Cecil Jennings Elected AFS Second Vice President

The American Fisheries Society is proud to announce that Cecil Jennings, Ph.D., has been elected as our next Second Vice President. He will take office at the AFS Business Meeting to be held virtually in September 2020.

Jennings is a Fisheries Research Biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. His work addresses an assortment of fish management or conservation issues and includes investigations into fish population dynamics, life history, age and growth, food habits, habitat use and movement patterns, assemblage response to habitat perturbations, and human dimensions. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Fisheries in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. Previously, he worked with the Virgin Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Jennings holds a bachelor’s degree in biology/natural science/conservation from Carthage College, a master’s degree in wildlife and fisheries ecology from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in fisheries science from the University of Florida.

“I am truly honored to have been elected by my colleagues to this position and I am looking forward to being a part of the AFS leadership team,” Jennings said. “My goals are to see AFS continue to improve through assessing our effectiveness and making changes as necessary to fulfill our core mission.”

Jennings is a life member and Fellow of AFS and has been involved in the Society for 35 years. He has served on 12 different committees, as president of the Georgia Chapter and Southern Division, as an Associate Editor for two of the Society’s journals (North American Journal of Fisheries Management and Transactions of the American Fisheries Society), and on the AFS Governing Board.

In his candidate statement, Jennings noted that in today’s environment, “business as usual” may not be the most effective approach to achieving AFS’s mission.

“The American Fisheries Society has thrived as long as it has because it has been responsive to societal changes and challenges without compromising its core beliefs. Deciding when responses are necessary has been key to this success,” Jennings said. “In my view, our profession is at such a crossroad and is facing new challenges that require innovative responses. For example, our inability to communicate the importance of what we do to our constituents, who may be increasingly skeptical to our appeals to protect and conserve our fishery resources, is one such challenge.”

We would like to thank Julie Defilippi Simpson for running in this year’s election and for her dedicated service to Society.