John I. Galvez
Background
I have been an American Fisheries Society and a Southern Division of AFS member for over three decades. I became a member after my major professor and one of my many mentors, Dr. Patricia “Pat” Mazik, took me to a SDAFS meeting, and showed me the advantage of becoming involved in a professional society. That was in 1991, and the SDAFS was quite a different place, still a very friendly society, but not as diverse as it is today. During those years I was pursuing my doctoral degree in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture at Auburn University, and I started working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After thirty-three years, I still enjoy working as a federal fishery biologist and love having one of the best jobs in the world. I also love being part of the Southern Division of the AFS.
Professional Activities
At AFS, I have been involved at the local, regional, and international levels. For SDAFS, I served as the Associate Editor (Fisheries) for the Proceedings of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA). For helping organize the Fisheries sessions of six of SEAFWA’s annual meeting, the SDAFS presented to me their Distinguished Service Award. I have been involved by attending annual meetings and by serving in the Site Selection sub-Committee for the 1996 Spring meeting in Mobile, 2011 annual conference in Tampa and the 2018 meeting in Puerto Rico. At these meetings, I was involved in organizing the Student Career Workshops, sometimes serving as the federal representative, like during the 2024 annual meeting of the Florida Chapter of the AFS. I have also served as associate editor and reviewer for a number of scientific publications including the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, Progressive Fish-Culturists, Transactions of AFS, and the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. At the international level, I was one of the organizers of the first AFS – Latin America and Caribbean Fisheries Congress (May 2023) in Cancun, Mexico.
Vision
When you become a professional fishery biologist you transition from being mentored by your major professor or by a senior biologist at your place of work, to becoming a mentor for others. Throughout my time in our Division, I’ve observed firsthand how mentoring benefits biologists at all levels. Even though the Division does a great job in developing the career of its members, there is always room for improvement in mentoring efficacy. People with mentors perform better and generally advance in their careers faster, with more work-life satisfaction than those without effective mentoring. My goal as vice-president will be to help shape the professional growth environment for chapter members, by encouraging the development of mentoring relationships at all levels, especially with students, to empower the next generations of fishery professionals. I would also like to expand its membership in the Division and Society so others can benefit for all the Society has to offer. I am excited about the opportunity to serve the Southern Division Leadership Team and contribute to the governance of Division. I would be honored to have your support of my candidacy for SDAFS Vice President.
Kyle J. Hartman
Background
I grew up in Ohio and spent my summers fishing the small lakes at campgrounds where my parents had a small trailer. We also fished for Yellow Perch from the break walls in Lake Erie. It is from those experiences that I formed my passion about fish and fisheries. I had a round-about way to get to where I am today. I earned an A.S. degree in Natural Resources Law Enforcement from Hocking College in 1980. From there I (literally) walked into a temporary position with the Ohio Division of Wildlife to be an onboard observer of the Ohio gillnet fishery. After 2 years I went to Ohio State University where I completed a B.S. in Natural Resources Fish Management in 1984. It was there that I met my friend and mentor, Joe Margraf, at whose urging I joined AFS and later became a life member. I spent 2 years working in the Great Lakes with Paul Bauman and the USFWS before returning to Ohio State for my M.S., working with Walleye under Joe Margraf and graduating in 1989. I came to the SDAFS for the first time in 1989 where I completed my Ph.D. in 1993 under Steve Brandt at the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. From 1994-1996 it was back to the Great Lakes where I was a research scientist in the SUNY system. In 1996 I finally put down roots in the Southern Division when I was hired as an assistant professor at West Virginia University. One of the first things I did was to work with students and the WV State Chapter to start and advise the WVU Student subunit. We drafted and submitted by-laws and were swiftly admitted into AFS.
Professional Activities
My mentors instilled in me the responsibility I feel to give back to our professional society because that was the expectation and example they set. I have been an active member of AFS at various levels throughout my career. I have organized symposia at several AFS meetings and served as an associate editor and a special editor for Transactions. Administratively I have served as president of the WV Chapter and co-founder and President of the Fish Habitat Section where I also served on the Management Committee for AFS. I have served as program chair for the AFS meeting in Pittsburgh, the SDAFS meeting in Wheeling, and the NY and WV Chapters of AFS. I try to be active with education and student recognition in the Society and have served as the chair of the Education Section’s Best Student Paper (twice) and the Fish Habitat Section’s Best Student Paper award (thrice). I am a member of the SDAFS Trout Committee and frequent conference attendee. Being elected as an SDAFS Officer would allow me to continue giving back to the society that has opened so many doors for me.
Vision
My vision for SDAFS is to promote and create value in being a member of AFS that results in a better trained network of fisheries professionals that are prepared to tackle the difficult issues we are facing and have yet to face. To some extent I think we can apply the same 3R approach used to strategically increase and diversify participation in fishing and hunting to our professional society. At the universities we can begin the process of recruitment (the 1st R) through active student subunits that demonstrate the value of belonging in AFS and by promoting student participation in state chapters and SDAFS. The Southern Division has historically done a great job of this by offering hourly pay, registrations and/or student lodging for students at the annual meeting. Years ago, SDAFS also provided funding for Student Colloquiums. These are great ways to get students “in the door,” and should be continued or expanded. Once we get them in the door, I am confident that the welcoming persona that is the SDAFS will make them want to come back. However, to retain them as students become young professionals (the 2nd R), we need to demonstrate the continued value of SDAFS.
If you are reading this, you are already a member of SDAFS. Chances are that you already know the value of the society. However, something each of us can do is to communicate the importance and value of being an AFS member to others. I am sure that all our members have a story about how AFS has benefitted them professionally or personally, or both. Share that with a student chapter meeting, during a coffee break, or at a student-mentor lunch. It may help to engage a new generation of fisheries professionals. We should all strive to leave our fish and aquatic resources in better shape than we found them. If I am elected to be the president of SDAFS it would be my honor to work with our members and potential members to do just that.