Report on The Big Event: JASM 2022
Diane Lauritsen, CASS Liaison for NALMS
JASM 2022 Program Committee Co-Chair
The 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting took place from May 14-20, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an abundance of newly hatched caddisflies were there to welcome us; as aquatic scientists, we get excited about the littlest things…
The pedestrian bridge over the Grand River was the site of a social event on Thursday evening. The river is where the filter-feeding caddisflies were hatching from.
And excited we certainly were to see our two-legged colleagues as well! This was the first large in-person meeting for many of us since 2019, and the first time that we needed to observe COVID-19 protocols, including wearing face masks, which everyone faithfully did.
JASM 2022 included all 9 aquatic societies that are members of the Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies (CASS). The first JASM, held in 2014, included four societies (NALMS joined CASS in 2017).
JASM by the numbers: 3,421 registrants, with 2,463 in-person attendees, and a total of 57 countries represented! As there were 2,500+ abstract submissions, the program was huge, with many concurrent sessions over the course of five days. It was also very dynamic, as hundreds of presenters made a last-minute switch from in-person to virtual participation. We also had two of our plenary speakers impacted by illness, one of whom notified us the morning that she was to speak that she literally could not talk. All JASM registrants are encouraged to check out all the plenary talks as well as the recorded presentations and poster pdfs on demand, as there is so much good science being done around the world. Your link to the site will remain functional for six months.
The meeting included over a hundred symposia on a multitude of topics, including harmful algae blooms, pollutants such as nutrients and plastics, and climate change impacts to aquatic ecosystems. There were special sessions such as “The Clean Water Act at 50” and “Reviving the Freshwater Imperative” which included presenters from a variety of CASS member societies; the collaboration across societies is one of the great benefits of joint meetings such as this one.
Our last-minute change to the Friday plenary session allowed us time to feature a group of African women scientists, who were supported by the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE). The co-founder of ACARE, Ted Lawrence (upper right), advisor Stephanie Smith (lower left) and myself (lower right) also spoke during the plenary time.
NALMS President-Elect Kiyoko Yokota (right) at a poster session.
How do you entice people to attend a discussion session on the last afternoon of the meeting…?
Yes, there was a JASM attendee hockey game!
One of many highlights of the meeting was an exhibit of handwoven jacquard portraits, called Women in Water, by Mary Burns (www.manitowishriverstudio.com). The exhibit is a celebration of the women who work with, protect, and advocate for water. The women in these works: Ikal Angelei, Nafisa Barot, Sharon Day, and Rachel Carson. The African women with ACARE met with the artist, and she will feature them in a future portrait.
NALMS members who participated in JASM planning: Lisa Borre (Sponsorships Co-Chair), Al Steinman and Mark Luttenton (Local Arrangements Co-Chairs), Sara Peel, Michelle Balmer (Michelle also reviewed abstracts and served as a moderator as well as staffing the NALMS booth), and myself (Plenary Subcommittee Chair, abstract reviewer).
CASS Update
Mixing it up: representatives from CERF, SFS, IAGLR, and PSA at an evening CASS session.
We took advantage of the opportunity to have several “Future of CASS” discussion sessions during the week of JASM 2022. We recognize the need to have our members better understand what the Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies is and does, how we can strengthen our governance model so that we work together more effectively, and how we can establish priorities based on mutual interests. You will be hearing more about what we are working on as the year progresses, as we incorporate feedback from these sessions and from the JASM survey which was recently sent out. One thing we discussed was more involvement from students, and we were excited to have two NALMS student members, Keiko Wilkins and Camille Mosley, as well as President-Elect Kiyoko Yokota, participate in both a LEAPS workshop and Future of CASS meetings.
JEDI Program Update: Charting a Course for Increasing Diversity in an Aquatic Science Society
Keiko Wilkins, Sarah Burnet, Danielle Wain, Mark Rosenkranz, & Vinicius Taguchi
NALMS JEDI Program Representatives
diversity@nalms.org
NALMS was thrilled to take part in the 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting (JASM), where representatives from our program were given the opportunity to present on NALMS’ efforts to increase and promote EDI in our programs, events, and overall mission.
Learn more about the JEDI program.