MEETING RECORD FOR THE 129th (CONFERENCE CALL) MEETING OF THE
GREAT LAKES SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
Thursday, May 8, 2003 - 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Isobel Heathcote (Canadian Co-chair). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
Michael J. Donahue (United States Co-chair). . . . . . . .Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, MI
William Bowerman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clemson University, Pendleton, SC
John Braden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Scott Brown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON
David Carpenter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY
Milton Clark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . United States Environmental Protection Agency, Chicago, IL
Glen Fox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa/Hull, ON
Allan Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burlington, ON
Donna Mergler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Quebec, Montreal, PQ
Judith Perlinger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Joan Rose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
David Stonehouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evergreen, Toronto, ON
Deborah Swackhamer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Jay Unwin. . . . . . . . . . . . .National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Kalamazoo, MI
MEMBERS ABSENT
Maxine Cole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Nations, Akwesasne, ON
Donald Dewees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Ross Upshur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, ON
INVITEES/OBSERVERS
Douglas Alley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .International Joint Commission, Windsor, ON
Michael Gilbertson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . International Joint Commission, Windsor, ON
SECRETARY
Peter Boyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .International Joint Commission, Windsor, ON
1.0 Welcome and Introductions
Drs. Donahue and Heathcote welcomed everyone to the call and called the meeting to order.
2.0 Approval of the Agenda
Dr. Donahue noted that there was only one agenda item, i.e. to review and approve the SAB 2001-2003 Draft Report and proposed that the board address the issue of watching briefs, the recommendations and the supporting text of the report in that order. This approach was accepted by everyone attending the call.
3.0 Review of the Draft SAB Report
• Watching Brief Section
Several members expressed their concern that the topics in the watching brief section of the report had not been adequately reviewed and discussed by the board. The Secretary described the histories of sections 4.1 and 4.4 as examples of the range of board involvement. Dr. Heathcote proposed that the section needed an introduction acknowledging the role of the board, as well as text outlining the specific background and relevance for each topic. She also suggested that watching briefs not include recommendations from the board. The board agreed to accept the watching briefs section with these amendments. The Secretary was directed to redraft the sections along with the input of the individual contributors.
• Recommendations
It was noted that the format for the recommendations was inconsistent, and that in particular the recommendations for section 3.1 needed to be redrafted so that each one commenced with an action statement. The board and Work Group on Ecosystem Health Secretaries were directed to redraft them accordingly, with work group input as required.
• Text
- It was suggested that board acknowledgments be separate from the introduction, but kept in the front of the report
- Also, it was suggested that the introduction be split into an introduction and an executive summary, following the second paragraph on page 5
- several editing issues were identified in section 3.1 and noted by the secretary for correction
- the title of section 3.2 was to be retitled as an “expert consultation”
- corrections on page 22 were discussed per Dr. Braden’s comments
- Dr. Heathcote indicated that an additional text box was to be provided related to SOLEC land use indicators
- Appendix A was to be moved to the back of the report and to include the Center for Watershed Protection section <10% impervious cover
- several minor corrections were identified and noted by the secretary
- Drs. Jones and Swackhamer indicated that section 3.3 would possibly be further summarized and that the current version could be retained for use in the journal publication along with the collection of submitted papers.
- figure 1 was identified for deletion as it was not needed to support the text
- further Canadian examples were identified as necessary in section 4.4
- the secretary suggested that the important ideas in section 4.4 be retained but referred to as “possible future directions” instead of recommendations from the board
- several references were noted as incomplete; the secretary noted that the references would be double checked as the report was being finalized
• Process of Approval
The secretary stated that the IJC deadline for submission of board material for publication was May 26th, and that final approval of the report would have to be expeditious to meet this deadline. It was agreed that if the report could be finalized by May 14th, that final approval and further changes would be by exception only, within a few days following of that date.
4.0 Adjournment
There being no further business of the board, it was agreed to conclude the conference call at 3:40 PM.
____________________________ ____________________________
Michael J. Donahue Isobel Heathcote
U.S. Co-chair, Science Advisory Board Canadian Co-chair, Science Advisory Board