AFS Beneath the Surface

Meet the people working to make the American Fisheries Society a resource and community for fisheries professionals, and learn more about current AFS programs and upcoming events.

AFS Section Roundup: Marine Fisheries Section

This week, we're making another stop on the tour of AFS Sections, and this time it's the Marine Fisheries Section (MFS). Susan Piacenza, the current president of the Section, stopped by the podcast recently to share updates about MFS activities - and to chat about her work with sea turtles!   Episode guest: Susan Piacenza Oregon State University Marine Fisheries Section President https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/susie-piacenza susan.piacenza@oregonstate.edu   Marine Fisheries Section: https://mfs.fisheries.org/   AFS Updates and Links: AFS Membership - renewals and new members   Upcoming online sessions include: Fisheries Community Check In - October 14 Invasive Species Database Webinar - October 28 Higher-Level Thinking online course - October 30 AFS Certification - online application overview - November 5 Fisheries Community Check In - November 6    

10-10
29:26

2025 Excellence in Public Outreach Award recipient David Shiffman

AFS is back with a new "Beneath the Surface" episode! This time, we're highlighting 2025 Excellence in Public Outreach honoree, David Shiffman. David shares insights on social media best practices and why sharks matter!   Episode guest: David Shiffman https://davidshiffmancv.com/ David.Shiffman@gmail.com   July 2025 Fisheries article: https://academic.oup.com/fisheries/article/50/7/316/8107657   AFS Updates:

09-19
25:19

AFS Section Roundup: Invasive and Introduced Species Section

The AFS Sections roundup continues today with an introduction to the Invasive and Introduced Species Section! Today's guest is Nathan Lederman, the Section's current president. Join us to learn about this section's history and current projects. To learn more, join their business meeting at the AFS Annual Meeting next month!   Episode guest: Nathan Lederman nathaniel.lederman@wisconsin.gov   Learn more about the American Fisheries Society and our upcoming Annual Meeting! Comments or suggestions? Submit via email to lmaza@fisheries.org    

07-14
27:55

AFS Emerging Leaders (ELMA) program

What's an ELMA? To find out more, I went to Drew Holloway and Patrick Cooney, who are both former participants in the Emerging Leaders Mentorship Awards (ELMA) program. Drew and Patrick are currently serving as the ELMA committee chairs, working to mentor the current class of ELMAs and passing on lessons to the incoming class.   Episode Guests: Patrick Cooney Drew Holloway Emerging Leaders Mentorship Awards   Updates: San Antonio Annual Meeting registration-the early bird deadline has been extended through July 8 July webinar- Meeting Planning: A deep dive

06-20
47:31

Book preview - Fishes of Puerto Rico

Today's episode features a preview of the first open access book to be published by AFS! Freshwater and Diadromous Fishes of Puerto Rico authors Gus Engman and Wes Neal recently stopped by the podcast to recap the book's development and the authors' history of freshwater research in Puerto Rico.   Freshwater and Diadromous Fishes of Puerto Rico Authors: Thomas J. Kwak Augustin C. Engman Craig G. Lilyestrom J. Wesley Neal María de Lourdes Olmeda Episode guests: Gus Engman University of Tennessee Wes Neal Mississippi State University

06-06
42:49

AFS Fishbook - Coming Soon!

AFS is excited to announce the launch of Fishbook - a fisheries collaborate network! In this episode, we're visiting with Beth Beard, to learn about the Fishbook project and how to join this online community. Episode guest: Beth Beard AFS Senior Communications Manager Fishbook is now online at https://fishbook.fisheries.org!   Update: AFS Annual Meeting Early Bird Registration deadline: June 4, 2025   Questions, comments, and suggestions for future podcast guests: lmaza@fisheries.org  

05-16
27:04

AFS Nominating Committee - candidate solicitation and vetting

Have you ever wondered how the AFS Second Vice Presidential candidates are selected each year? With the AFS election completed for 2025, we thought it would be a good time to reflect back on the candidate selection process. This week's guest is Eric Fetherman, who just completed his term as the Chair of the AFS Nominating Committee. Eric helps explain the candidate recruitment and vetting process for the AFS elections.   Episode guest: Eric Fetherman 2024-2025 AFS Nominating Committee Chair Colorado Parks & Wildlife   Updates: Fisheries Community Check-in May 7, 3 pm Eastern Time Join the session!   Webinar - Great Lakes May 13, 2 pm Eastern Time Register Now   Webinar suggestion form

05-02
19:40

2025 AFS Annual Meeting Preview

In this episode, San Antonio local meeting chair, Shaun Donovan, joins the podcast to preview the 2025 Annual Meeting. Learn about conference sessions and events, San Antonio travel tips, and more!   Episode guest: Shaun Donovan San Antonio River Authority Local Chair, 2025 AFS Annual Meeting https://afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org/ Interview recording date: April 2, 2025   2025 AFS Annual Meeting - abstract submission deadline: Extended through April 22   2025 AFS Officer Election: April 22 is the last date to vote! All members are encouraged to vote, via emailed instructions.  

04-18
27:36

AFS Awards Program - committee updates and career development

On today's episode, we're talking all about the AFS Awards program! Our guests are current AFS Awards Committee chairs - Jessica Mistak and Natalie Coash. Jess and Natalie stopped by to talk about current efforts to update to the awards program and this year’s schedule for announcing the 2025 award recipients. In addition, we spent a fair amount of time talking about how AFS committee leadership can positively impact career development. Episode guests: Natalie Coash Missouri Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit Jessica Mistak Michigan Department of Natural Resources   Updates: Annual Meeting: Abstract submission deadline: April 15 Registration is now open!   Upcoming Webinar: Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16   AFS Election: Now open through April 22, 2025 - members should vote via instructions sent through email   Comments or questions? Email us at lmaza@fisheries.org

04-04
35:23

AFS Sections Roundup: Student & Early Career Professionals Subsection

Join us for another stop on our tour of AFS Sections! In this episode, we're featuring the Student and Early Career Professionals Subsection of the Education Section. Hadley Boehm, the current president of the Subsection, joins Beneath the Surface to chat about the Subsection's projects, as well as the benefits of mentoring and getting involved with AFS.   Episode guest: Hadley Boehm President, Student and Early Career Professional Subsection https://students.fisheries.org/ Email: hadley.boehm@state.mn.us   Updates and Deadlines: 2025 Awards nominations deadline: April 1   Spring webinars: Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16   Annual Meeting: Abstract submission deadline: April 15 Registration is now open!   AFS Election: Now open through April 22, 2025 - members should vote via instructions sent through email

03-21
47:30

AFS Sections Roundup: Fisheries History Section

Interested in fisheries history? It's time to highlight another AFS Section - the Fisheries History Section! Section President Jeff Jolley joins the podcast to share updates on how this Section is working to reestablish itself and plan for the future.  Episode Guest: Jeff Jolley   Updates and Deadlines: 2025 Awards nominations deadline: April 1   Spring webinars: Indigenizing Salmon Science and Management: March 19 Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16   Annual Meeting: Abstract submission deadline: April 15 Registration is now open!   AFS Election: March 20 - April 22 - members will receive voting instructions via email

03-07
20:05

Part 2 of 2 - Meet Second VP Candidate Jeff Heindel

Part 2 of 2 in the Second Vice President Candidate series! The 2025 AFS officer election will be held March 20-April 22. AFS members will receive information via email regarding how to vote. Today on AFS Beneath the Surface, get to know Second Vice President candidate, Jeff Heindel. Jeff shares his professional background and past involvement with AFS, as well as some ideas for the future.   Send questions, comments, and future podcast topics to lmaza@fisheries.org.   Editor's note: I added a new feature this week - "chapter" markers, which should help separate the different sections of the audio file.

02-14
33:06

Part 1 of 2: Meet AFS Second VP Candidate, Brent Nichols

This episode is part one of a two-part series! The 2025 AFS officer election will be held March 20-April 22. Today on AFS Beneath the Surface, get to know Second Vice President candidate, Brent Nichols.  Brent stopped by Beneath the Surface to share his background and experience, so that AFS members and voters had a chance to "meet" him via this podcast episode.   Send questions, comments, and future podcast topics to lmaza@fisheries.org.    

02-08
22:48

Black Bass 2025 - symposium preview

Black Bass 2025 will be held in August in San Antonio, in conjunction with the 2025 AFS Annual Meeting. Today's episode features Dave Philipp, one of the conference chairs, who stopped by recently to share a preview of this summer's conference.   Episode guest: David Philipp, Fisheries Conservation Foundation Conference inquires: BlackBass2025@fishconserve.org Black Bass 2025 AFS Annual Meeting   Additional content may be added to this episode when more conference details become available!

01-24
27:56

AFS Policy - the whos, whats, and whys

What is AFS's role in policy? And honestly, what is policy anyway? To answer these questions, we're going back to the beginning of the AFS policy program and chatting with the first (but now retired!) AFS Policy Director, Tom Bigford.   Episode Guest: Tom Bigford   Updates: Data & Technology Section webinar January 28, 1 pm Eastern Time   2025 AFS Annual Meeting - Call for Sessions Closes January 24th  

01-11
31:05

Introduction to Development at AFS

Have you ever asked what the term development means to non-profit organizations? Is it grant writing/management, relationship management, or fundraising? (or all of the above and more?) AFS Development Manager, Jenna Hanks, is today's guest; she joins the podcast to help explain development at the American Fisheries Society.   Episode guest: Jenna Hanks AFS Development Manager AFS Development - Additional Information   Updates: Call for Submissions for symposia and continuing education courses for the 2025 Annual Meeting! Membership Renewals  

12-13
37:12

AFS Sections Roundup: Education Section

In today's episode, we're taking a deep dive into the AFS Education Section. Join us to learn more about this Section's current and upcoming projects!   Episode guest: Martin Hamel President, AFS Education Section Associate Professor,  Fisheries Management & Ecology, University of Georgia https://warnell.uga.edu/directory/people/martin-hamel   Updates Giving Tuesday is December 3, 2024!   Upcoming Webinar hosted by the Fisheries Management Section Conservation Milestone: Apache Trout Delisting December 4th at 1:30 pm   The Call for Submissions for 2025 Annual meeting symposia and continuing education courses opens on December 6th.

11-22
30:11

AFS Sections Roundup: Fisheries Management Section

Did you know that AFS has over 20 sections, which focus on specific interest areas within fisheries? In today's episode, we're providing an overview of the Fisheries Management Section (FMS).  Episode guest: Julie Carter President, AFS Fisheries Management Section https://fms.fisheries.org/   Upcoming webinar: Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management November 19, 2024 2 pm Eastern Time Register Now!

11-07
30:24

Meet the 2024-2025 AFS President - Miguel Garcia

Each year during the Annual Meeting, AFS welcomes a new president to lead the organization. In this episode, meet 2024-2025 AFS President Miguel Garcia Bermudez! Miguel shares his background and involvement in AFS, as well as what he's looking forward to during his presidency.   Episode guest: Miguel Garcia Bermudez AFS Officers' Bios   Updates/links: Best Student Presentations Webinar Thursday, October 24, 2024 3 pm Eastern Time   Committee Volunteer Interest Form

10-18
20:02

AFS Award of Excellence - Francis Juanes

Meet the 2024 Award of Excellence recipient, Francis Juanes in today's episode! Dr. Juanes talks about his current and future projects, as well as past involvement in AFS.   Guest: Francis Juanes Liber Ero Professor of Fisheries University of Victoria juanes@uvic.ca Lab website: https://juaneslab.weebly.com/ FishSounds: https://fishsounds.net/index.js   Updates from AFS: AFS photo album (2024 Annual Meeting and more): https://www.flickr.com/photos/americanfisheriessociety/albums Best Student Papers webinar: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a599dcba-811b-4191-be87-fef5c9eec9a1@ea04981a-ce57-48f5-96aa-0b09f880fa48    

10-04
19:22

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