{"id":129,"date":"2019-03-07T20:46:30","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T20:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/2018\/?page_id=129"},"modified":"2019-04-01T20:21:55","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T20:21:55","slug":"2018-esa-year-in-review-executive-director-catherine-oriordan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esa.org\/2018\/2018-esa-year-in-review-executive-director-catherine-oriordan\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 ESA Year in Review \u2014 Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Executive
Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2018 was a year of transition for ESA. <\/span>I was honored to have been chosen by the Governing Board to take the helm a<\/span>fter<\/span> ESA\u2019s third executive director<\/span>,<\/span> Katherine McCarter<\/span>,<\/span> retired in January<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>During 20 years of exemplary service, <\/span>Katherine<\/span> led the staff and <\/span>worked <\/span>with <\/span>members <\/span>to <\/span>creat<\/span>e<\/span> robust programs and put ESA on solid financial ground. Special thanks to ESA chief financial officer Elizabeth Biggs, who served <\/span>as<\/span> interim <\/span>executive director <\/span>from January until April. <\/span>One of my primary objectives as executive director <\/span>will be <\/span>to build upon <\/span>Katherine\u2019s<\/span> legacy an<\/span>d<\/span> bring my expertise as a scientist and association executive to strengthen ESA.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its 103<\/span>rd<\/span> year of existence, ESA <\/span>continues to evolve to become an organization where volunteer leaders are supported by professional staff to manage the Society business and support the science and the community.\u00a0 In 2018, <\/span>f<\/span>inancial results were strong<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>ESA has strengthened our productive journal publishing partnership with Wiley. <\/span>The publications program continued to grow with Ecosphere publishing more than 450 articles, a <\/strong><\/span>record<\/strong>. More than<\/span>\u00a03,500 scientists <\/span>participated in <\/span>the Annual Meeting in New Orleans. We continued to contribute to ESA\u2019s financial health by adding to our reserves, currently at $3.7M. ESA still has <\/span>some distance<\/span> to go to <\/span>reach its goal of one year\u2019s operating budget in reserves, but we are well on our way.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2018 was also marked by some important milestones in ESA programs<\/span>. Highlights\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>include:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n