Category Archives: Presidential Letters

Remembering Ian Stirling (1941–2024)

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Dear Colleagues,

14 May 2024 marked the first anniversary of the passing of Dr. Ian Stirling.

The Society for Marine Mammalogy pauses to remember and celebrate his extraordinary life and enduring legacy.

Ian was a pioneer in polar bear ecology and one of the world’s foremost authorities on Arctic marine mammals. Over a career spanning more than five decades, his work transformed our understanding of polar bears, seals, and other marine mammals across both polar regions. His meticulous long-term studies revealed the profound effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems, and he was among the earliest scientists to articulate the risks posed by sea ice loss to polar bears.

Ian was a charter member and Life Member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy and served as its President from 1996 to 1998—the first Canadian to do so. He was also a founding member of the original editorial board for Marine Mammal Science and was honoured with the Society’s Norris Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2013. His influence extended beyond his own science: he mentored dozens of students, collaborated widely, and worked tirelessly to ensure that traditional knowledge and community partnerships informed wildlife research and conservation.

Ian’s deep commitment to science communication also left a lasting mark. His five books on polar bears helped bring the Arctic into the public imagination and remain essential reading for anyone seeking to understand these iconic animals and the threats they face.

On a personal note, I corresponded with Ian over many years and always looked forward to catching up with him at our biennial meetings. Some years ago, he sent me his original field notebooks from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he was working on fur seals and sea lions at the South Neptune Islands in South Australia. They now sit in an archive box in my office titled The Stirling Chronicles—a gift I treasure deeply. That gesture, like so many of Ian’s, spoke to his kindness, generosity, and enduring passion for marine mammal science.

Ian was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and a cherished friend to many in our community. Even in retirement, he continued his fieldwork in the Arctic and Antarctic and remained an active voice for conservation. He was a remarkable scientist and human being who had an incredible impact on our field and on our Society.

We honour his legacy—with respect, gratitude, and remembrance.

Warm regards,
Simon Goldsworthy
President, Society for Marine Mammalogy

Nominate a SMM Member to be a Fellow for the Class of 2023

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Announcement and Date extension

NOMINATE A FELLOW MEMBER
In 2019, the members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) voted to establish a Fellows Membership Category. We are pleased to announce our Society’s second call for nominations of Fellow Members.

The SMM Constitution identifies a ‘Fellow’ as a member who is being recognized by the Society and its membership as having “rendered conspicuous service or made truly notable contributions to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of marine mammal science or the fostering of its practical applications through conservation of marine mammals. Payment of dues to the Society by the Fellow would remain the same as for a normal Full member.”

Nominations are Open.
We are pleased to announce that the nomination period is extended until 15 January 2024. So please come nominate a Fellow for the Society.

ELIGIBILITY
Any current Full member of the SMM after being a Full member for a minimum of five years is eligible. These five years do not have to be contiguous. Please confirm with the nominee that they meet the five-year eligibility criterion prior to submission.

Note: the current members of the SMM Board (which includes elected officers and committee chairs) are not eligible for consideration for Fellows status.

HOW TO NOMINATE
If you are a current SMM member, you may nominate an eligible SMM member as a Fellow. We ask that you submit a complete dossier, described in detail below, to the Fellows Nomination web page by 15 January 2024. The dossier must be uploaded to the Fellows Nomination web page as a single .pdf document.

Each dossier shall include the following elements.

(1) Letter of Nomination. This letter should provide insight into a nominee’s service, notable contributions to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of marine mammal science, or the fostering of its practical applications through the conservation of marine mammals. The nominating letter can be no longer than one page (12 pt font).
The Committee will consider the following factors:

  1. service to the Society;
  2. contributions to marine mammal science including activities such as publications and presentations, field work, research and development, or administrative and logistical support; or
  3. contributions to the teaching or dissemination of knowledge of marine mammal science and conservation. Due to the diversity of disciplines and activities of The Society for Marine Mammalogy members, the relative importance of these factors will differ from candidate to candidate. The Fellow candidate would be expected to be exemplary in, and have made substantial contributions to, at least one of these factors (e.g. be in the top 10% of the membership).

(2) Seconding letters. The dossier should also include two seconding letters, one of which must be from a current SMM member. Signed-in SMM members can search for all current members via the SMM Member Directory. Each seconding letter can be no longer than one page (12 pt font).

(3) Complete curriculum vitae of the nominee. The format and length of this document is unrestricted, as we are encouraging nominations of individuals from broadly different backgrounds and the standard CV formats across fields are likely different. Note that only text should be submitted as part of the CV. If audio or video files are relevant provide a link in the documents submitted.

(4) Proposed maximum 20-word citation for the Fellow (e.g., Kenneth S. Norris – for efforts to found the Society and contributions to the process of dolphin echolocation and hearing).

All materials must be uploaded here: https://marinemammalscience.org/about-us/fellows-program/fellows-program-nomination/

DOSSIER REVIEW PROCESS
The dossiers will be received by the committee Co-chairs and the SMM Members-at-Large.

Identifying information about the nominator and seconders will be redacted from each dossier to ensure a blind review. The Fellows Committees will be Co-Chaired by the Members-at-Large, who will form a committee of seven members holding Fellow status, and at least one contributing, but not voting student member, with attention paid to diversity of representation. Members will serve staggered, four-year terms. Fellows Committee members may not submit nominations. For more information about the Fellows Committee, please see the General Operating Policies of our SMM governing documents.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about the nomination process, please reach out to the Co-Chairs of the Fellows Committee, our Members-at-Large:
Cindy Peter and Dipani Sutaria (mal@marinemammalscience.org)
For any technical questions regarding the online application, please email admin@marinemammalscience.org.

Thank you,
Members-at-Large 2023
Society of Marine Mammalogy

Government of Mozambique chooses to relinquish seismic explorations in core dugong habitat in response to stakeholder input, including SMM Presidential Letter

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Good news!

In March 2020, SMM President, D. Ann Pabst signed an SMM Presidential Letter to attract the attention of the Government of Mozambique on the high risks involved in letting the South African SASOL oil giant conduct seismic explorations in core habitat of the last healthy population of dugongs in Africa.

Today South African petroleum giant, SASOL, announced that they have chosen to relinquish Blocks 16 & 19 (the area just to the north of the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in southern Mozambique) in their entirety to the Government of Mozambique and that the Mozambican authorities have been notified of this decision.

SASOL acknowledged all the comments received during the pre-feasibility phase of the EIA process from scientists, NGOs, tourism operators, fishers, local community members, and international authorities. They said they valued the input provided by these stakeholders.

They stated that they understood and appreciated the environmental sensitivity of the area in question and maintained that sustainability is integral to how SASOL conducts business.

This is encouraging not only for the dugongs – long may they live – but also because it shows that we must never give up.

See the Presidential Letter here:
https://marinemammalscience.org/…/presidential-letter-to-m…/

See Official Press Release here:
https://drive.google.com/…/1GdErAjUy1y9AToOWRUVEXgw2EW…/view