AFS Beneath the Surface

AFS Nominating Committee - candidate solicitation and vetting

Have you ever wondered how the AFS Second Vice Presidential candidates are selected each year? With the AFS election completed for 2025, we thought it would be a good time to reflect back on the candidate selection process.This week's guest is Eric Fetherman, who just completed his term as the Chair of the AFS Nominating Committee. Eric helps explain the candidate recruitment and vetting process for the AFS elections.
 
Episode guest:
Eric Fetherman
2024-2025 AFS Nominating Committee Chair
Colorado Parks & Wildlife
 
Updates:
Fisheries Community Check-in
May 7, 3 pm Eastern Time
Join the session!
 
Webinar - Great Lakes
May 13, 2 pm Eastern Time
Register Now
 
Webinar suggestion form

2025 AFS Annual Meeting Preview

In this episode, San Antonio local meeting chair, Shaun Donovan, joins the podcast to preview the 2025 Annual Meeting. Learn about conference sessions and events, San Antonio travel tips, and more!
 
Episode guest:
Shaun Donovan
San Antonio River Authority
Local Chair, 2025 AFS Annual Meeting
https://afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org/
Interview recording date: April 2, 2025
 
2025 AFS Annual Meeting - abstract submission deadline:
Extended through April 22
 
2025 AFS Officer Election:
April 22 is the last date to vote! All members are encouraged to vote, via emailed instructions.
 

AFS Awards Program - committee updates and career development

On today's episode, we're talking all about the AFS Awards program! Our guests are current AFS Awards Committee chairs - Jessica Mistak and Natalie Coash. Jess and Natalie stopped by to talk about current efforts to update to the awards program and this year’s schedule for announcing the 2025 award recipients. In addition, we spent a fair amount of time talking about how AFS committee leadership can positively impact career development.
Episode guests:
Natalie Coash
Missouri Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit
Jessica Mistak
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
 
Updates:
Annual Meeting:
Abstract submission deadline: April 15Registration is now open!
 
Upcoming Webinar:
Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16
 
AFS Election:
Now open through April 22, 2025 - members should vote via instructions sent through email
 
Comments or questions?
Email us at lmaza@fisheries.org

AFS Sections Roundup: Student & Early Career Professionals Subsection

Join us for another stop on our tour of AFS Sections! In this episode, we're featuring the Student and Early Career Professionals Subsection of the Education Section. Hadley Boehm, the current president of the Subsection, joins Beneath the Surface to chat about the Subsection's projects, as well as the benefits of mentoring and getting involved with AFS.
 
Episode guest:
Hadley Boehm
President, Student and Early Career Professional Subsection
https://students.fisheries.org/
Email: hadley.boehm@state.mn.us
 
Updates and Deadlines:
2025 Awards nominations deadline: April 1
 
Spring webinars:
Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16
 
Annual Meeting:
Abstract submission deadline: April 15Registration is now open!
 
AFS Election:
Now open through April 22, 2025 - members should vote via instructions sent through email

AFS Sections Roundup: Fisheries History Section

Interested in fisheries history? It's time to highlight another AFS Section - the Fisheries History Section! Section President Jeff Jolley joins the podcast to share updates on how this Section is working to reestablish itself and plan for the future. 
Episode Guest:Jeff Jolley
 
Updates and Deadlines:
2025 Awards nominations deadline: April 1
 
Spring webinars:
Indigenizing Salmon Science and Management: March 19
Applied Genetics for Fisheries Management: April 16
 
Annual Meeting:
Abstract submission deadline: April 15Registration is now open!
 
AFS Election:
March 20 - April 22 - members will receive voting instructions via email

Part 2 of 2 - Meet Second VP Candidate Jeff Heindel

Part 2 of 2 in the Second Vice President Candidate series!
The 2025 AFS officer election will be held March 20-April 22. AFS members will receive information via email regarding how to vote.
Today on AFS Beneath the Surface, get to know Second Vice President candidate, Jeff Heindel. Jeff shares his professional background and past involvement with AFS, as well as some ideas for the future.
 
Send questions, comments, and future podcast topics to lmaza@fisheries.org.
 
Editor's note: I added a new feature this week - "chapter" markers, which should help separate the different sections of the audio file.

Part 1 of 2: Meet AFS Second VP Candidate, Brent Nichols

This episode is part one of a two-part series!
The 2025 AFS officer election will be held March 20-April 22. Today on AFS Beneath the Surface, get to know Second Vice President candidate, Brent Nichols. 
Brent stopped by Beneath the Surface to share his background and experience, so that AFS members and voters had a chance to "meet" him via this podcast episode.
 
Send questions, comments, and future podcast topics to lmaza@fisheries.org.
 
 

Black Bass 2025 - symposium preview

Black Bass 2025 will be held in August in San Antonio, in conjunction with the 2025 AFS Annual Meeting. Today's episode features Dave Philipp, one of the conference chairs, who stopped by recently to share a preview of this summer's conference.
 
Episode guest:
David Philipp, Fisheries Conservation Foundation
Conference inquires: BlackBass2025@fishconserve.org
Black Bass 2025
AFS Annual Meeting
 
Additional content may be added to this episode when more conference details become available!