18 JUNE 2024 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG task with lots of added work to a busy student’s schedule, but the requirements are simple. A student must gather at least six USAS members from their home institution and create individualized by-laws to submit a Sub-Unit application. The six USAS members do not have to be students exclusively, just those affiliated with the institution and the proposed Student SubUnit. Once the application is complete, the USAS Student Sub-Unit Committee reviews the petition for formation and makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors. The Board will vote to admit the new Student Sub-Unit. Upon request at the time of application, the Student SubUnit may be provided with USD $500 in start-up funds from USAS, following official recognition. The funds can be used for various purposes, such as marketing the new Sub-Unit, seed money for fundraising activities, travel funds for conferences, or other aquaculture events. The Student Sub-Unit is responsible for submitting an annual report each January that outlines activities completed during the previous year as well as a Treasurer’s report. A list of Student Sub-Units, their by-laws, and annual reports can be viewed on the USAS Student SubUnit webpage, which is linked to the QR code provided at right (Figure 1). The USAS offers a variety of benefits to recognized Sub-Units in addition to start-up funds, most of which focus on the annual Aquaculture America (or Triennial Aquaculture) conference. Each active Sub-Unit is eligible for a student travel award that covers the cost of one early bird student registration each year. Student members of Sub-Units who attended the most recent The The United States Aquaculture Society (USAS) has a place for everyone in its ranks — including students. Students can become involved in the USAS through paid membership with voting privileges or via the free World Aquaculture Society complimentary student membership without voting rights. Once they are USAS members, students can form a Student Sub-Unit at their home institution. Student Sub-Units (comparable to aquaculture clubs) are a great way for undergraduate and graduate students to engage with different types of aquaculture at local scales, create educational, professional, and outreach opportunities for student members, and expand the missions and reach of USAS and WAS. Student Sub-Units are a relatively new benefit of the USAS, with the first subunits forming in 2018 under Angela Caporelli’s presidency. Angela wrangled with the idea of how to increase the long-term involvement of students within the USAS. Students mainly attended the Aquaculture America (or Triennial Aquaculture) conference to present their thesis or dissertation research, but there was low student retention and involvement within the USAS. Thus sprung forth the idea of Student Sub-Units. Sub-Units became a mechanism to increase involvement and track student demographics in the USAS, understand how students participated in aquaculture in various regions of the United States, determine what students wanted to get out of the USAS, and offer a platform to transfer student information and ideas back to the USAS Board of Directors. The USAS currently supports nine Student Sub-Units, with at least two other institutions considering formation. Starting a Student Sub-Unit might seem like an insurmountable Student Sub-Units: The Future of USAS Julianne Grenn and Michelle Walsh Officers Hannah Knuckles and Levi Olhausen of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Student Sub-Unit work a booth at the Wetlands and Wildlife Festival. Sub-Unit President Maggie Lawrence from Lake Superior State University plants two Eastern White Cedars at the LSSU Native American Center that were grown in the Sub-Unit’s aquaponic systems.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=