WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2022 11 at meetings, student activities, chances to serve on committees and the formation of student sub-units at schools around the nation. Looking forward, I hope to expand the USAS platform to be intentionally inclusive and serving traditionally under-represented populations. Specifically, my hope is to use this year to formulate an internship program that does just this with the aim of providing hands-on research opportunities for students from primarily minorityserving institutions that provide these students the experience, expertise and skills to compete successfully for careers in the US aquaculture industry. I welcome your thoughts about this program, as well as suggestions for funding mechanisms. Finally, I’m hopeful that the hiatus from regular meetings and our chances to gather together in-person has helped each of us realize howmuch we value these meetings and our membership in USAS. Frommy point of view, I hadn’t intellectually forgotten the value of going to in-person meetings, but I still felt a rush of excitement and energy at seeing colleagues and friends (old and new) at the meeting in San Diego. In fact, I climbed through some bushes when I recognized one longtime friend that I hadn’t seen in ages! As an advisor, it was a joy to get several students and my lab manager to what was for many of them their first big scientific meeting. I hope to build on that feeling as we work towards an amazing Aquaculture America meeting in NewOrleans, 23-26 February 2023! Please get this meeting on your calendar now and make plans; it’ll be a great meeting! —Bill Walton, President U.S. Aquaculture Society With a great meeting in San Diego behind us (see sidebars on this year’s five professional award winners and you’ll likely be as impressed as I am with their accomplishments), I’m looking forward to a busy, exciting year for the United States Aquaculture Society. We know that the past couple years have posed substantial challenges to our work and we should expect that there will be more challenges ahead. Despite those, there are several reasons for USAS members to be hopeful about what’s ahead. The first reason is that we still enjoy the guidance of Dr. Dennis McIntosh as our Past-President. In this role for the coming year, Dennis will continue to provide his wisdom, thoughtfulness, and generosity to USAS. I know that I plan to keep Dennis as one my ‘frequent contacts’! If you see Dennis, please thank him for his leadership through some very trying times. The second reason to be hopeful is the slate of amazing candidates that you have elected to serve USAS going forward. The Chapter has added four new voices and perspectives – all women, which is a first in any of our elections and results in the first majorityfemale Board in USAS history. I’ll work closely with Dr. Anita Kelly as President-Elect, Dr. Gulni Ozbay as Vice-President and Board Members Drs. MickWalsh and Abigail Bockus to ensure that USAS is on the right track. The third reason to be hopeful is that USAS will continue its strong support of students. I am eager to continue the tradition of USAS being a platform for career development for individuals interested in US aquaculture. We have done this through awards C H A P T E R R E P O R T S Terrill ‘Terry’ Hanson and value chain analysis. His work, including time at Mississippi State University, has focused on catfish, freshwater prawns, crawfish, hybrid striped bass, tilapia, shrimp and baitfish grown in ponds, raceways and recirculating systems. In addition to a wide array of research projects, Dr. Hanson has assisted two trade adjustment assistance programs to benefit US catfish producers and helped with development of insurance programs. He has been a leader in the innovative Pond-to-Plate project that seeks to reduce wastes and improve efficiency using LEAN manufacturing techniques across the value stream. Dr. Hanson has always been dedicated to high-quality research and providing service to the US aquaculture industry. Dr. Hanson has been an active member of WAS and USAS since 1990 and has been involved with several other aquaculture and economic professional societies and industry development groups over the years. His service to the scientific community is impressive, serving as reviewer for 20+ journals, regional USAS Awards at Aquaculture 2022 in San Diego Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award – Terrill ‘Terry’ Hanson The United States Aquaculture Society’s Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award is the Chapter’s means of highlighting and thanking an individual for a lifetime dedicated to aquaculture in the United States. This award recognizes an individual who has made contributions and broad impacts throughout his/her career to aquaculture in the United States through research, education, extension and/or industry development. This award recognizes a long-time commitment of service to aquaculture that is deemed highly significant and enduring. At Aquaculture 2022, USAS awarded a Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Terrill (Terry) Hanson for a career spanning over 35 years. Currently an aquaculture economist at Auburn University – School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Dr. Hanson has conducted research on various aspects of fish culture economics, including production cost analysis related to fish nutrition, fish health, water quality, production systems, genetics ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 2 )
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