Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2016 - 7

Society Reports Conference Committee The Conference Committee received an update by Kelly Tomajko on preparations for the 2017 meeting in Denver. The Denver Local Organizing Committee has decided to change the program schedule for this meeting to put the workshop first and the field trips after the general meeting. This will allow conferees the opportunity to acclimatize to the elevation of Denver and surrounding areas. The need to appoint a new Sponsor Liaison was discussed, and since the Berlin meeting, Marcia Revelez agreed to serve in this position. The proposal by the Otago Museum to host the 2018 SPNHC meeting in Dunedin, New Zealand, was discussed; a formal proposal was later presented by Robert Morris, Director of Collections, Research and Education at the Otago Museum, at both the SPNHC Council meeting and the Annual Business Meeting. Subsequently the Council voted to accept this proposal, and it is now official that the 2018 SPNHC meeting will be held in Dunedin, New Zealand, August 25-September 2. This meeting will be held jointly with the Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG). Finally, the lack of a venue for the 2019 meeting was discussed. This is a very serious problem that must be resolved during the coming year. This was the last meeting of the Long Range Planning Committee chaired by Linda Ford; after this meeting Barbara Thiers assumed the leadership of this committee. Attending the committee were Andy Bentley, Julian Carter, Elise Lecompte, Linda Ford, Robert Morris, Christiane Quaisser, Barbara Thiers, Kelly Tomakjo, and Tim White. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Thiers, Chair Conservation Committee Fourteen people attended the Conservation Committee meeting in Berlin. The meeting was chaired by Armando Mendez and Cindy Opitz. Rebecca Newberry was unable to attend. This was Cindy's first and last meeting as CC co-chair as she is stepping down to concentrate on her new role as SPNHC secretary. Thank you for your work on the committee, Cindy! Resource Display Unit Gretchen Anderson is taking over the RDU. The CC continues to develop a replacement for the dated, North American - focused RDU. Committee members are helping Gretchen devise new ways to share this vital information on materials and supplies across the globe. Please let the CC co-chairs know if you would like to help on this project. Value-Change Estimation The work on value-change estimation has stalled due to its complexity. The scope of the work is greater than the capacity of the CC. Rob Waller and Alice Cannon have submitted an abstract to ICOMCC to establish a framework of construal-level theory, as abstraction lowers estimates and a more solid theoretical framework for applying values is required to establish consensus judgments based on investment in avoiding damage. Museum Environments Armando Mendez asks CC members to channel ideas and challenges on the topic from this conference to him for distribution to the committee. Gretchen Anderson and Rob Waller will share information on the topic from this year's AIC meeting and the workshop Rob led with Jeremy Linden at the Berlin meeting. Respectfully submitted, Armando Mendez and Rebecca Newberry, Co-chairs Emerging Professionals Committee The Emerging Professionals Committee would like to thank Stephanie Allen for her service on the committee and as a co-chair for the 2015-2016 year. We wish you the best of luck in your new career! In 2015 the EPC changed its structure from a single chair structure to a co-chair structure. Those co-chairs are currently Kari Harris (karimegan@gmail.com) and Katie Kirkham Worthen (krkworthen@gmail.com). In 2015 we also officially named Katie McComas (kamccomas@gmail.com) the editor of the Cracking the Collections blog. Currently, we have five additional persons serving as liaisons to other SPNHC committees. These liaisons bridge the Emerging Professionals to the other committees and help those committees improve their EP involvement. Several committee liaison positions are still open, and we welcome anyone who would like to serve as liaison to one of these committees. The 2nd annual SPNHC EPC Luncheon was a success! Several Emerging Professionals attended and were able to ask questions from our panel of Established Professionals. We will be hosting a luncheon at SPNHC 2017 in Denver, September 2016 * 7

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2016