This committee is responsible for organizing and implementing the Association’s efforts to recognize and honor those persons whose diverse efforts have enhanced the field of Environmental Studies and Sciences and/or contributed to the improvement of the environment.
Katharine Owens (chair)
Chair-Elect (open position)
The Conference Committee is an ad-hoc committee that oversees the planning and execution of AESS’s annual meeting whether it is in-person or virtual. Sub-committees include Program, Site-Selection, and Events. The committee is staffed by a chair, AESS Managing Director and volunteers.
The AESS Development Committee is an ad-hoc group who dedicates time to finding funding sources and leveraging opportunities for non-profit advancement. No experience is necessary to help out.
This committee shall work to engage a broader and more diverse community of environmental professionals by advocating for the inclusion of multiple voices that represent perspectives and expertise from various backgrounds and identities, including but not limited to: abilities, academic discipline, age, career, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender identity/expression, geographic location, language, nationality, political beliefs, position within organization, race, religion, sexual orientation, sex, and/or socio-economic status.
Learn more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at AESS.
This committee is responsible for recruiting and nominating candidates for the elective offices of the Association. Nominations Committee. In identifying candidates for positions, the Nominations Committee seeks to assure the representation of the Association’s diversity of membership, in terms of age, gender, racial and ethnic background, substantive interest, field of work, type of employing institutions, and other considerations.
Karin Warren, chair
Chair-elect: open
This committee has primary responsibility for informing potential members of the advantages of AESS membership and for expanding the membership base of the organization. The committee is expected to seek a reasonable balance between members whose original disciplines are in the biological and physical sciences, on the one hand, and in the social sciences and humanities, on the other, and to seek in other ways as well to maintain and increase membership diversity.
Kate Meierdiercks, chair
This committee is responsible for designing and managing professional development initiatives for the membership with the goal of empowering members to enhance their ESS career development and advance the field within their institutions. Typical initiatives include:
Organizing workshops
Promoting mentoring
Developing resources for teaching, scholarship, and administration of programs.
To submit an idea for a workshop, webinar or other professional development idea, complete our form.
Carolyn is the Association’s Managing Director. She began working with AESS fall of 2014 as a Program Coordinator. From there, she increasingly took on more responsibility and has helped manage the organization’s day to day affairs as well as the annual conference. She fully embodies the cross-disciplinary approach of AESS, having a background in English literature as well as environmental science and policy. She is passionate about sustainability, good food, good reads, bucket-lists, family, and getting outside.
The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) is an independent faculty-and-student-based professional association in higher education, designed to serve the needs of environmental scholars and scientists who value interdisciplinary approaches to research, teaching, and problem-solving.
