2025-2026 AFS Nominating Committee
- Laurie Earley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nominating Committee Chair
- Caleb Hasler, University of Winnipeg, Nominating Committee Vice Chair
- Miguel Garcia-Bermudez, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Immediate Past President
- Jud Kratzer, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Northeastern Division Representative
- Anthony Overton, Samford University, Southern Division Representative
- Greg Sass, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, North Central Division Representative
- Tim Copeland, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Western Division Representative
- Julie Carter, Arizona Fish and Game Department, At-large member
- Joe Kozfkay, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, At-large member
- Lynn Quattro, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, At-large member
- Eric Fetherman, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, At-large member
Each year, the AFS Governing Board and President-Elect appoint an 11-member Nominating Committee. The Committee is composed of a representative from each AFS Division (Northeastern, North Central, Southern, and Western), four at-large AFS members, a Chair, a Vice Chair, and the incoming Past President. The Committee is charged with selecting a slate of potential candidates for Second Vice President. Previous articles (Conroy et al. 2022; Kopaska et al. 2023; Zipp et al. 2024) have summarized the approaches taken by the committee. Following a similar procedure, the Nominating Committee considered the strengths of the current officers, the future direction of AFS, and potential areas of fisheries expertise that were absent this year. The primary goal of the committee this year was to complement the strengths of the current leadership to meet the needs of AFS. Recognizing that there was representation from all Divisions among the current officers, geographic location was not a major consideration. Committee members canvassed over 25 members who possessed strong leadership qualities, a history of AFS involvement, and varied employer, employment status (retired vs. non-retired) and expertise. The committee ultimately ended up with five candidates, with one currently unable to commit due to unexpected personal circumstances, leaving four individuals who provided a biosketch for consideration. After review of the candidates, each committee member ranked the potential nominees, and the top two candidates were nominated for this year’s election. The final two candidates are polishing off their statements and their information will be shared with the membership in the coming weeks.
The Nominating Committee fully recognizes that there are likely many exceptional leaders among our membership who may not have been considered this year or within the committee members’ networks, and seeking recommendations or self-nominations. If you or someone you know would be interested in becoming an officer of the Society, please submit their name, contact information, and a brief, few sentence background (current position within the fisheries profession, geographic location, AFS leadership experience) to Nominating Committee Chair Laurie Earley via this form. Self-nominations are welcome!
Citations:
Conroy, J. D., E. Goerig, J. Jackson, J. Kopaska, T. Lang, J. Mistak, B. Murphy, T. Pearsons, and M. Rowan. 2022. Focused process: nominating the next AFS Second Vice President candidates. Fisheries 47:129.
Kopaska, J., D. Brauch, J. D. Conroy, L. Dorsey, E. Goerig, M. Fincel, P. Kusnierz, B. Missildine, L. Roulson, and K. Zipp. 2023. Building the team: nominating the 2023 AFS Second Vice President candidates. Fisheries 48:123–124.
Zipp, K., J. Kopaska, A. Croxton, L. Dorsey, L. Earley, E. Fetherman, P. Kusnierz, B. Missildine, Nerbonne, and J. Whittier. 2024. Future-Focused Leadership: 2024 AFS Second Vice President Nominations. Fisheries 49:135-136.
