Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections March 2018 - 9

Society Reports
(not only in Europe, but also in North America)." The article
evaluates "practical challenges and implications for biodiversity researchers and collections and suggest[s] the formation
of ABS-compliant international networks to support monitoring and to enable a simplified exchange of genetic resources
which ultimately results in the promotion of CBD-compliant
biosciences." The article may be found (with free access possible until February 28, 2018) here: http://rdcu.be/zAmm.
CETAF/NAGOYA - After the Consortium of European
Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) received additional comments from the European Commission, the CETAF Code
of Conduct has been adapted and enhanced and resubmitted
to the EU Commission. Once finally recognized, we will
circulate the acknowledged version, hopefully in spring 2018.
The L&R committee would appreciate active feedback from
SPNHC members if this Code of Conduct would be suited to
manage Nagoya requirements inside their institutions.
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)/NAGOYA Current negotiations to include the open seas (ABNJ) and access to marine organisms occurring outside the territorial sea
under Nagoya have entered the 3rd of 4 rounds. This would
mean the access to marine life, currently governed under the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), would
fall under the much stricter regulations of Nagoya. Everything marine would be covered-a tremendous blow for those
working on marine projects. Because the colleague engaged
in ABNJ for the CETAF ABS group sadly passed away last
year, we no longer have direct contacts into the ABNJ-Expert
group which leads the current discussion. The L&R committee would appreciate information of or contact from SPNHC
members who are engaged in ABNJ and/or UNCLOS matters, or information from marine researchers on relevant
discussions or planned submissions on this subject.
Advocacy - For those of you in the US, this is a reminder
that the 2018 AIBS CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY is
approaching. The American Institute of Biological Sciences'
next annual Congressional Visits Day will be held on April
17-18, 2018, in Washington, DC. It is "an opportunity for
scientists to meet with their members of Congress about the
importance of federal support for biological research and education. Event participants advocate for federal investments
in biological sciences research, with a primary focus on the
National Science Foundation, as well as other agencies."
Pre-event advocacy training will take place on April 17, and
participants will meet with their elected officials on April
18. More information can be found at: https://www.aibs.org/
public-policy/congressional_visits_day.html.
There were no updates from sub-committee members during
this period.

Respectfully submitted,
Dirk Neumann and Stephanie Carson, Co-chairs

Long Range Planning Committee
The main activity of the Long Range
Planning Committee during this period has been the creation of an ad
hoc committee to explore the best
way to proceed with the redesign of
the SPNHC website. The committee,
chaired by B. Thiers, consists of Linda
Ford, SPNHC president; Andy Bentley,
past president; Ruth O'Leary, treasurer;
Liath Appleton, webmaster; Rusty Russell, council member-at-large; Jessica
Cundiff, co-chair of the Best Practices
Committee; and James Macklin, Long
Range Planning Committee member.
To date, the committee has conducted a
review of the current SPNHC website
and made a comparative analysis of
other professional society websites. The goal of the committee is to determine the budget needed for the website redesign
by April 1, 2018, so the funding can be included in the budget
for the current year. We hope the website redesign will be
completed by the end of 2018.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara M. Thiers and Suzanne Ryder, Co-chairs

Membership Committee
The Membership Committee focuses
on ways to promote the Society, retain
existing members, and attract new
members. We promote SPNHC at conferences by advertising in conference
literature and exhibiting the membership booth. Please contact Tiffany
Adrain (tiffany-adrain@uiowa.edu) if
you would like materials to distribute
or display at any conferences you attend. You may be eligible for complimentary registration. The next venue for the
membership booth will be the Geological Society of America
meeting in Seattle in October 2017. Thank you to everyone
who has helped with display materials in the past year. Thank
you, also, to Ann Pinzl for writing Member Profiles for the
SPNHC Connection newsletter. Please contact Ann
March 2018 * 9

http://www.rdcu.be/zAmm https://www.aibs.org/public-policy/congressional_visits_day.html https://www.aibs.org/public-policy/congressional_visits_day.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections March 2018