Bylaws
BYLAWS OF THE PALEOECOLOGY SECTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Article 1. NAME
The official name of this Section shall be “The Paleoecology Section of the Ecological Society of America.”
Article 2. PURPOSE
The objectives of this Section shall be to encourage research and to sponsor meetings for the communication of results in all phases of paleoecology. The Paleoecology Section shall be a subdivision of the Ecological Society of America and shall be governed in all of its operations by the Constitution and Bylaws of that Society.
Article 3. MEMBERSHIP
Any member of any class of the Ecological Society of America who so desires can become a member of the Paleoecology Section by checking the appropriate area on the Ecological Society of America annual dues form and paying the appropriate Section dues. Members of the Section shall remain in good standing as long as they are members of the Ecological Society of America and pay the Section dues.
Article 4. OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS
The officers of the Section shall be a Chairperson, Vice‑Chairperson, and Secretary. Any member in attendance at the annual meeting shall be eligible for nomination as an officer. Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of attending members at the annual meeting.
Article 5. DUTIES OF THE CHAIRPERSON
The Chairperson shall preside at the business meeting of the Section, shall authorize expenditures of Section funds, and shall promote in every practical way, the interests of the Section. The Chairperson shall serve for a term of one year. The Chairperson shall represent the Section on the Council of the Society, and shall appoint committees as required to promote the interests of the Section. Such committees shall serve until the next annual meeting of the Section and may be reappointed at the discretion of the Chairperson.
Article 6. DUTIES OF THE VICE‑CHAIRPERSON
The Vice‑Chairperson shall arrange the scientific program, including field excursions, for all meetings of the Section, and shall assume the duties of the Chairperson whenever that person is unable to act. The office of the Vice‑Chairperson carries the responsibility of Chairperson‑Elect to succeed as the Chairperson in the following year. The Vice‑Chairperson shall serve for a term of one year.
Article 7. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.
The Secretary shall keep the records of the Section, including a current membership and mailing list. The Secretary shall edit a newsletter for communication of Section activities. The Secretary shall serve for a term of two years, and shall be eligible for reelection.
Article 8. FINANCES.
The necessary expenses of the Section shall be paid from the treasury of the Society, but in no year shall the total expenses of the Section exceed the sum of the amount allotted for this purpose in the annual budget of the Society plus the amount, if any, collected as dues by the Society on behalf of the Section. No officer or member of the Section shall have authority to incur expenses in the name of the Society, except as specified above.
Article 9. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
An Executive Committee, consisting of the officers of the Section, may act in behalf of the Section during intervals between annual meetings.
Article 10. MEETINGS.
The Section shall meet with the Society at its annual meeting, and may organize Section meetings at other times and places at the call of the Executive Committee, or when requested by ten members of the Section. A business meeting of the Section shall be held at the annual meeting, and members present shall constitute a quorum. Notice of the annual meeting shall be given each member of the Section at least sixty days in advance of each annual meeting, and it is understood that publication of a notice of the meeting in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America shall constitute adequate notice.
Article 11. NEWSLETTER
The newsletter shall be published at least once each year, at such time as to allow inclusion of a call for papers, symposium contributions and other Section business which requires the attention of the membership prior to the annual meeting. Publication of the newsletter in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America shall constitute fulfillment of this requirement. At least biennially, a current list of Section members shall be supplied to the membership.
Article 12. AMENDMENTS
These Bylaws may be amended by a two‑thirds vote of the attending members at any annual meeting of the Section, provided that notice of the proposed amendment has been supplied to members of the Section at least sixty days prior to the annual meeting date.
Article 13. EDWARD S. DEEVEY AWARD
The Section confers the Edward S. Deevey Award to honor Deevey’s contributions through fostering the highest quality paleoecological research by graduate students. The award of $100 [updated to $300 c. 2009] , drawn from the Section budget, recognizes the best oral or poster presentation in paleoecology by a graduate student at the annual meeting of the Society.
The Award competition shall be announced each year in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America at the same time as the Call for Papers for the annual meeting. To be considered for the Award, students must identify themselves by sending a copy of their abstract to the Section Chairperson with a letter to indicate their candidacy. The candidate must be the sole or senior author of the abstract, and must prepare and present an oral paper, or prepare, set up, and present a poster at the annual meeting. The candidate must be a graduate student or have completed a graduate degree within 9 months of the presentation. The paper must describe research used for obtaining a graduate degree.
The Deevey Award Selection Committee shall be composed of Section officers and such additional members as the Section Chair may appoint. Judging criteria shall be parallel to those used in evaluating the Buell and Braun Awards. Paleoecology is defined to include the study of ecological processes and patterns that occur on time scales at or greater than decades, and that use or interpret direct, long‑term biological, paleontological, sedimentary, historical, or similar records. Final decisions on eligibility of papers are made by the Award Committee.