President's Slate
April 2024

It’s the final countdown! Da da dahh, Da da dadahh!

We are only weeks away from the AAUS Diving for Science Symposium in Fort Pierce, FL being held on 14-20 April 2024! Based on the registrations, we are on track to have a record-breaking year for attendance. Please look for emails relating to final details and any prerequisites for workshops.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone that is participating either as an attendee, vendor, speaker, or volunteer. We appreciate you all taking the time to join us. A special and huge thank you to our hosts, Smithsonian Marine Station, and FAU Harbor Branch. You all have dedicated a huge amount of time to make this event happen and we are incredibly grateful. I believe the AAUS community is one of its greatest strengths and I am honored to be a member of it. The annual symposium is at the heart of forming that community as it brings our academy together in person to discuss topics, learn new skills, and to share a beer. Speaking of beer, we will even have our own beer to toast with thanks to Sailfish Brewery! Thank you to everyone who participated in the beer naming email thread on the DSO Listserv. It was fun to see all the creative names. The name will be revealed on Wednesday, April 17th during the Bubble Breaker. Thank you again to everyone, and I am looking forward to seeing you all there!

A few other things to note before you go on to read the rest of the E-Slate. April 1st is a big day for AAUS, no April Fool’s joke intended, as Organizational Member and OM Statistics are now past due. Please remember that a new late fee has been added for those who missed the April 1st deadline, more details on that below.

April 1st also opens applications for our scholarships. The Scholarship Committee and the AAUS Foundation have been working hard to bring revised and new scholarships online for this year. The Foundational Instruction for New SCUBA Scientists (FINSS), formally known as the Diversity Scholarship, has been reworked and now will hopefully bring in more applications. Also, the highly anticipated DSO Scholarships are set to open April 1st. These scholarships are named after two influential DSOs in our community: Cheryl Thacker and Mike Dardeau. These scholarships will target current DSOs, ADSOs, and instructional staff to provide additional training or experiences to improve programs and encourage continuing education. Please go to the AAUS Foundation website for more information about all these fantastic opportunities!

For all those attending the symposium, please travel safely. We look forward to seeing you soon. For those unable to attend, you will be missed, and we hope to see you next time.

AAUS President