President’s Message — September / October 2019
Sara Peel, NALMS President
As we usher in fall and the calendar year starts to wind down, we are looking ahead for the year to come. 2020 is a special year for NALMS – a year to celebrate all of the accomplishments in our 40-year history as a society fostering lake science and management. To celebrate this benchmark anniversary, we hope to share 40 years of stories with all of members about how NALMS has impacted lives over our history. To do this, we need your help!
Please consider sharing your stories, photos, and memories about what NALMS means to you and how it has influenced how you manage or enjoy your lakes. Perhaps it was a talk at one of our symposiums that changed how you thought about lake management; perhaps it was a particularly great interaction with another member; a story about field work; or highlights from a lake appreciation month or Secchi Dip-in event. Whatever your story, please take a few minutes to write down your story and send it to Alyssa Anderson (aanderson@nalms.org) so we can share it with the rest of our community. We welcome photos from your lake management history with NALMS over the past 40 years!
We are also looking for stories and pictures about how lakes that you love have changed over the last 40 years. How has active lake management created a better environment for your lakes and ponds? We hope to collect a series of stories and 40-year timespan photos showing how lakes and lake management change over time. Our goal is to share these at the conference in the Twin Cities in 2020, where we will celebrate our 40th Anniversary.
I will kick things off by sharing my NALMS story: I attended my first NALMS events through the Chicago-based conferences meeting some of my nearest and dearest NALMS friends over giant dinner centerpieces. These and other NALMS conferences provided the opportunity for me to learn from and engage with friends and colleagues across the nation. Each year, alumni from the Indiana University O’Neil School (or as I knew it the School of Public and Environmental Affairs) gather for a quick photo and to catch up with the Bill Jones Lab. The opportunity to connect with friends made throughout the years while developing new connections is always something that I’ve enjoyed about NALMS.
I started my journey with NALMS by attending conferences. When I was suggested I wanted to be more involved, NALMS provided me with the option of contributing in small ways in the early years by serving on the membership and publications committees. I joined the board of directors in 2010 as the Region 5 Director and fast forward to now serving as the NALMS President. While my term is about to end, I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the organization in this capacity.
As we move toward the 2019 Symposium in Vermont and the end of the year, we hope that you will consider including NALMS in your end-of-year giving. Please consider making a donation to NALMS that is meaningful to you – assist our student members in attending future NALMS conferences, help lake leaders attend the 2020 NALMS Symposium in Minneapolis, augment the 40th anniversary program with a donation to the Cooke Fund or give to our Lake Giving program to assist with NALMS programming and efforts. Thanks for being a part of the NALMS community and thank you for considering an annual donation and for sharing your stories with us!