January 2010

My message for all MOAFS members, fisheries and aquatic professionals is , “Attend the Missouri Natural Resources Conference.” This is great advice and I urge you to go. The theme of the conference this year is: Purposeful Risk Taking: Making Decisions in Dynamic Times. The conference dates are February 3, 4 and 5 at Tan-Tar-A at the Lake of the Ozarks. Mike Smith is the Chair of the Conference this year and he chose a stellar staff to head all the committee chairs to make this the best conference and he has spared no effort to do so.

The featured plenary speaker is Michael Fraidenburg. Mike spent his career in Washington State. He worked his way through the ranks from fisheries biologist to agency executive. He is now a principal in a nation consulting firm best known for its work on improving resource agency effectiveness. Michael Fraidenburg is the author of Intelligent Courage and he wrote it to provide mentoring opportunities to natural resource professionals; to share lessons learned that can help new professionals prepare for the challenges they will face during their career; and to help build a strong foundation for established professionals wanting to improve their personal effectiveness. You don’t have to read the book to attend the conference, but you should attend the conference to hear what Michael has to say about how to master the art of having a successful natural resource career.

Plan to attend the workshops. There are going to be some terrific workshops this year. I have not seen the proposals for all of them but the ones I have seen are interesting and well-planned. Joanne Grady, Doug Novinger, and Andrew Branson will have a tough time selecting among the workshop proposals. Why is it that will the two you want to attend the most are both at the same time?

The student job fair will take place at the conference. Please encourage students to attend the conference. Paul Horner and Chris Williamson are directing the student job fair this year so please work with them to announce any jobs vacancies for students.

Windgate Hall will once again be the site for the evening social. A key activity at the conference is finding your cohorts and catching up with the activities in their jobs and careers as they strive to improve Missouri’s natural resources. If you are still undecided as whether to go or not, ask yourself where else is there going to be the consummate expertise as in the hall at lake? The web site for the conference is already up although not all information is available, but it is not too early to start planning. I hope to see you there.

Kenda Flores

2009 MOAFS President