News from the President and Board

Meet SMM President, Simon Goldsworthy

I have been a member of the SMM for over 30 years. After completing my BSc (1987) and PhD (1993) at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), I undertook a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship with the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC). Since then, I have principally worked as a government scientist in multiple agencies, but also as an academic (La Trobe University, Melbourne), and am currently an Affiliate Professor with The University of Adelaide and Flinders University (South Australia). For almost two-decades I have worked as a Principal Scientist with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) in Adelaide (South Australia), where my research has focused on mitigating marine mammal interactions with fisheries and aquaculture, and the population and foraging ecology of recovering long-nosed fur seals, and the endangered Australian sea lion.

Within the SMM I have acted on the Board of Editors for Marine Mammal Science (2007- 2014), and on the SMM Board as a Member at Large (2010-2014), and most recently as President-elect (2020-2022). As President I wish to enhance the Society’s visibility, impact and the opportunities for members and students to communicate and promote their research. The world’s ecological and climate systems are facing unprecedented threats from human impacts, and the rapidity of change is placing extreme pressure on many marine mammal species and their ecosystems. I believe that at no time has the Society’s mission to promote the global advancement of marine mammal science and increase its relevance and impact in education, conservation and management been so important.

 

November 12, 2020

Discussion Panel on Unpaid Positions in Science

Dear Colleagues, We all agree that our marine mammal community, and science in general, benefits from increased diversity. We all agree that barriers to diversity and inclusiveness, where they exist, should be dismantled. In July 2020, the SMM received a petition requesting that the Society no longer post unpaid positions on our job board, as […]

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October 13, 2020

SMM Changing Policies to Allow for Stipends in Small Grant in Aid of Research Program

The Society for Marine Mammalogy is pleased to announce a substantive change to its Small Grant in Aid of Research (SGIAR) program. Beginning with the 2021 funding cycle, applicants can request a portion of the award to be allocated as a stipend. Specifically, SGIAR guidelines now allow applicants to provide “a detailed one-year, itemized budget […]

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August 30, 2020

SMM Strategic Planning

Aloha SMM Members- The Society for Marine Mammalogy began its journey some five decades ago. Our first focus was bringing marine mammal professionals together on a regular basis to share our science- thus our biennial conferences were born. Following that publication of Marine Mammal Science, our flagship science product, was started to disseminate our science […]

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Update on the Society’s Virtual Conversation on Unpaid Internships

Aloha Everyone- Just wanted to post a short update to let you know that the planning is still going on for the our digital meeting to continue the conversation on unpaid internships.  My original hope was to have it happen in August but we have passed that deadline. We have pulled together most of the […]

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July 21, 2020

Update Regarding Petition Related to Unpaid Internships

I wanted to put out a quick update on behalf of the Society for Marine Mammalogy Board regarding the petition related to unpaid internships and the subsequent discussion on MARMAM and beyond.   It is encouraging to see ongoing dialogue and the evolution of various positions as more voices and perspectives engage on the issue. At […]

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