FOUNDATION FOR SCIENCE AND DISABILITY (FSD)

Annual Meeting

10:00 AM -12:00 PM, Friday, February 17, 2012

Disability Resource Room, VCC West Building

Vancouver Convention Center

1055 Canada Place

Vancouver, BC

Call to Order/Introductions-Erica Penn

Incoming President, Erica Penn, presented her goals for the next term. These included 1) the continuation of ongoing programs such as the annually awarded student grants; 2) broadened interactions with other organizations and committees that have shared goals, such as the Committee on Opportunities in Science in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Professional Association of Scientists with Disabilities that may be organized from discussions at the last Problem Solvers Workshop; and 3) development of new services or projects that could benefit students and career professionals with disabilities who are working in STEM fields.

Other attendees introduced themselves, including Imke Durre, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Zelda Wasserman, a retired chemist who is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Disabilities, Laureen Summers and Rick Weibl of AAAS, Angela Foreman of Sapphire Executives, LLC, Richard Mankin of the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and Yoshiko Miwa, a freelance science writer in Japan. Yoshiko recently published an article in a Japanese science magazine (Kagaku) about the history of AAAS efforts to promote participation in STEM careers by persons with disabilities.

·        Minutes - February 18, 2011 (Washington, DC)

The minutes from the Washington, DC meeting were discussed and approved. There had been progress in some areas that had been recommended at the 2011 meeting, as noted by Ric Weibl. AAAS had attended the meeting of the Association of Higher Education and Disabilities, where the Entry Point program had been discussed. AAAS also has been working on revisions to the Science Careers web pages that may benefit scientists with disabilities who are interested in obtaining or changing positions. In addition, Angela Foreman has set up a LinkedIn page, so FSD is now on both Facebook and LinkedIn.

Treasurer Report- Angela Foreman

Foundation For Science and Disability Treasurer Report

February 19, 2011-February 13, 2012

·        Student Science Grant Committee report-2012-Richard Mankin

The committee reviewed 12 completed applications. The numbers of applicants have been increasing over the last 3 years. 

Kim Yeoman, a graduate student in the department of Biology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, was awarded a $1000 grant for work on a project involving the oviposition behaviors of gravid females of two sand fly species, Lutzomyia longipalpis and Phlebotomus papatasi, both of which are important vectors of the parasites responsible for leishmaniasis in tropical and subtropical areas. . It is expected that information about gravid female sand fly choices of oviposition sites can be applied to the detection and control of sand flies, which may ultimately diminish the spread of leishmaniasis.

It was moved, seconded, and approved that a $1000 grant be awarded to Kim Yeoman.

New Business

There was discussion of potential projects or services that FSD could implement to assist early- and mid-career scientists in moving to higher-level positions. This is a topic that individual members of FSD will consider and discuss further over time and no specific action was taken in this meeting.  Laureen Summers noted that FSD needed to have a coherent plan to present to other organizations with which we might interact to achieve these objectives, and it may be worthwhile to have some conference calls about specific projects that FSD could implement.

It was noted that AAAS will have some updated Career pages to which FSD should link, and that FSD should post its constitution on the Website. Also, Imke has volunteered to check the FSD pages for ease of accessibility and to identify some links that could be added to the FSD website that could assist others who wish to make their sites more accessible. Zelda Wasserman noted that Robert Gates at ACS might be able to assist in this effort also.

It was moved, seconded, and approved that Imke Durre will serve as a website consultant for FSD to ensure that it meets currently accepted standards of accessibility.

It was moved, seconded, and approved that Erica Penn, Laureen Summers, Angela Foreman, and Imke Durre serve on the student grant committee for 2013.

It was moved, seconded, and approved that Angela Foreman be nominated for a second term as Treasurer of FSD.

The meeting adjourned at 11:45 AM. Submitted by Richard Mankin, February 19, 2012