Bylaws

BYLAWS: THE EARLY CAREER ECOLOGIST SECTION

ARTICLE 1. NAME. The official name of the Section shall be the Early Career Ecologist Section of the Ecological Society of America.

ARTICLE 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of the Early Career Ecologist Section of the Ecological Society of America, hereafter the “Section”, is to 1) make resources accessible to early career ecologists in the topics of scholarship, teaching, service, and personal/professional development; 2) foster dialogue among members of the Section and the Society on these topics of interest; 3) serve as a formal means of communicating the interests and concerns of early career ecologists with the Society; 4) and otherwise promote the interests of early career ecologists, broadly defined.

ARTICLE 3. ORGANIZATION. The Section shall be a subdivision of the Ecological Society of America, Incorporated, hereafter the “Society”, and shall be governed by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Society.

ARTICLE 4. MEMBERS. Any member of the Society may become a member of the Section upon payment of the designated dues.

ARTICLE 5. OFFICERS. The Officers of the Section shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair, Past-Chair, and Secretary. The Officers comprise the Coordinating Committee and may act on behalf of the Section membership during intervals between annual meetings. Election of Officers shall be by majority vote of those members present at the Section’s annual business meeting. Each Officer will serve a term of one year.

5.1. CHAIR. The Chair shall preside at the business meetings of the Section, authorize expenditures of Section funds, create and/or approve Section initiatives, and work with the other Officers to promote the interests of the Section. The Chair shall create auxiliary positions and committees as necessary for specific tasks at the discretion of the Chair. The Chair will represent the Section on the Council of the Society as per Article 6 of the Society Constitution.

5.2. VICE-CHAIR. The Vice-Chair shall assist the Chair in promoting the interests of the Section as requested by the Chair. The Vice-Chair shall assume the duties of the Chair whenever the Chair is unable to act. At the completion of the Vice-Chair’s term, the Vice-Chair may assume the office of Chair if they so choose.

5.3. PAST-CHAIR. Upon completion of the term as Chair, this person shall serve as Past- Chair. Duties will be limited to an advisory role as needed to support the actions of the Chair and the interests of the Section.

5.4. SECRETARY. The Secretary shall keep the records, accounts, and files of the Section, keep the minutes of the annual meeting, maintain up-to-date membership and email contact lists, dispatch communications between the Coordinating Committee andthe Section membership as requested by the Officers and approved by the Chair, and perform other duties at the discretion of the Chair to promote the interests of the Section.

ARTICLE 6. FINANCES. The Section will charge dues at a level approved by the Governing Board of the Society. Membership dues and donations shall constitute the treasury of the Section, from which the necessary expenses of the Section shall be paid. Section expenses shall in no year exceed the sum of the amount in the Section treasury. No Officer or member of the Section shall have authority to incur any expenses in the name of the Society or Section except as approved by the Chair and as specified above.

ARTICLE 7. COMMUNICATIONS. The Coordinating Committee will make adequate effort to communicate official notices to the Section membership. Official notices include, but are not limited to, notices of business meetings, Officer elections, Bylaws amendments, and annual

reports. It is understood that adequate effort to communicate an official notice may include, but does not necessitate, a notice published in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, a notice emailed to the membership email contact list, and/or a notice posted on the Section website.

ARTICLE 8. MEETINGS. A business meeting of the Section shall be held at least once per year. Efforts will be made such that the annual business meeting of the Section will be held concurrently with the annual meeting of the Society. The Coordinating Committee may organize additional and/or alternative business meetings at other times and places at the approval of the Chair, with at least one member of the Coordinating Committee present to preside. Notice of Section business meetings will be published in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, as specified by Bylaw 13 of the Society Bylaws.

ARTICLE 9. PUBLICATION. The annual report of the Section and its official notices shall be eligible for publication in the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America.

ARTICLE 10. AMENDMENTS. These Bylaws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the membership attending any business meeting of the Section, provided that notice of the proposed amendment has been communicated to the Section membership at least 14 days prior to the business meeting as per Article 7 of the Section Bylaws.