with the GDPR were planned in order to reach all APECS membership. Follow-up on issues and partnership agreement renewals with several NCs was outlined, with Alex and Jilda taking the lead on assuring partnership agreements up for renewal are ready for signing in time for the World Summit at POLAR2018. In addition, the process will begin to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Polar Knowledge Canada. A draft was created to collect comments and ideas for the APECS video that will be put together at POLAR2018 in collaboration with the videographer hired in collaboration with partner organizations. Final comments were requested for the Code of Conduct and Political Activity documents after receiving input from several members of the APECS Advisory Council prior to sharing with the Council for comment. A start time for the in-person ExCom meeting at POLAR2018 was agreed upon. Updates from the Secretariat included: a final decision had been made for the ARICE position, which will be announced once the selection has been approved by AWI; an update on the progress of the ad for Heike’s temp replacement; and that we will be given a 5 minute slot during the POLAR2018 Banquet to give out the Mentor Awards. The Online Conference went off without a hitch last week, and praise is due to the entire project group for putting together a successful conference this year, especially Clare and Yi Ming. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for June 6. -
June 6, 2018
On June 6, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan, and Alex Thornton. We began by discussing key meetings during the POLAR2018 conference at which we want to assure that someone from ExCom or the Council can attend in order to represent APECS. Presentations from APECS for the conference are in their final stages of completion, and the posters prepared for the conference are in the process of being printed. Final comments for the in-person ExCom meeting agenda were solicited. The preparation of an eventual APECS publication for the IPY was discussed, as well as what content should be highlighted during Hanne’s five minute presentation about APECS at the IPY session. The Code of Conduct and Political Activity documents have been sent to Council for comment, and will be discussed further at the ExCom in-person meeting at POLAR2018. Follow-up with NC coordinators was successful, and they will be working with relevant NCs to finalize new and renewed partnership agreements prior to POLAR2018. Possible changes to the Council Call format were discussed, including pre-publication of project group reports to avoid the time these summaries take during the call, emphasizing the importance of having project group representation at both meetings (continuing with the two Council Call model to accommodate diverse time zones), and selecting discussion topics for the meeting. Updates from the Secretariat included increasing registration for the APECS UArctic Workshop, starting to write a proposal for shiptime for the ARICE Summer School in 2020, that Gerlis will be representing AWI and APECS at the YESS congress in 2019, and finally that the announcement for Heike’s maternity replacement was announced. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for July 11 (after POLAR2018). -
July 11, 2018
On July 11, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Heike Midleja, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan, and Alex Thornton. The meeting began by discussing the early advertisement of applications for Council, giving the Council Chairs time in July / August to conduct group interviews of applicants with the help of ExCom. Suggested changes / updates to project groups deriving from discussions during the in-person ExCom meeting in Davos were outlined, including creating a reviewing project group, a revised list of project groups, and improving the descriptions of project groups to indicate what benefits group members could hope to gain from their participation. Information on time commitment and benefits of participation will also be requested from NCs. Orientation webinars will now take place in September prior to the start of the new Council term, including the addition of a webinar with APECS alumni. Further planning will be needed towards the end of the summer, including picking dates, topics, and people to run the webinars. The need to set up a regular call with SCAR to discuss cooperation was mentioned, as well as contacting the Hobart 2020 SCAR Conference organizers regarding ECR involvement. Council feedback will need to be integrated into the Code of Conduct document, and APECS Canada will be collaborating on the final draft of the Political Activity document. The possibility of adding a “from the APECS leadership” section of the newsletter was discussed, including a link to ExCom meeting minutes, and highlighting NC activities. The need to identify parts of the website underutilized and in need of updating was recognized, to be addressed later in the summer. For the next Council Call, Clare had suggested going over feedback on the Code of Conduct, including why there is a need for such a document, as well as discussing project group overlap. Several follow-ups from the World Summit at POLAR2018 will require action, including a summart report / article, moving forward with the Leadership Development Program, and creating the Partnership Resources group. A potential partnership with Quantarctica was discussed, in which ECRs would contribute to the creation of an equivalent GIS mapping software for the Arctic, in collaboration with senior scientists involved in the development of Quantarctica. Progress on the IPY paper was discussed, as well as reviewing the draft and publication deadline. Updates from the Secretariat included continued work on the shiptime proposal for the ARICE summer school, drafting an application for not-for-profit status in Germany, and the progress on starting dates / applicants for new / replacement positions in the Secretariat. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for August 1. -
August 2, 2018
On August 2, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Alice Bradley, Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Jean Holloway, and Hanne Nielsen. The meeting began by discussing the need to update the NC guidelines as listed on the website, with the goal to have the Council vote on the updated guidelines prior to the end of the new term. The World Summit Meeting Report requires cleaning up and a final circulation for comments, and could eventually be made into a publication. A meeting has been set up between Gabriela, Jilda, and Morgan Seag in order to discuss the final changes needed to the Code of Conduct document. A final version of the Political Activity document has been created with the help of Jean and APECS Canada. The Partner Links Resources and APECS Development program ideas, which were outcomes from the World Summit, will be made into project groups for the 2018-19 term. Progress continues to move forward with the Legacy of IPY paper, with a first draft nearly completed. The need for greater support for Polar Week coming in September was discussed, including the concentration on one or two big activities, rather than trying to have different activities for each day of Polar Week. There will be a need for added support from ExCom while positions are filled at the Secretariat, with Fiona leaving and Heike starting maternity leave early. Council updates include the receipt of over 30 applications for the 2018-19 term, Council Reports from the current Council recently submitted, and feedback from the recent Council Call. The new Council Call format received positive feedback, with Council members generally approving of the shorter, more targeted format. Clare has been working with the NC coordinators to collate tasks, project summaries and key dates for participation in NCs, as well as collecting the same data for the Council project groups. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for August 15. -
August 15, 2018
On August 15, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan, and Alex Thornton. The meeting began by requesting final changes / comments to the updated NC guidelines be submitted in order to send out the updated NC guidelines to Council for comment before the end of the week. A meeting date was agreed upon to discuss between Gerlis, ExCom, and the interested APECS members from China the steps needed to formalize the formation of APECS China. The revised project group proposal on diversity and inclusion was discussed, with the consensus being that their revised proposal was extremely well prepared and thorough, and their group will be welcomed on the Council for the 2018-19 term. It was noted that the process of having project groups submit proposals / action plans prior to their formation would be useful as a policy moving forward with new project groups. The finalization of the Code of Conduct document will be completed by Jilda, in time to have it circulated to the Council by next week. Renuka Badhe will review the revised Political Activity Statement before it is sent to the Council for a vote. Secretariat updates included Heike’s replacement being selected, the hiring process moving forward to replace Fiona in Tromsø, continuing to work on the shiptime proposal for the ARICE Summer School in 2020, and discussing the integration of a Summer School for ECRs as part of the MOSAiC project in the Fall of 2019. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for August 29. -
August 29, 2018
On August 29, 2018 the APECS ExCom met as scheduled. In attendance at the meeting in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Jenn Cooper, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Höfer, Swati Nagar, Hanne Nielsen & Gabriela Roldán. We began the meeting welcoming the new temporary ExCom members (Juan Höfer and Swati Nagar). Right after, we discussed the APECS Council applications for the term 2018-2019 so the new Council is established soon. A welcome email containing information about the APECS Council and how it operates will be sent to all Council members next Friday. After reviewing the last council reports, a series of actions (e.g. specific training for project leaders, more follow-ups with Council members) were discussed in order to improve the experience of Council members during the next term. Next, we reviewed and agreed on the new process for project groups proposed by Gerlis. Council members will be informed about it in the welcome email. We also planned and discussed the transition process between the current and next Council, planning a series of webinars for Council members during September and October. An agenda was drafted for the next council call on 11 September. Jilda presented an update on the renewal of partnership agreements with several NCs that she has been following up on. Updates from the Secretariat included: the training of the new staff member covering Heike’s maternity leave will begin in October; and that the position of Fiona, who is leaving at the end of September, has been offered to a candidate and we are still waiting for the response. The next ExCom meeting is scheduled for September 12. -
September 12, 2018
On September 12, the APECS ExCom met as scheduled for the last meeting of this term. In attendance, in alphabetical order were Jilda Caccavo, Gerlis Fugmann, Juan Hofer, Hanne Nielsen, Gabriela Roldan, and Alex Thornton. We began by discussing the proposals for new project groups and the early registration form for project groups that is now available for new Council members. After receiving an update of the state of the agreements with National Committees, we did a review of the items achieved this year from the Priorities 2017/18 document, to facilitate the transfer of information to the new ExCom 2018/19. Among the achievements from this past year, the highlights were: the success of the 2018 World Summit, the introduction of webinars and mentoring of project group leads to support the work of the Council, raising the profile of underrepresented research areas, such as the Alpine Cryosphere group, and positive fundraising for supporting ECR travels to conferences, among others. The goals not attained this year will be part of the transition documents, including the advice requested from the departing ExCom to the newcomers. In addition, during 2017-18 term the APECS leadership worked on the development of new policies to strengthen our organization. The Council will have to vote on the reviewed APECS Code of Conduct, APECS Policy on Political Activity and APECS National Committees Guidelines; these documents will be sent out soon. We also discussed inviting some APECS alumni to take on the role of Ex-officio for the Council and for ExCom, as their past contributions and expertise would provide great support to the APECS leadership. Finally, Gerlis shared the news from the Secretariat, which included comments on the workshops held at UArctic Congress in Oulu, and updates on the various staff that will soon be incorporated into the APECS office in Potsdam, as well as Fiona’s replacement in Tromsø.
Meeting Notes 2016-2017
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May 10, 2017
On 10 May the APECS ExCom met to discuss the progress of several MoUs, to hear an update on progress of the 10 year paper, and to vote on a temporary replacement while TJ is in the field over the Arctic summer. Hanne provided details regarding future opportunities for APECS representatives with several Hobart-based organisations. Gabriela provided a Council update. Project Group leads will be strongly encouraged to fill our project report and to delegate someone else in the group to share what they have been up to prior to the next Council meeting in June. Progress is underway to make APECS as a registered organisation in Germany, and a board will soon be set up for this purpose. Thanks to the APECS Council Chairs and National Committee Chairs who joined the call today to provide updates - the next call will be held at the same time (2000GMT) in 2 weeks time.
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April 26, 2017
The APECS ExCom met on 26 April 2017 to discuss developments since the in-person meeting, several external MoUs, and APECS’ role in the APPLICATE project. Plans for fundraising are also underway, both for the APECS World Summit to be held alongside POLAR2018, and as part of a wider drive. In order to keep up to date with all the APECS activities around the world, the ExCom will invite National Committee Coordinators and Council co-chairs to provide updates at upcoming meetings. Recent APECS events, such as an APECS-IASC workshop at AMAP? on scientific assessments, and a full day APECS workshop at ASSW, have been well received. The ExCom will meet again in two weeks.
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February 23, 2017
At this week’s meeting the APECS ExCom discussed Council Reports, and will be following up with individual members in the coming week. The designated contacts will also be in touch with Project Groups to ensure they have the support they need for the next half of the year. 2017 sees APECS celebrate 10 years, and the 10 year logo will be rolled out this week across social media, newsletters, and the website. Tasks for the ExCom in person meeting, to be held during ASSW in April, were discussed, and ExCom members are preparing various documents to bring to the meeting. Gerlis provided an update on projects and proposals involving APECS. The move to the new Secretariat at AWI is now complete, and Heike is taking over much of the website work. Upcoming events to put in the calendar include the March Polar Week, and the 2017 APECS Online Conference. -
February 8, 2017
The APECS ExCom met on February 8 2016 to discuss a range of topics. These included an update on MoU progress, prizes for the March 2017 Polar Week photo competition, and the launch of the APECS 10 year logo. Plans to hold an online general member “Town Hall” style meeting are underway, as is planning for the upcoming Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) ExCom in-person meeting. TJ provided an update on planning for the APECS workshop to be held at ASSW, and Hanne and Alex are currently working on copy for 2 APECS posters to display at the conference. The APECS directorate has now relocated to the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Potsdam, Germany, and AWI Director Karin Lochte welcomed the office to its new location earlier in the week. APECS has also welcomed Heike Midleja to the directorate office as an Administrative Assistant. -
January 17, 2017
At this week’s meeting the APECS ExCom discussed Council Reports, and will be following up with individual members in the coming week. The designated contacts will also be in touch with Project Groups to ensure they have the support they need for the next half of the year. 2017 sees APECS celebrate 10 years, and the 10 year logo will be rolled out this week across social media, newsletters, and the website. Tasks for the ExCom in person meeting, to be held during ASSW in April, were discussed, and ExCom members are preparing various documents to bring to the meeting. Gerlis provided an update on projects and proposals involving APECS. The move to the new Secretariat at AWI is now complete, and Heike is taking over much of the website work. Upcoming events to put in the calendar include the March Polar Week, and the 2017 APECS Online Conference.
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December 6, 2016
At the final meeting for 2016, the ExCom discussed priorities for the coming year. These include capacity building, exploring partnerships with indigenous organizations, and increasing the number of undergraduates aware of and active in APECS. Ways of connecting ECRs with other ECRs in their field were explored, following a member request. Planning for the APECS World Summit (2018) and the ExCom in-person meeting (April 2017) was discussed, as was a request for the SCAR CBET committee for an APECS representative. The winner of the 10 year logo competition will be announced shortly, and Gerlis confirmed that the APECS Christmas video was to be circulated in the next 2 weeks.
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November 15, 2016
The APECS ExCom met on 15 November to discuss priorities for the 2016/17 term, including implementation of the Strategic Plan, a new APECS position at UIT, and finalizing the ExCom charter. Updates were also reported from Council project groups, including for Antarctica Day on December 1. The ExCom will meet again in two weeks to continue conversations regarding realizing individual points in the Priorities Documents, increasing accessibility to/between ECR members, and other organizational goals. -
October 25, 2016
The APECS ExCom met on 25 October to discuss priorities for the 2016/17 term, including implementation of the Strategic Plan and APECS and ECR representation at large polar meetings. ExCom members provided feedback on each of the council project groups - most have just had, or about to have, their first meeting of the year. It was noted that strong leadership within each of these groups will be vital to their success. A vote was held on three new council applications, and the new members will all be welcomed to the council. The ExCom also discussed progress on a 10-year paper that is being prepared in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of APECS. A call will be distributed for designs of a celebratory logo to mark this milestone. -
October 11, 2016
The APECS ExCom met directly after the first APECS Council meeting of the 2016/17 term. A recap from the council call was provided, and the ExCom discussed the best ways to get the project groups moving forward and working well over the coming term. Leadership within the groups themselves will be vital. Several council applications were voted on and approved. President Alice Bradley introduced the 2016/17 priorities document for discussion, and it was also decided to update the ExCom charter, which dates to 2009. The next ExCom meeting will be held in two weeks, in late October. -
September 29, 2016
The newly-inducted APECS Executive Committee had its first online meeting of the 2016-2017 term on the 29th September 2016, led by Alice, who was elected as President for this term. As well as starting to sort out future projects and meetings, our ex-officio members Ruth, Heather, and Tristy, as well as Gerlis, contributed a lot of helpful advice for a successful year ahead.
Meeting Notes 2015-2016
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ExCom call April 27, 2016
The APECS ExCom held a productive meeting on April 27. We discussed developments relating to the APECS Secretariat bids, and heard from Alice about the APECS Council Charter updates. Hanne filled in the ExCom with details on both the Social Media guidelines and the upcoming APECS Online Conference - the council will be approached to find volunteers to act as judges for this event. Heather provided an update on the recent European Polar Board meeting, at which she gave a presentation about APECS. Antarctic Science funds were also discussed, and submissions for the first round of travel funding have already begun to be received. There are also funds available for National Committees to apply to access, in order to run local events, and this will be publicised again via the National Committee Coordinators. Finally, ExCom members congratulated the APECS president, Ruth, as she has been selected to be the Early Career Representative on the POLAR 2018 organising committee. The next ExCom meeting will be held in 2 weeks time.
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ExCom call March 30, 2016
The ExCom is busy working on many of the action points that came out of our in person meeting in Fairbanks two weeks ago. We have updated the Council Carter, followed up with project groups, sent out announcements for the APECS online conference and added an opportunity for an ECR to be on the planning committee for POLAR 2018, and soon there will be posted a call for travel support specifically for Antarctic researchers. Stay tuned for more information!
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ExCom in-person meeting, Fairbanks, March 10-11, 2016
This year the annual APECS Excom meeting was held in Fairbanks, Alaska, immediately prior to the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW). We had two very productive days of discussions and we were joined by Alex, one of the National Committee coordinators, for part of these.
The last few months have seen a number of changes as a result of the organizational review recommendations and the subsequent publication of our 5-year strategic plan. During the first part of the meeting we reviewed the changes to the council structure, which we implemented in autumn. Whilst we felt that the new project group structure was working well, we recognized the need for improved reporting so that experiences and advice can be passed on to future project group members. We also prioritized a number of documents, resources and pages on the website to be updated in the coming months.
The individual National Committees do a tremendous amount of work that is often not recognized outwith the local country. We discussed ways to improve the sharing of updates and experiences between NCs and develop ‘how to’ guides for organizing the most common types of NC events.
Other topics on the agenda included the budget and renewal of MoUs with a few of our partner organizations. As a final topic we noted that APECS will be 10 years old next year and so we discussed ways in which we could mark this momentous occasion. We plan to organize events at several conferences so keep an eye out for ways to get involved!
ASSW began straight after our meeting and this gave us an unrivalled opportunity to talk in-person to many of our Arctic-orientated partners, attend their meetings and spread the word about APECS.
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ExCom Call February 24, 2016
There were several items of the agenda at the ExCom meeting of 24 February 2016. We discussed the layout of the strategic plan, which is coming along well. Yulia Zaika is due to start her new position as APECS Assistant Director (based in Russia) in April, and this represents great progress for APECS. Further details on her position will be discussed at the ExCom in-person meeting in Alaska. Finally, details for that in-person meeting were finalised - this will take place in under 2 weeks time alongside the Arctic Science Summit Week. -
ExCom Call February 10, 2016
After a successful Arctic Frontiers Conference held in Tromsø, the ExCom reconvened for business on February 10th. At Arctic Frontiers, APECS hosted several events including Science for Schools, a young politician workshop, a panel discussion, and the poster awards. All these events were well attended and received very positive feedback. If you would like to be part of next years organizing team contact Gerlis! In other business, the ExCom is strategically working on several funding proposals with partner organizations. If funded, these proposals would expand APECS activities with our partner organizations, such as hosting new webinar series, organizing workshops, and creating other opportunities for ECR. In addition, the ExCom has been working hard on finalizing the APECS Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020. Keep an eye out for its release at the end of February! -
ExCom Call January 20, 2016
ExCom is gearing up for a busy week! Arctic Frontiers, one of our main annual in-person events will start January 24 in Tromso, Norway. All the planning of our ExCom members and council members will be put into action over the course of the week. During our ExCom call we heard updates the January 19th Council Call. Many projects are currently running and need more help. Please contact either the ExCom or our Council chairs if you are looking to get more involved! -
ExCom Call January 6, 2016
The ExCom met for its first meeting in 2016 on 6 January! After the holiday break this was a good chance to catch up on ongoing projects and also revisit our priorities for the year to see what we have accomplished already and what we want to focus on next. The ExCom identified several action points to work on in the coming months. Other items on the agenda were the planning for the upcoming ExCom in-person meeting at the ASSW 2016 in Fairbanks in March, as well as planned upcoming projects for the next years and seeking funding for them. Happy New Year 2016 everyone! -
ExCom Call December 16, 2015
The APECS Excom had its final meeting of 2015. The main topic of discussion was the finalization of the Strategic Plan. The Advisory Committee and National Committees provided helpful comments regarding the structuring, wording, and content of the plan, which will be integrated in early January. In other news, keep your eyes open for the APECS 2015 Year End video, coming out the week of December 20! -
ExCom Call November 18, 2015
During this call we discussed Yulia's attendance of the European Polar Board meeting, the Arctic Snapshot programme, and possible funding options for it. The project group structure was also on the agenda, as all project groups should now be submitting their first reports. Maintaining momentum of these groups with a more hands-off approach from the ExCom, allowing for council members to step into leadership roles, is a priority. It was decided that a new project group should be formed within the council to create this year’s APECS end-of-year video, which has become something of a tradition. Finally, planning details for the 2016 in-person ExCom meeting at ASSW were discussed. -
ExCom Call November 4, 2015
With the new term up and running, the ExCom discussed ways to have better oversight of the many projects currently running. The new structure of Council has council members working in smaller projects groups. The aim is two fold, i) to help keep projects moving forward and relevant and ii) to engage Council better. The new Council has had a chance to read and comment on the Strategic Plan. Many council members contributed suggestions, during the ExCom call we discussed some of the larger points raised. The revised draft will be open for comments from all APECS National Committees and Advisory Committee. The Strategic Plan is still on schedule and will be finalized in December. -
ExCom Call October 21, 2015
The APECS ExCom met on October 21 to discuss the progress of the Project Groups, the APECS Priorities document, and several external submission made by APECS. Two new Project Groups have been created (Medical, and Art Exchange), and these now have ExCom members assigned. The European Polar Board Survey has been circulated to Council members for comment, with further comments to be collated. We also discussed away times, deciding that the same document will be used to record absences of ExCom members as those of Council members. Project Group meetings will be held prior to the next ExCom call, and opportunities for holding the in-person ExCom meeting in March 2016 will be investigated further. -
ExCom Call October 7, 2015
ExCom met on October 6 for the first official meeting of the new term. Most of the discussion was in preparation for the first council meeting: we went through the list of proposed project groups to make sure ExCom members are available to help new and returning Council members get started on the new term. We also discussed the status of the APECS Strategic Plan document (which is now ready for internal review), and have some new information about APECS representative selection that will be going up on the website in an effort to increase transparency in the process.
Meeting Notes 2014-2015
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ExCom Call September 24, 2015
For the final meeting of the 2014-2015 term, the ExCom discussed several transition items. The new term will start at the beginning of October and we want to make the transition as smooth as possible for all outgoing and incoming members. The Annual Report is in the final stages, it is a summary of all national and international events and opportunities APECS has hosted and the partners we have worked with over the last year. We extend a big thank you to everyone who has made our community stronger, contributing to both online and in-person events over the last year. A special thank to JS, for his leadership and enthusiasm, he has lead Excom and Council through a very exciting and productive year. Keep an eye out for the Annual Report for the overview of APECS’ accomplishments in 2014-2015. -
ExCom Call September 10, 2015
During its September 10, 2015 meeting, the Excom discussed several items. The 2015-2016 term is starting on October 1, 2015. The Council voted on and approved a restructuring of the APECS Council to be implemented at the start of the new term. The new structure removes the current committees (RAC, MIC, EOC), and replaces them with a working group structure that should allow the Council to work more efficiently and carry out current and future projects. Projects are currently being catalogued in a Google Doc, so that current work is not lost during the transition. The Excom also discussed progress on the Strategic Plan, which is coming together nicely. The Strategic Plan team will work on updating the draft and reformatting before the next Excom meeting on September 24. Finally, the Excom discussed the updated procedure for the APECS representative selection process, to ensure that APECS members are notified of available positions. -
ExCom Call July 30, 2015
The Excom discussed the continuing work on the APECS Strategic Plan and the Annual Report. There was also a discussion regarding the format of the new APECS Newsletter, which was published in July. It's looking good, and our new mailing list appears to be working well. We also discussed the status of ongoing projects related to the website upgrade. Remember that working on the Strategic Plan is a great way to get involved - contact the Excom if you want to help or have questions. -
ExCom Call July 20, 2015
The Excom discussed the remainder of the Council term, with two remaining Council meetings and then upcoming Council elections. Most of the meeting was spent discussing the strategic plan, figuring out the format and who is in charge of drafting chapters, and setting deadlines. There has been great progress for the first day of getting members to move over to the new email system. -
ExCom Call July 2, 2015
The Excom discussed plans for finalizing the writing of its strategic plan which will shape APECS activities in the coming years. It is also at this time of year that we start to collect information for our annual report and a new layout of this report was discussed. In other news, Heather and JS will be away this summer for fieldwork and we welcome Alice and Sílvia into the Excom whilst they are away. Ruth will temporarily take over as President. -
ExCom Call March 26, 2015
During its meeting on 26 March, the ExCom got updates on several items. The new website is working well and we continue to add material- upcoming will be fully updated APECS Funding and Graduate school databases. APECS is gearing up for several events in April. APECS will be well represented at EGU in Vienna, and at the end of April APECS will participate in ASSW and be involved in several side meetings during the week. Additionally, the program for the APECS World Summit, coming up June 6-8, is being finalized. Currently, 24 countries are represented, with representatives from all APECS national committees! It is shaping up to be a very exciting event. We also heard updates from the Organizational Review, the online survey is still open until April 6, 2015. Here’s your chance to add your opinions and ideas on how APECS should develop in the near future. -
ExCom Call March 12, 2015
The ExCom had another meeting on 12 March 2015 with Jenn, JS, Heather, Ruth, Tristy and Gerlis in atttendance On the agenda were discussions of plans for Directorate funding after the current funding period ends at the end of 2016. We also discussed current funding applications that we are involved in and brainstormed potential future funding calls to apply to. The second agenda item was an update regarding the plans for the APECS World Summit. The event is coming together nicely and the organizers were happy about additional funding that was approved. About 60 people will currently come together and we will open up more spaces for other APECS members if they bring their own funding. An announcement will be send out in the next week to the APECS membership. For the rest of the call, the ExCom discussed the process of the agreements with our National Committees. And of course a reminder to fill out the APECS Review survey as part of the APECS organizational review!
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ExCom Call February 26, 2015
At the Excom meeting on 26 February we discussed several items. A survey designed by APECS members in conjunction with ICARP III has now been released to solicit ideas from early career researchers (ECRs) on how to better support ECRs (training, funding etc.) involved in Arctic research and in the next week a survey to evaluate APECS activities and organisation for the Organizational Review will open for participation. We also discussed the status of our Advisory Committee and are continuing work on LoAs and MoUs with our National Committees. -
ExCom Call January 15, 2015
The ExCom has been very productive in its term with no sign of slowing. For the first call of 2015, the ExCom put into action both short and long- term objectives that were set out in our Priorities document. Coming soon, APECS will be launching a new website! This will not only give APECS a new look, but aims to be easier and faster to find information and keep members updated. We have submitted our Arctic Council observer application at the end of December, and are currently putting together proposals for project funding. Partnerships and international collaboration is at the center of APECS activities, and we are working on renewing formal agreements with our partners and adding new partnerships. In addition, we will be signing formal partnership agreements with all APECS national committees. Looking ahead, the ExCom will be working on a 5-year strategic plan for APECS. The first step of this process is to have a critical review of the organization. The ExCom has now assembled a team that will do a full Organizational Review with results anticipated later in the year. -
ExCom Call November 6, 2014
Since the last meeting all of the sub-committees (EOC, MIC and RAC) have had individual meetings to plan their projects for the next year and during this call the sub-committee co-chairs updated the Excom of the results of these first meetings. Work on fundraising for the APECS World Summit continues as does work on our Priorities and Strategy Documents. In addition, we discussed how the Excom will participate in Antarctica Day (1 December) as this coincides with our in-person meeting. -
ExCom call October 23, 2014
The main focus of the October 23rd Excom meeting was on keeping our projects moving forward and planning for the upcoming face-to-face meeting of the Excom in November. A top priority is completing the 2014-2015 Excom Priorities document, which will set the direction for this year’s Excom. Planning and fundraising continue for the APECS World Summit in Bulgaria in 2015, and the Excom is working on strengthening relationships with APECS’ National Committees. -
ExCom call October 9, 2014
Besides a few transitions items, like finding co-chairs for the various council committees, the excom spent a lot of the October 9th meeting discussing objectives and priorities in the coming months. One of these priorities is to have a full organizational and strategic plan for APECS. In order to complete this, we will be putting together a team of old and new members, who will critically evaluate the structural organization of APECS during the fall. Understanding the structure of APECS will help develop APECS' 5-year strategic plan. Since we are very dynamic organization and at 8-years old, it is important that APECS has long-term goals and vision for the future as it develops. A quick look at the activities planned for this year shows that we will need to find funding opportunities to support our webinar series and various in person events. -
ExCom Transition call 2014-2015
The annual term transition is an exciting period for APECS! On September 29th, the Excom held its transition call, where the out going excom members pass on their advice and reflection to the newly elected excom members who will be taking on excom responsibilities for the next term. The new excom got right down to business to elect a president, discuss work flow strategies, and determine when and where to hold the 2 day in-person meeting. The whole excom meets only once a year, typically early in the term, to create a strategic plan and discuss project priorities for the year- and most importantly get to know each other!
A huge thank you for the hard work and dedication to 2013- 2014 excom: Christie Logvinova, Frigga Kruse, Russell Fielding, Jean-Sebastian Moore, Iglinka Trifonova
Leading APECS for the 2014-2015 term are: Jean-Sebastian Moore as predident; Tristy Vick-Majors, Ruth Hindshaw, Heather Mariash, and Ivan Dubinenkov as vice presidents. Meet the new Excom here. Bringing years of experience, Jennifer Provencher and Yulia Zaika will continue to mentor the new team as ex-officos.
Meeting Notes 2013-2014
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ExCom call September 24, 2014
Another Excom term is coming to its successful conclusion! On September 24, 2014, we had our last Skype call. Our agenda was headed by making decisions regarding the composition of the Council for the next term. The vote on new Excom and Council members is taking place this week, and the results will be announced next week. Meanwhile, the outgoing Excom provided updates on a few current and upcoming APECS activities and discussed any transitional items that needed to be passed on to our new leaders. A closing reflection on the term of 2014/15 was on the whole very positive. Your outgoing Excom has enjoyed the steep learning and would like to give our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved with the countless APECS activities of last year. If you are as of yet a spectator, do not hesitate to become active and make the most of the APECS experience. We know what we are talking about!
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ExCom call May 8, 2014
An Excom call took place on May 8, 2014. There were only two agenda items, which nonetheless made for a lively meeting. (i) Gerlis provided a website update. The good news is that the website is stable and posting may happily resume (this item being a case in point). (ii) The Excom decided on several main questions arising from the draft Strategic Plan that will be brought up for discussion at the Council call later in May.
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ExCom call March 11, 2014
The ExCom had another productive bi-weekly meeting on March 11th, 2014. First of all, we were very happy to welcome the new APECS Council co-chair, Heather Mariash. Heather has been involved in APECS for many years, most importantly as part of the RAC. She is bringing her experience and dedication to the service of the council, and we are looking forward to work with her.
During the meeting we also discussed several new exciting projects and opportunities. First, APECS Brazil, one of our very active national committee, is organizing a career development workshop in September. We are excited that our ExCom President, Christie Logvinova, will be joining them for the workshop to tell them a bit more about APECS. Second, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) is offereing APECS members an amazing opportunity to participate in the writing of a series of documents titled Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic. The ExCom briefly discussed the application process that we will use to select candidates. Keep your eyes open for announcments regarding this cool opportunity soon!
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ExCom call February 28, 2014
The APECS ExCom had another productive meeting on February 28th, 2014. Major topics dicussed were how the APECS council, the APECS Membership Involvement Committee and the APECS Education and Outreach Committee can engage more members and work better together.
Polar week is also fast approaching with lots going on. You can view what events are being held around the world here, and see a map of the events here. Don't forget the share your own event and launch a virtual balloon for Polar Week, March 15 to 22, 2014!
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ExCom call February 12, 2014
During the first Skype call since the Excom In-Person meeting in Tromsø in January, we discussed the following items in no particular order: 1) APECS' support of the FOSTER project; 2) the activities of our Council members; 3) the newsletter; 4) the upcoming Polar Week in March; 5) any outstanding tasks from the IP meeting; and 6) general updates from the Excom members.
FOSTER stands for Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research. Their training events are open access, open data, and open science, and they asked for APECS' input into a call for events or activities to be hosted in the second half of 2014. Another call later in this year will look at an opportunity in the first half of 2015.
The Council chair Mika Laiho has been working on the Council's quarterly report and the Excom is looking forward to the results. In the meantime, the Council will advertise for a Council Co-chair as well as a MIC co-chair. In addition, the Council welcomes open applications from any APECS member throughout the year.
The Excom is in favour of issuing the APECS Newsletter on a quarterly basis. Adam Naito is mostly in charge of producing it and a quarterly issue is expected to decrease his workload while increasing its quality.
The Polar Weeks centred around the equinoxes in March and September as well as Antarctica Day on December 1 should be fixed and highly visible features on the APECS calendar. APECS International is represented by the wide an varied activities of the EOC (Education, Outreach and Communication Committee) sub-committee. Furthermore, we try to coordinate our activities firstly with what PEI (Polar Educators International) are doing and with what our many National Committees have planned. APECS also endeavours to reach and encourage enthusiastic individuals, through the MIC (Membership and Involvement Committee) , to become active at their institute or their university.
The minutes from the IP Meeting have now been compiled. The action items will be updated at the next Skype call. Excom members were reminded to brief the group on their activities before each new call. The next call will be on February 28.
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Industrious APECS Executive Committee in-person meeting, January 17 - 18, 2014
The APECS Excom in-person meeting (Tromsø, Norway; January 17-18, 2014) did more than it said on the tin: it not only provided the five of us with a chance to finally meet in person; we were also joined by our Director and our three ex-officio members!
After having spent a first industrious day at the University of Tromsø, we were kindly hosted by the Director of the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Project Jenny Baeseman and her family on the second day. Add any number of visitors, and it was a full-house indeed. Thank you, Jenny!
True to form, our agenda was equally packed. We carefully evaluated various ongoing APECS activities: what was going well and what was in need of adjustments. A look at our Council, our sub-committees, and our working groups showed that we are on top of our priorities for 2013/14. Thanks to the hard work of the previous ExCom to secure funding for the directorate, we even dared to say that our workload was overseeable – even enjoyable!
Pressing matters that are now being tackled are the APECS Strategic Plan 2014-17 as well as the relationship of APECS International with its National Committees and their respective partners. Such matters serve to remind us that as we grow as an organisation, new and exciting situations continuously arise. We are proud of our National Committees and we hope that long-lasting and fruitful partnerships will come out of it.
On that note, our ExCom meeting also provided the chance for several side-meetings with some of our APECS partner organisations: Jenny Baeseman of said Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Project discussed which direction our cooperation could take; and Charles Fierz, President of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) is very much looking forward to a collaboration that will motivate more early-career alpine scientists to join APECS and benefit from the membership. Furthermore, we met with representatives from the University of the Arctic (UArctic), with whom we share our field schools and graduate programs catalogue and whose student ambassadors very much look forward to some joint events in the near future.
Thanks to the in-person meeting, your APECS Excom feels confident and invigorated and cannot wait to engage on the tasks of a 'cool' 2014.
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ExCom call December 16, 2013
The APCES Executive Committee had another busy meeting on December 16th 2013.
One important item on the agenda was the discussion of proposals that APECS is submitting as part of the proposal call for the Third International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III). This is an important opportunity for APECS to be present at a conference where the future directions of Arctic research will be discussed. Most important will be a workshop that APECS wants to organize as part of the conference to increase the involvement of early career researchers.
We also discussed the new look of our monthly Newsletter! Thanks to Adam and Anton for working on this beuatiful design.
Finally, we discussed the involvment of APECS members is many conferences and events all over the world (Arctic Frontiers in Tromso in 2014, the Economist Arctic Summit in London in 2014, ArcticNet in Halifax in 2013, etc.)!
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ExCom call December 4, 2013
The APECS ExCom had another meeting on December 4th, 2013. Many items were covered including some up coming grant proposals (i.e. the Norden Project). One topic that has been much discussed amongst the ExCom lately has been the groeth of numerous National Committees.
Although several national committees are long established and very active (i.e. the UKPN) others are relatively newly formed (i.e. APECS Bulgaria). Similarly, some National Committees are quite small in numbers with less than 30 members (i.e. APECS Portugal), other groups number in the hundreds with leadrship boards of 20+ people (i.e. APECS Canada). While many national committees are fully functional under a informal leadership structure (i.e. APECS US NorthEast) others are moving towards highly structured formalization as recognised independent organizations (i.e. APECS France), which allows them to apply for external funding. And some countries have joined together to create more regional groups (i.e. APECS Benelux - Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg). With all this diversity the APECS leadership is working hard to make sure that all the different groups are supported and connected with APECS International.
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ExCom call November 6, 2013
The ExCom 2013-2014 met online for the second time this term on November 6, 2013. The main item on the agenda was the APECS 2013-2014 Priorities document. In a mammoth two-and-a-half-hour effort, President Christie Logvinova (Wood) led us through the list of priorities and we diligently discussed and adjusted the strategies to accomplish these.
Some major points of discussion were the nurture and expansion of our partnerships with other institutions and organisations; the encouragement of community website use and website development; and the support of current Workings Groups and the formation of new ones.
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ExCom call October 18, 2013
The new ExCom for the 2013-2014 term met for the first official meeting on October 18th, 2013. Discussions invovled getting everyone up to date on the current working groups, open council positions, and the upcoming first council call of the year.
A major discussion point was also how APECS handles being asked to sign on to letters, petitions, movements etc by other groups. The APECS leadership agreed that for APECS to sign on to any form of support the wording and context must be in line with our own organization and membership values. Our leadership will continue to uphold the integrity and respect with which APECS was founded upon and continues to act in accordance with.
We again thank Bredbåndsfylket for their continuted support of us and the GoToMeeting system.
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ExCom Transition call 2013-2014
On October 3rd, 2013 APECS entered yet another new term with the handing over of the APECS leadership from one ExCom to another. Both the outgoing and in the incoming ExComs gathered on the GoToMeeting system to talk about lessons learned, projects underway and plans for the future.
The outgoing ExCom shared their experiences on the ExCom. Many talked about the great experiences being on the ExCom brought to them. The new ExCom also had lots of questions, especially with regards to time management, work flow strategies, and how to handle the flow of emails that ExCom members experience.
Once all questions for the outgoing ExCom were addressed the ourgoing members left the call and the incoming members got down to business. A new president was elected. The priorities for the year were discussed. Plan are already underway for in an inperson meeting, but as always there is never enough time to cover everything so council and chair position details were scheduled for another call to happen the following week. Stay tuned here for more details!
Meeting Notes 2012-2013
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ExCom call July 17, 2013
The APECS ExCom held a meeting on July 17, 2013. Although attendance was small the ExCom made sure that the group was staying up to date on all tasks at hand, even during the slow northern summer period. Ongoing website issues and finalizing the hiring of the new director were top discussion points.
Also, the upcoming APECS ExCom elections for next year were discussed. We hope to see many applications in the coming weeks, and look forward to another great election season in September!
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ExCom call March 23, 2013
The Executive Committee met to discuss last updates as well as upcoming matters. ExCom agreed on a comprehensive web-site upgrade to be done in the next few weeks, which will increase its functionality and speed. Soon after that, APECS will undertake an advertising campaign to update polar community (through mailing lists such as Cryolist, ArcticInfo, and APECS network of members and mentors) on numerous great activities that are happening within APECS. This will be accomplished in line with a development of a new section "Where are they now?" for the APECS web-site. With this new idea we will highlight successful stories of past APECS leaders and active members. ExCom got back to an idea of arranging a special issue on Polar Education and Outreach to be published in 2014, which will be elaborated soon. Potential synergies between APECS and INTERACT were discussed and considered to be promising. Ideas for a joint APECS-EGEA-PYRN workshop on Svalbard in spring 2014 are in the air so if you are interested in its planning and organizing, please contact ExCom for further details.
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ExCom call February 27, 2013
The ExCom met again this month to discuss upcoming matters. The upcoming Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) meeting and workshop in Poland were a highlight of the meeting as we are getting ready for a few great events. The ExCom is also focusing efforts on increasing the speed of the website, and making sure it is functional. We know that the website plays a key role in how our members comunicate and learn about events, so we want to make sure that it is running optimally. Plans are also underway for planning upcoming events, so if you are attending a conference in the coming months, make sure to include an APECS panel or meetup in your schedule.
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ExCom call 31 January 2013
The APECS Executive Committee held our most recent meeting on 31 January, 2013 at 20:00 GMT. Attendees included Alexey Pavlov, Allen Pope, Christie Logvinova (Wood), Gerlis Fugmann, Heather Mariash, Ines Tavernier, Jennifer Provencher, Penny Wagner, Sanna Majaneva, and Yulia Zaika. The recent Council reports were discussed, and we look forward to continued enthusiasm and action from the Council; the final report was recently published. Yulia moved forward plans for a new APECS Store. Proposals to fund new initiatives and the Directorate were discussed. Not currently funded is the career development webinar series, and the ExCom is looking into solutions to continue this program to best serve APECS members. The ExCom finished up by considering some of APECS' current partnerships and partner events to best bring opportunities and resources to APECS members.
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ExCom call January 14, 2013
The APECS ExCom met for the first time in 2013 on January 2013. As we move into the new year the ExCom is working on some exciting granting proposals and ideas that we hope will bring even more great resouces and projects to our members and partners. Keep tuned to hear more about the upcoming projects. The ExCom is also planning for upcoming events at workshops and conferences, so if you are planning on attending any meetings don't forget that an APECS event is a great way to connect with others in the your, and meet new people!
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ExCom call December 19, 2012
The APECS ExCom had their last meeting of the year on December 19, 2012. Upcoming meetings were discussed with Arctic Frontiers, the Arctic Science Summit Week and the AMAP Ocean Acidification meeting all coming up in the New Year. The ExCom also discussed ongoing maintenance of the website, databases and the plan of turning APECS webinars into podcasts. Look for these in the New Year!
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ExCom call October 9, 2012
The new APECS Executive Committee got together on the 9th of October to formally elect the President (Penelope Wagner) and discuss other matters. In addition to setting the wheels in motion for the 2012-2013 term, ExCom members also discussed upcoming in-person meeting plans, new applicants to the Council, partnership and joint activities with AMAP, CliC and CAFF and other arising issues. We congratulate Penelope and look forward to attacking our now more concrete tasks.
Meeting Notes 2011-2012
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ExCom call September 19, 2012
The ExCom met again on September 19th. Although the group was a little reduced due to family emergencies, it was a very productive call. The 2011-2012 ExCom has had a lot on their plates this year, and there is still a lot that we want to get done before we hand over the reigns to the next ExCom! Discussion points included future support of the Directorate in Tromsø, collaboration with the High North Academy on webinars and website resources, a developing application to a seat on the Arctic Council, extension of various agreements that provide support for the APECS website and APECS webinars, APECS letters of support to collaborator projects, planning of a few future APECS events, and of course getting the wheels in motion to make sure that the imminent transition goes smoothly.
As always, we encourage all those interested in the Council and ExCom to let us know, and we will be happy to include you in our discussions and meetings when possible. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, you can always reach us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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ExCom call May 8, 2012
The recent Executive Committee meeting (held 8 May, 2012) followed up on many in-person discussions at the Montreal IPY 2012 conference. As the first meeting which included our newly-appointed Director, Alexey Pavlov, much of the discussion focused on the all-important topic of transitioning over this role. We talked about everything from managing email lists and workflow to managing budgets and developing Memorada of Understanding. Alexey is enthusiastic in taking on the Directorship, and while currently dedicated to fulfilling his research role, is looking forward to moving to Tromsø in early June.
Projects that the ExCom is currently working include an APECS Merchandise store, developing a 5-year strategic plan with our new Director, supporting upcoming APECS events (in Portland, Lahti, Fairbanks, and more!), and formalizing our video sharing policy.
As always, if you have any comments or questions for the ExCom, please do email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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ExCom call March 14, 2012
Present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Jennifer Provencher, Gerlis Fugmann, Luís Guilherme Resende de Assis, Inga May, Julia Schmale, Tosca Ballerini, Yulia Zaika
APECS ExCom met together again on the 14th of March via Skype to discuss some of the strategic issues. Council and RAC Co-Chairs joined the Call to make great inputs and discuss particular points. ExCom has discussed autumn APECS activities and plans for career development webinars and virtual poster sessions with our partners - High North Academy and Fram Center based in Tromso. Some particular issues on how to use our new webconferencing system effectively rose lately due to growing number of APECS online events. We agreed to use the Google Doc - https://docs.google.com/a/apecs.is/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmryhLHk-YERdHBHTUtWc1FlTUtENGRFZWdSZWRZaWc#gid=0 to keep track of our events and make sure that we have more detailed instructions for all our members to avoid any concurrent meetings. Julia Schmale presented the idea to work on Encyclopedia of Antarctica. ExCom decided to announce this opportunity to the entire APECS membership and follow up with individual members. Current Council activity as it follows from mid-term Council Report shows that almost all Council members are very active and enthhusiastic but some of them decided to step down from the Council. In the mid of March the mid-term elections for RAC chairs will be organized.
APECS ExCom is working on longterm Strategic Plan for APECS activities and it was decided to have this plan as one of the points of agenda for the upcoming Council Meeting in Montreal this April. All the contributions from APECS members are very welcome.As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
And just to remind you - any of the APECS members are welcome to participate in ExCom Calls.
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ExCom call February 27, 2012
As young researchers, we are constantly thinking about the next step in our careers, and the recent ExCom meeting focused on the future of APECS on many timescales. In the near future, we are making sure that everything is running smoothly in the planning of upcoming APECS events (like IPY 2012 in Montreal, a workshop at the SCAR conference in Portland, and an APECS Norge Board Meeting) as well as progress in the website realignment project. Slightly more into the future, we addressed plans for current grant proposals APECS has submitted to support activities like webinars and the virtual poster session. And further into the future, with a new Director in mind, the ExCom has started to make progress on putting together an APECS Strategic Plan for the upcoming years. The ExCom was also especially happy to have RAC Chair Julia Schmale join the call and provide some wonderful insight and advice.
As always, if you have any input/comments/questions/concerns for the ExCom or want to get more involved with APECS, please do contact us.
ExCom Meeting Details:
27 February, 2012 at 1700 GMT
Hosted on SkypeAttendees:
Allen Pope (note-taker), Angelika Renner, Jenny Baeseman, Julia Schmale, Yulia Zaika, and Gerlis Fugmann (except when discussing director interviews)Apologies:
Jennifer Provencher
Luis Guillerme de Assis on leave of absence -
The ExCom goes to Tromsø: In-person meeting summary 18 - 20 January 2012
Present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Jennifer Provencher, Jenny Baeseman (Director), Luís Guilherme Resende de Assis, and Yulia Zaika (President)
The APECS Executive Committee 2011/2012 met for the first time in person two weeks ago in the city of Tromsø. The ExCom heads up APECS through leading action, strategy, and decision-making within APECS. Accordingly, the meeting days focused on planning for the upcoming APECS Director transition period as well as the future growth of APECS. This included many discussions about institutional knowledge transfer, hiring schedules, job descriptions, costs to be incurred, strategic plans, and many other administrative considerations. It might not all sound like an exciting job, but it was good experience for the ExCom members and hopefully will ensure smooth sailing for the rest of APECS in the coming years. And the Northern lights a few nights didn't hurt either!
While in Tromsø, the ExCom also took the opportunity to meet with local partners and advisors including the Arctic Council Secretariat, University of Tromsø administrators, Norwegian Polar Institute, ARCTOS, IASC, the High North Academy, and the APECS Norge Board of Directors. Look out for more collaborations with these folks in the future!
Moving into 2012, the ExCom is really excited that we all got the chance to meet in person! The main takeaway from the meeting is that we want to do all we can to make sure that APECS continues to move both move forwards and innovate. APECS has earned itself a worldwide reputation as THE organization for young polar researchers, and the ExCom will make sure we do all we can to sustain APECS.
In the coming weeks and months we will be posting the resulting job description, policies, and strategy documents and you will see the ideas we came up with turn into action. As always, if you have questions, comments, or want to get involved, just Contact Us!
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ExCom call December 15, 2011
On 15 December, the APECS Directorate and the ExCom had another online meeting via GoToMeeting system to discuss a number of important issues and test new webconferencing tool.
General gudelines and points about hosts of Directorate, Jenny's leave, the director transition process, financial status and strategy of the organization were discussed. A lot of exciting stuff to be done during the upcoming ExCom In-person Meeting in January in Tromsø: APECS budget, strategic plan, future activities; a lot of important people to meet. January will start with training sessions on GoToWebinar system with VPS, Council and MIC/RAC Chairs.
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ExCom call November 29, 2011
Present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Jenny Baeseman, Luis Guilherme de Assis, Yulia Zaika
On 29 November, the APECS Directorate and the ExCom had another online skype meeting to discuss the progress of our organization and a number of important details. We have been looking into a new webinar conferencing tool as the agreement with the University of Canterbury is running out – and we are happy to report that we will be using – GoToWebinar for the next year thanks to an in-kind contribution from Bredbandsfylket based in Tromsø, Norway. GoToWebinar is rated as one of the best systems there is currently, and we are sure this will be great for us. We would like to thank Daniela Liggett and the University of Canterbury for letting us use their Adobe Connect system for so many great meetings. To revitalize Education and Outreach Committee we are planning to organize first EOC Call in January and update the mailing list (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). As APECS is growing really fast and now more than 3000 members, we are planning to develop a strategic plan for 5 years which will include main goals, objectives, timelines, financial statements and bullet points for advancing APECS over the next few years. This strategic plan will also include a renewal of the Directorate, currently hosted by the University of Tromsø and that Norwegian Polar Institute until Dec. 2012 On another note, we have been discussing the potential to create an APECS Mentor award and an APECS Educational and Outreach Award to honor the achievements of so many great people. A lot of exciting stuff to be done during the planning and preparing for ExCom In-person meeting in January in Tromsø, Norway and look for more fun things coming your way in regards to the IPY From Knowledge to Action Conference in Montreal this April – including the APECS 5 year Anniversary party!!! -
ExCom call October 31, 2011
present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Gerlis Fugmann, Jennifer Provencher, Jenny Baeseman, Luis Guilherme de Assis, Tosca Ballerini, Yulia Zaika
It's busy times for APECS and the ExCom, and there was a lot to discuss during the call on 31 October. Again, council co-chair Tosca was able to join and reported back from her chat with the newest council applicant. We are happy to report that the ExCom approved the application and we welcome Pablo Nicolás Núñez Pölcher to the council! During this process we also discovered an unexpected passion of our fabulous director Jenny B for Argentinian purses...
Tackling some organisational issues, the current working groups and potential solutions for our online conferencing system were discussed.
During this term, it is more vital than ever for the ExCom to work on new funding for the directorate, and to this end, the in-person meeting will take place in Tromsø, Norway, on 18-20 January 2012. Until then and in preparation for the meeting, the ExCom is updating and starting to work their way through the list of priorities for the 2011/2012 term.
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ExCom call October 19, 2011
Attendance: Allen, Geli, Gerlis, Jennipro, Jenny B, Luis, Tosca, & Yulia
The ExCom met on 19 October via skype, and we are happy to report that we are getting to our feet and assigning tasks for the near future and the upcoming rest of the year. Happily, Council Co-Chair Tosca Ballerini was able to attend, too, and can carry back a bit of what an ExCom call is like to the Council. We addressed the scheduling of an upcoming in-person meeting (it's important that the ExCom get to know each other as well as possible, as well as see where our Director works in Tromsø!). The ExCom is also working on spreading the word about APECS (in a partner newsletter as well as an email to newly starting students), we are addressing a potential issue with our online meeting system, and continue to advocate for all active APECS members to be web-proactive. It's going to be a busy year!
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ExCom Transition call 2011-2012
present: Allen Pope, Angelika Renner, Gerlis Fugmann, Jennifer Provencher, Jenny Baeseman, Luis Guilherme de Assis, Mariette Wheeler, Suhas Shetye, Yulia Zaika
October is handover time in the APECS leadership and so the outgoing and the incoming ExCom met for a transition call on the 04 October. The old ExCom members shared their best advice and recommendations (communication is key and don't forget to have fun!), and the new ExCom people got a chance to get to know each other and ask their most urgent questions. After that, the key point of the call was the election of the new president for the 2011-2012 term and our congratulations go to Yulia Zaika from Russia who will lead us through the year!
The new ExCom is now busy figuring out how to best work together and coordinate efforts, and gets started on the jobs waiting for them. So stay tuned to hear more from us soon, and as usual, any questions, comments or suggestions, email us as This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!