Biological Field Station Committee

Approved April 2022
​​​​​​Biological Field Station Committee The Biological Field Station Committee (BFSC) shall serve as an advisory group to the Biological Field Station (BFS) Director on academic programs and resource management and utilization.

1. BFSC Duties and Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the BFSC shall include but are not limited to the following:

a. provide input concerning academic program development; which includes the nature of academic programs and course offerings.

b. provide input on research utilization of BFS facilities and equipment.

c. Provide input on intern selection, activities, and evaluation.

d. provide input on BFS properties and sustainable resource management

2. BFSC Membership

The membership of the BFSC shall be as follows:

a. The Chair of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Department or their designee shall serve as member and Chair of the BFSC. The BFS Director or their delegate may not at any time serve as Chair of the BFSC.

b. Members of the SUNY Oneonta Faculty shall be appointed by the Chair of the Biology Department.

c. The BFS Director shall be an ex officio for the BFSC and may delegate a BFS staff member to attend a BFSC meeting as an alternate EX officio.

d. Up to two undergraduate or graduate students with previous BFS involvement, including recent alumni, may be appointed as student members.

e. All above-designated members shall be voting members except that undergraduate student members may not participate in the ranking of BFS internship candidates.

3. BFSC Meetings

a. The BFSC shall meet at least once per academic semester to review and provide recommendation pertaining to above Duties and Responsibilities.

b. Meetings shall be called by the BFSC chair or the BFS director.

c. Quorum is half or more of the membership of the BFSC.

d. Meeting minutes are filed with the administrative assistants of BFS and the Biology Department.

Biological Field Station Committee Meeting Minutes
8 September 2023

Presiding: K. Yokota (Chair)
Present: E Bastiaans, L Hasbargen, P Lord, C Love (student member), S Maguffin, K Minissale (student member), S Robinson, A Sotola, E Stengler, D Stich.
Absent: M Albright (ex officio), M Kerney, J Heilveil, F Reyda, D Vogler, B Wilhelm

The meeting was called to order at 3:01 pm.

1. Minutes for the 17 April 2023 BFSC meeting were approved.

2. BFSC members discussed the 2023 BFS summer internship program and other summer activities at BFS. A Sotola and D Stich reported that the 2023 interns worked out well with the research projects, and P Lord reported that they engaged highly with local community members at the Otsego Lake Association Annual Gathering where they presented their internship projects. Front-loading of seminars by faculty and staff worked well so that students have more time to wrap up their projects towards the end of the internship.

3. BFSC members pointed out the following areas for improvement for the summer internship program:

   1. Clear communication of the start date and schedule to all involved (mentoring faculty may like a short break between the finals and the start date).

   2. Closer advising, especially mentoring in preparing effective presentations.

4. BFSC members proposed the following to alleviate the ongoing shortage of faculty mentors for the internship program. In summer 2023, 2 faculty members committed 5 weeks for a $3k stipend; one took up the 10-week commitment at $6K.

   1. Flexibility in schedule - the 8am to 4pmm, M-F schedule excludes most of STEM faculty at SUNY Oneonta due to conflict with other professional and personal activities during summer. D Stich mentioned that BFS was flexible in offering him an extended schedule that allowed him fewer hours per day that allowed for his dependent care needs.

   2. Flexibility in location - some faculty members are open to working with interns if they could work at research sites away from Cooperstown/Otsego County.

   3. Some faculty members are happy to consult interns once a week on campus, etc. if their research overlaps with the faculty research expertise. Hourly compensation for such faculty service was suggested.

   4. The number of interns may need to be reduced to match the available mentoring capacity.

5. P Lord mentioned that BFS summer interns who need supplemental income during the internship are able to do so by working after hours and on weekends as CRISP watershed stewards.

6. For the 2023 intern recruitment, the BFSC members suggested that we include a list of available projects and profiles of potential faculty mentors and consultants (see 4.3 above) on the web page. The applicants will have a better idea of potential projects, and there will be fewer instances of interns who receive little scientific mentoring in the research area.

7. K Yokota provided the overview of the Otsego Lake Nine Element Planning and L Hasbargen's contribution to the hydrological data needs and additional areas where SUNY Oneonta faculty expertise may be valuable.

8. K Yokota reminded the members that BFS Use applications are required for new researcher and/or project and the importance of maintaining scientific integrity for research activities. Those who receive internal or external grants (incl. Student Research Grants) are required by the Sponsored Programs to complete the responsible conduct in research (RCR) training periodically, and faculty and staff are expected to serve as role models for respecting other researchers' intellectual properties and contributions.

9. K Yokota will schedule the next meeting before Thanksgiving break on one of the non-Senate days at 3pm (common meeting time for the University), with an online option. Outlook invites will be sent out soon.

10. The meeting was adjourned at 3:53 pm.

Biology Field Station Committee (Non-Student Members Only) Meeting Minutes
27 March 2023

Presiding: K Yokota (Chair)
Present: L Hasbargen, M Kearney, P Lord, S Maguffin, F Reyda, S Robinson, A Sotola, D Stich, D Vogler, B Wilhelm
Excused: E Bastiaans, J Heilveil, E Stenger (applicant rating submitted in advance and incorporated in the Committee rating)

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am.

1. Minutes for the 21 Nov 2022 BFSC meeting were approved.
2. The non-student BFS Committee members provided their individual ranking of undergraduate BFS summer internship applicants and compiled a committee-wide ranking with discussion.
3. The BFSC non-student members approved the ranking above as the BFSC recommendation to BFS, which offers internship positions to the applicants.
4. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 am.

Biology Field Station Committee Meeting Minutes
7 February 2022

Presiding: K Yokota (Chair)
Present: E Bastiaans, L Hasbargen, J Heilveil (Scribe), P Lord, F Reyda, S Robinson, E Stengler, D Vogler
Guest: V Lentz

The meeting was called to order at 10:02 am.

1. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved (DV motion to approve, SR seconded the motion)
2. By-Law revision discussion.
   a. Section 1.e was discussed:
   i. The section needs comment from administration
   ii. The committee is advisory and has no teeth.
   iii. Asking for a guaranteed heads-up is unlikely to be approved
   b. Further discussion was tabled until section 1.e could be resolved.
3. The Purpose of the Committee was discussed
   a. It was re-iterated that the committee needs to exist on the organizational chart for the Institution
   b. It may need to be under the Dean of the School of Sciences (to which the BFS director reports), which will likely change membership.
   c.KY will organize a meeting with FR, the Chair of the Biology Department, and the Dean of the School of Sciences to establish the place of the committee.
4. The BFS Internships were discussed:
   a.KY reported on a meeting of Matthew Albright, Holly Waterfield, FR, Daniel Stich, and KY that occurred in December about interns. They discussed three major issues:
   i.MA was having serious problems getting finalized reports.
   1.Faculty pointed out that the students are taking BIOL396 to cover the internship and that they shouldn’t get a passing grade if the final report
   isn’t turned in.
   2.One solution is to have the research project mentor become the instructor of record.
   3.It was pointed out that there need to be individual syllabi for BIOL 396 for each student, since it is a class and therefore the College requires
   syllabi.
   4.Committee generally agreed that the most appropriate system is to have the BIOL 396 be under the research advisor [edit: this still leaves the issue of students who don’t have a faculty research advisor, but are mainly advised by MA or HW]
   ii. Lack of cohort-based training with peer mentors
   1.Previous selection criteria have favored new candidates every time, but having repeat applicants would help create peer mentors
   2.Methods to attract early students were discussed.
   3.There was general consensus on giving early-career students an established project in year 1 (e.g. the annual monitoring projects) and then in year 2 they can be a mentor/crew lead and do an individual project. Perhaps ECS shouldn’t do an individual project in year 1.
   iii. Discussed the need to balance funding needs of students and housing issues.
   1.Some urban field stations in OBFS have had good solutions to this.
   2.Perhaps we should invite Cardelle to a meeting.
   b. An already graduate student applied to the BFS internship early. KY asked if the student was eligible.
   i. The student will be encourage to re-apply online.
5. The meeting was adjourned at 10:51 am.

Minutes of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Field Station Committee Meeting
December 03, 2021

Present (all faculty from Biology unless otherwise indicated): Elizabeth Bastiaans, Paul Lord, Erik Stengler (Cooperstown Graduate Program), Daniel Stich, Donna Vogler (Scribe), Kiyoko Yokota (committee chair)Absent: Bill Harman, Jeff Heilveil, Vicky Lentz, Florian Reyda, Sean Robinson

1. Meeting called to order at 10:00 a.m. (110 Perna and on Teams)
2. The group continued discussion and revisions of BFSC By-laws, particularly with the inclusion of student membership. Point 1e. of the draft developed today requires consultation with Biology Chair and Administration before that part of the by-laws can be revised. Yokota will bring the matter up to Lentz.
3. Our next meeting is scheduled for the first Friday of the semester Jan. 28, 2022. Topics to be discussed are finalizing by-laws, and recommendations for the internship program

Minutes of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Field Station Committee Meeting
October 22, 2021, 10:00-10:55 a.m.

Present (all faculty from Biology unless otherwise indicated): Elizabeth Bastiaans, Vicky Lentz, Paul Lord, Erik Stengler (Cooperstown Graduate Program), Daniel Stich (Scribe), Donna Vogler, Kiyoko Yokota (committee chair)

1. Meeting called to order at 10:00 a.m.
2. Minutes from Sept 24, 2021 approved.
3. Committee confirmed access to OneDrive
   - Continued discussion of Ornithological specimens currently at BFS (main lab and Getman barn)
   - Would be good to get those out of Getman barn before they deteriorate
   ​​- Some discussion of on-campus options, could be aligned with building renovations and redesigns (?)
   - Casey working to catalogue – will know more about options once completed
   - Collections committee will meet to discuss possibilities
   - Cataloguing/preservation – can prioritize “important” or “useful” examples
4. Bylaws Part I Section V discussion
   - Discussed whether committee membership has this authority/role any longer
   - Tabled for later discussion
5. ​​​Bylaws Part II (membership)
6. Meeting adjourned 10:53 am

Minutes of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Field Station Committee Meeting
September 24, 2021, 10:00-10:55 a.m.

Present (all faculty from Biology unless otherwise indicated): Elizabeth Bastiaans, Vicky Lentz, Daniel Stich, Donna Vogler (Scribe), Kiyoko Yokota (committee chair), Erik Stengler (Cooperstown Graduate Program) and Les Hasbargen (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences)

1. Meeting called to order at 10:03 a.m.
2. Minutes of Aug27 approved. Bastiaans will send link to Odell (Biology) and Waterfield (BFS).
3. Bylaws. Yokota led discussion of our Bylaws. Broader recommendations included: maintain membership to inside and outside of Biology, possible inclusion of graduate and undergraduate representatives, incorporation of college wide goals for sustainability, experiential learning, etc, and logistics of meetings. We reviewed and edited the first half of the 2015 document.
4. Changes to bylaws (so far) included:
   A. Revised language in Duties (fewer “Shall” statements), discussed other activities we do for the BFS.
   B. Separate out a new line focusing on internship program. Added: Provide input on intern selection, activities and evaluation.
   C. Added equipment to point 2, reflecting the need to manage equipment with heavy shared use (see also New Business).
   D. Former section on natural resource utilization changed to sustainable resource management.
5. New Business. Several topics came up during this meeting for further discussion. These will require more discussion in future meetings:
   A. Relocation of many bird specimens from Perna 012 to Ornithology lab at BFS. Who decided? Are they being actively curated?
   B. Plastic litter in lake from the dock disintegration- Shall we make a committee recommendation?
   C. Oversight of shared equipment conflict, repair and maintenance. The recent issue of the YSI use this summer revealed areas of conflict. What can we do to help or advise on similar equipment issues?
   D. Mission statement for BFS, or lack thereof. Need to determine if one currently exists and review it, and if not, have one drafted. Would need input of Director, our committee and the Biology Department before bringing to the Dean.
   E. Public events with BFS. With no Lake Festival in Cooperstown, what other ways can the BFS invite the public?
6. Next meeting will be Friday Oct 22 at 10am in Perna.

Minutes of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Field Station Committee Meeting
August 27, 2021, 10:00-10:50 a.m.

Present (all faculty from Biology unless otherwise indicated): Elizabeth Bastiaans, Les Hasbargen (Earth & Atmospheric Sciences), Vicky Lentz, Paul Lord, Sean Robinson, Daniel Stich, Donna Vogler, and Kiyoko Yokota (committee chair)

1. Meeting called to order at 10:05 p.m.
2. Discussion of where to send and post meeting minutes. Will be sent to Aimee O’Dell (dept. secretary of Biology) and Holly Waterfield at BFS.
3. Review of Summer 2021 internship program.
   A. Due to COVID, no open call for applications; students previously offered internships for Summer 2020 (when program was canceled) were given priority. Faculty involved reported it went smoothly, although some students may need a reminder to turn in project summaries.
4. Discussion of next summer’s internship program.
   A. Will return to open call for applications, which will be submitted online. Program will generate spreadsheet of student answers for easier review.
5. Discussion of committee bylaws and possible changes.
   A. Current bylaws are a short document written in 2015, could benefit from review and clarification.
   B. Faculty will work to revise existing document section by section over course of this academic year.
   C. Suggestions included inviting more faculty to join committee, especially from outside Biology Department (including Cooperstown Graduate Program), creating positions for student representatives (graduate and undergraduate).
6. Eligibility criteria for publications in BFS technical reports/occasional papers series.
   A. K. Yokota raised concerns that some projects with little or no connection to the field station have been published as BFS technical reports. Other reports don’t make role/affiliation of each author clear.
   B. Faculty discussed how to ensure that authors and readers of reports understand these publications are not peer-reviewed. Suggestions included running header and citation guidelines included with all reports.
7. Discussion of field station equipment storage and improved communication with field station staff prior to class trips to ensure all required equipment is ready.
   A. Discussion will continue at next meeting.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee

Mar. 23, 2020

Virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams

1. The meeting began ~10:03 a.m. Attending: B. Bastiaans, L. Hasbargen, J. Heilveil, P. Lord, F. Reyda (Chair, Scribe), D. Stich, K. Yokota, D. Vogler.

2. There was 1 activity:

A. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications:

i. Prior to the meeting, committee members had completed a shared Excel file in which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for undergraduate student applicants for summer 2020 BFS internships. There were a total of 28 applications this year. Of this pool of applicants, 14 were men and 14 were women. 19 were SUNY Oneonta students whereas 9 were from other institutions. A total of 8 institutions, including SUNY Oneonta, were represented among the pool of applicants. 27 of the 28 applicants were from the USA and 1 was from Peru. A diversity of majors was also represented among the applicants, the majority being Biology and/or Environmental Science.

ii. Total rank scores were calculated based on rank values of each applicant, with the lowest score indicating the most highly ranked applicant.

iii. A brief discussion was held about particular applicants, noting specific interests and other considerations. The possibility of summer program cancellation in light of the Covid-19 pandemic was also discussed.

v. Rank information was recorded and subsequently summarized by Reyda in an Excel file that was shared with BFS staff. That file includes comments about applicants, and will be kept confidential. BFS staff will use that file as the basis for internship offers. They will consult Reyda (the BFS Committee chair) for additional input if needed.

vi. No other business was discussed. Other topics may be discussed later this semester or in Fall 2020.

Meeting adjourned after approximately 50 minutes.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee

Mar. 13, 2019
Room 110 Science I

1. The meeting began ~10:05 a.m.
Attending: L. Hasbargen, P. Lord, F. Reyda (Chair, Scribe), D. Stich, K. Yokota, D. Vogler. The following BFS Committee members were absent but had provided internship application evaluations: E. Bastiaans, J. Heilveil, S. Robinson.

2. There were 2 activities:

A. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications:

i. Prior to the meeting, committee members had completed an Excel file in which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for each of the 9 applicants (MacWatters' internship applicants, were not evaluated).

ii. Each committee member noted on the whiteboard the rank for each applicant.

iii. Following this, total scores were calculated based on rank values of each applicant, with the lowest score indicating the most highly ranked applicant.

iv. A brief discussion was held about particular applicants, noting specific interests and other considerations. At this point the group chose the recipient of the SUNY Oneonta Biology Department Internship, a single position.

v. Rank information was recorded and subsequently summarized by Reyda in an Excel file that was shared with BFS staff. That file includes comments about applicants, and will be kept confidential. BFS staff will use that file as the basis for internship offers. They will consult Reyda (the BFS Committee chair) for additional input if needed.

vi. Throughout this process committee members provided feedback on ways to modify and improve some of the application questions. Reyda will work on these and share new question drafts with committee members.

vii. Committee members generally felt that the new application format and distribution approach were improvements.

B. Discussion of potential improvements to the internship program. Topics included:

i. Ways to increase number of applicants. The small applicant pool this year was a concern. Committee members need to continue to 'plug' the program in their courses, etc. One idea is have former interns who are returning to SUNY Oneonta for their senior or junior year do some things to encourage applicants such as making an appearance at the Biology Club meeting. Another concern is the size of the stipend. At $3,000, the current pay rate is low compared to other summer programs that pay 4-5k. Reyda will speak with the Director about increasing the pay rate this year or next year.

ii. Ways to add more structure to the internship program and ensure more 'timely' submission of posters, reports, and deposition of data. Internship advisors and BFS staff are perennially frustrated with posters and written reports (for the BFS Annual Report) in that they are late, or sometimes they do not get finished. Ideas about this were discussed. One suggestion was to formally write out the learning outcomes of the program and provide a timeline that interns would follow. Yokota and Lord volunteered to draft this. Another idea was to offer more formal workshops to prepare the interns--most of whom have never before written a technical report--to write their annual report. The committee on the whole felt that reserving all of the last 2 weeks (of the 10 week internship) should be reserved for writing.

Meeting adjourned after approximately 50 minutes

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee

Feb. 13, 2019
Room 110 Science I

1. The meeting began ~10:05 a.m.
Attending: L. Hasbargen, P. Lord, F. Reyda (Chair, Scribe), S. Robinson, D. Stich, K. Yokota, D. Vogler. Holly Waterfield was also present. Not attending: E. Bastiaans, J. Heilveil, R. Walker.

2. There were 4 agenda items:

A. The recent changes to the internship application format. The new approach to the internship applications and recommendations is to have online fillable forms of both. The output of both will be as an Excel file, that will be accessible to all Committee members via a shared drive (in Outlook) once the application period has closed. Committee members will, as before, be provided Excel templates with rubrics to fill out their ratings. Holly and Jeff were thanked for making these changes. The group was reminded that summer undergraduate internship applications are due March 1st, and that the decision meeting will take place at 10 am Wednesday March 13th. The addition of a question to the recommendation form was discussed later in the meeting. The question would attempt to address the issue of the unwillingness of some past interns to provide assistance outside of their specific projects. If we add that question it would have to be for the next application cycle because it is too late to revise the documents for the current cycle.

B. Report on the OBFS (Organization of Biological Field Stations) 2018 meetings. Holly Waterfield attended the meetings that took place in October in Acadia National Park in Maine. She provided a summary to the Committee. A diversity of types of operations were represented at the meetings. Many of the other professionals in attendance are dealing with the same types of issues at their respective field stations that our group deals with here at SUNY Oneonta. These issues include, but are not limited to, physical distance from the associated campus, lack of awareness back on campus, and limited staffing and finances. The National Science Foundation had representatives at the meetings to explain the types of activities that are supported by the NSF FSML and REU programs. An important point made by NSF staff is that they approach these programs with the view that field stations in the country are a part of national infrastructure, and should be supported as such. Holly emphasized that the atmosphere at the meetings was positive and collaborative. Following Holly's summary the Committee unanimously agreed that the SUNY Oneonta BFS should formally become a member of the OBFS. There was also consensus that we should send one person from the Committee or BFS staff to OBFS meetings each year, with the possible exception of the 2019 meetings which are in Belgium in September. The Committee felt that an increased involvement in OBFS would be a benefit to the BFS.

C. Feedback on the 2018 undergraduate interns. Each of the seven 2018 interns were discussed, in terms of their performance as an intern and their follow up work (annual report writing).

D. Perennial issues with the summer internship program. We have seen some persistent issues including: the timing of assigning grades; the timing and size of the "bonus"; timely annual report submission. The Committee ran out of time to properly discuss these issues so they were tabled to the next meeting.

3. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee
Mar. 18, 2018
Room 306 Perna Science Building
1. The meeting began ~10:00 a.m. Attending: E. Bastiaans, L. Hasbargen, J. Heilveil, P. Lord, F.
Reyda (Chair), S. Robinson, K. Yokota, D. Vogler. One other member, Dan Stich, could not
attend but provided observations and evaluations of the intern applicants.
2. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications:
a. Prior to the meeting, committee members had completed an excel file in
which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for each of the 25 applicants (a 26th
applicant, for the MacWatters' internship, was not evaluated).
b. Each committee member noted on the whiteboard the names of his/her 8 best
scoring applicants.
c. Following this, a list of the top 9 consistently high ranking applicants was formed,
and the most highly ranked applicant of those 9 was also noted. Several applicants who
were ranked by some but not all committee members were also noted.
d. A brief discussion was held about particular applicants, noting specific interests and
other considerations. At this point the group chose the recipient of the SUNY Oneonta
Biology Department Internship, a single position.
e. Rank information was recorded and subsequently summarized by Reyda in an excel
file that was shared with all committee members and BFS staff. That file includes
comments about applicants, and will be kept confidential. BFS staff will use that file as
the basis for internship offers. They will consult Reyda (the BFS Committee chair) for
additional input if needed.
2. Committee members discussed some problems with the applications forms. Heilveil offered
to develop an online fillable form for the following year. This was based on a suggestion by
Hasbargen, who pointed out that online application forms are easy to develop and would be
more efficient to handle. Two applications will be modified, one on college science courses
taken, as well as the essay question about potential research projects. Reyda also wishes to
clarify the application instructions to clarify that no more than 2 recommendations will be
considered per applicant.
3. In summary, the BFS Committee processed a total of 25 undergraduate internship
applications. Among the 25 applicants, 14 were women and 11 were men; 15 were students
from SUNY Oneonta whereas 10 were from a total of 6 other institutions.
4. Reyda indicated that he would invite the BFS Committee to a meeting with BFS staff later this
semester to discuss various topics.
5. The meeting was adjourned towards the end of the hour.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee
Mar. 18, 2017
Room 306 Science I
1. The meeting began ~8:00 a.m. Attending: F. Reyda (Chair), L. Hasbargen, J. Heilveil, D. Stich,
K. Yokota. Two other members, E. Bastiaans and S. Robinson, could not attend but provided
evaluations.
2. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications:
a. Prior to the meeting, committee members provided Reyda an excel file in
which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for each of the 18 applicants (the 19th
applicant, for the MacWatters' internship, was not evaluated).
b. Each committee member noted on the whiteboard the names of his/her 10 best
scoring applicants.
c. Following this, a list of the top 9 consistently high ranking applicants was formed,
and the most highly ranked applicant of those 9 was also noted. Several applicants who
were ranked by some but not all committee members were also noted. Applicants not
ranked in the top 10 by anyone were noted.
d. A brief discussion was held about particular applicants, noting specific interests and
other considerations.
e. Rank information was recorded by J. Heilveil and F. Reyda and subsequently
summarized in an excel file that he shared with all committee members and BFS staff.
That file includes comments about applicants, and will be kept confidential. BFS staff will
use that file as the basis for internship offers. They will consult Reyda (the BFS
Committee chair) for additional input if needed.
2. Committee members discussed potential changes to improve the application documents and
the scoring rubric, but no changes were made.
3. In summary, the BFS Committee processed a total of 18 undergraduate internship
applications. A 19
the application, from a SUNY Cobleskill student, was not evaluated because
that student, as per the recommendation of a SUNY Cobleskill faculty member, will receive the
MacWatters’ Internship. That is done each year. Among the 19 applicants received, 11 were
women and 8 were men; 11 were students from SUNY Oneonta whereas 8 were from a total of
7 other institutions.
4. A discussion was held about potential enhancements to the internship program. As in
previous discussions, a higher level of faculty participation in the program was emphasized.
Committee members also suggested the following as other possible changes:
-Having weekly, rather than daily, meetings. Rationale: Enable interns and mentors a
chance to plan different days in advance. This could maximize intern availability for
different projects.
-Offering a higher level of project independence to upperclassmen, and having less
experienced students focus more on ongoing projects that have a higher extent of
supervision.
-Formalize and communicate on-campus housing options in summers for BFS interns.
Rationale: Given that the BFS is non-residential, the program tends to have a nonrandom pool of applicants. For example, SUNY Oneonta students who apply are typically
upperclassmen who are from Upstate and have rented off-campus housing in Oneonta.
SUNY Oneonta students from NYC typically do not live in Oneonta in summers. Having
on-campus housing options could therefore attract more NYC applicants. Non SUNY
Oneonta applicants typically are from the county and can live at home during the
internship; if our program included clear descriptions of on-campus housing options, we
might see more applicants from people from other institutions in general.
8. Reyda indicated that he would schedule a 2nd BFS Committee meeting this semester to talk
about other business.
9. The meeting was adjourned towards the end of the hour.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee
Apr. 06, 2016
Room 106 Science I
1. The meeting began ~7:32 a.m. Attending first half: F. Reyda (Chair), E. Bastiaans, J. Heilveil,
P. Lord, S. Robinson, D. Stich, K. Yokota.
2. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications:
a. Prior to the meeting, each present committee member provided Reyda an excel file in
which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for each of the 16 applicants (the 17th
applicant, for the MacWatters' internship, was not evaluated).
b. Each committee member noted on the whiteboard the names of his/her 10 best
scoring applicants.
c. Following this, a list of the top 10 consistently high ranking applicants was formed,
and the most highly ranked applicant of those 10 was also noted. Two applicants who
were ranked by some but not all committee members were also noted. Applicants not
ranked in the top 10 by anyone were noted.
d. A brief discussion was held about particular applicants, noting those who had applied
previously.
e. Rank information was recorded by P. Lord and F. Reyda and subsequently
summarized in an excel file that he shared with all committee members and BFS staff.
That file includes comments about applicants, and will be kept confidential. BFS staff will
use that file as the basis for internship offers. They will consult Reyda (the BFS
Committee chair) for additional input if needed.
2. Committee members agreed the need to revise one application question, about an
understanding of science. They also agreed to eliminate 2 columns on the scoring rubric about
working well with others and working alone.
3. In summary, the BFS Committee processed a total of 16 undergraduate internship
applications. A 17th application, from a SUNY Cobleskill student, was not evaluated because
that student, as per the recommendation of 2 SUNY Cobleskill faculty members, will receive the
MacWatters’ Internship. That is done each year. Among the 17 applicants received, 10 were
women and 7 were men; 7 were students from SUNY Oneonta whereas 10 were from a total of
8 other institutions.
4. The first portion of the meeting ended ~8:10 am.
5. The meeting continued in order to address other business. Those present from that point
forward were: F. Reyda (Chair), W.N. Harman (BFS Director & ex officio BFS Committee
member), P. Lord, S. Robinson, D. Stich, K. Yokota.
6. A discussion was held about cases in which faculty require intern assistance outside of the
standard 8 am - 4 pm schedule during the summer internship program, or other cases in which
faculty need intern assistance sporadically. This discussion was held because of previously
stated concerns by faculty and staff about this topic. Each faculty member present provided
views, concerns, and suggestions about how to better balance the needs of faculty with logistic
constraints under which BFS staff need to operate, and the need to complete projects that are
directly tied to funding. W. N. Harman provided input as well, representing his own
perspective, and the perspective of BFS staff. It was agreed that there is no easy solution to
handling these cases, but that they do need to be handled as a means of fulfilling our common
goal of increased faculty involvement in the summer intern program. Everyone present agreed
that improved communication would facilitate this. To this end, it was suggested that an online
activities calendar be set up. This calendar would be open-access to anyone in the internship
program (i.e., faculty, staff, including the secretary, graduate students, and interns) and would
serve as an area where people could view the timing of planned activities. This calendar would
not replace the equipment schedule calendar that is already in place and is overseen by field
station staff. D. Stich agreed to serve as the point person for the newly conceived activities
calendar.
7. A brief discussion was also held about 3 pending BFS use proposals, by Reyda, Robinson, and
Yokota. Those BFS committee members present unanimously approved each proposal, which
will be processed by the BFS Committee chair (except in the case of his own proposal, which
will be signed by the Biology Department chair) and then passed on to the BFS Director and BFS
Laboratory Supervisor. P. Lord indicated that it is a waste of committee time to re-approve
ongoing long term studies on an annual basis. It was agreed that all proposals that are
essentially renewals be handled only by the BFS Committee chair, the BFS Director, and the BFS
Laboratory Supervisor.
8. The meeting was adjourned ~8:45 a.m.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee Mar. 20, 2015 Room 320 Science I Attending: F.Reyda (Presiding), J. Heilveil, P. Lord, S. Robinson, D.Vogler, K. Yokota. 1. Approved minutes of prior meeting 2. Evaluation of undergraduate internship applications: a. Prior to the meeting, each present committee member provided Reyda an excel file in which he/she had filled in a scoring rubric for each of the 24 applicants. b. Each committee member placed the names of his/her 10 best scoring applicants on the whiteboard. c. Following this, a list of the top 10 consistently high ranking applicants was formed, and the most highly ranked applicant of those 10 was also noted. The next 3 highest ranking applicants (i.e., ranks 11th through 13th) was noted as a separate category. d. Rank information was recorded by Reyda so he could relay that to the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station staff, who ultimately make the selections and offers. 3. In summary, the BFS Committee processed a total of 24 undergraduate internship application files that were complete (i.e., application document plus two recommendation forms). A 25th file, from a SUNY Cobleskill student, was not evaluated because that student, as per the recommendation of 2 SUNY Cobleskill faculty members, will receive the MacWatters’ Internship. That is done each year. Among the 24 applicants evaluated, 14 were women and 10 were men; 19 were students from SUNY Oneonta whereas 5 were from other college campuses (Lemoyne College; SUNY ESF; Stonehill College; Lycoming College; University of New Haven). Of the 19 SUNY Oneonta applicants, the majors represented were BIEF/Field Biology (majority), but also, ENVS; Biology; Geography/GIS; and Human Biology. No previous BFS interns applied. 4. The meeting ended ~10:45 am.

Minutes of the Biological Field Station Committee Feb. 28, 2015 Room 320 Science I Attending: F.Reyda (Presiding), D.Vogler (Scribe), K. Yokota, D. Castendyk, W. Harman, S. Robinson, M. Albright, P. Lord (end of meeting) 1. Approved minutes of prior meeting 2. Harman indicated that the BFS expects to support 7-8 interns for 2015. Asked faculty for input as mentors to these students, with a ½ faculty stipend of 3K for 5 weeks. Right now K. Yokota and F.Reyda have full stipends, J.Heilveil has a ½ time. 3. Projects for summer include: Algal survey and possible mercury in fish (Yokota) 2 students Reyda: could have 1 or 2 students. Insect surveys across NY, but also some work on site (Heilveil) Thistle surveys, and possible wood turtle (Vogler) Robinson and Castendyk do not have current plans Albright will be managing 6 undergrads + 2 High School interns for Land Trust work (BioBlitz), possible Greenwoods, and the Cooperstown Wastewater Treatment wetland. Castendyk mentioned he knew of a student who works with drones, and that the BFS may be purchasing one. He would encourage that student to apply for the internship. Note: Though not present at the meeting, the following 2 BFS Committee members later provided this information on their summer plans: Hasbargen: Is interested in working at the BFS this summer, mentoring an intern, on one or several projects. Heilveil: Will be doing some surveys of inlets and working on taxa lists. He is also willing to help mentor intern applicant M. Robinson on an insect physiology project, if the applicant is awarded an internship. Internship application period ends Mar. 2. We will meet to discuss Mar. 20. Send rankings to Reyda beforehand. 4. Castendyk brought up the potential for BFS to join GLEON (Global Lakes Ecological Observation Network). He is drafting a proposal to form a coalition of several SUNY schools. Could ultimately result in a high tech Buoy with monitoring equipment in 2016. Depending on the pilot grant the coalition would convene July 23, 2015 at the BFS with local stakeholders. Harman suggested NSF might be able to support money for infrastructure, like the buoy. 5. Towards the end of the hour P. Lord arrived, following his class. He, Albright, Harman, and Reyda discussed his potential intern needs. He may occasionally need one or a few interns for specific tasks, but he would not need a full-time intern. Reyda indicated that he was perfectly comfortable with Lord using the large dissecting microscope in BFS Main Lab room 007 if needed. 6. The meeting ended ~2:10 pm.

Minutes of the Oct. 10, 2014 meeting of the Biological Field Station Committee. Present: F. Reyda (Chair), J.Heilveil, S. Robinson, P.Lord, D.Wong, R.Walker, B.Harman, L.Hasbargen, D.Vogler, K.Yokoto, D.Castendyk 1. Minutes of Feb. 28, 2014 were reviewed and approved as submitted. 2. Review of request by P. Lord for use of BFS facilities. Request was approved with the added requirement that the request must be reviewed annually by the Chair. 3. Discussion of ongoing projects and progress. F. Reyda will post the current projects approved on the BFS website. A discussion was held of the costs involved in some projects and oversight. Our committee can recommend BFS use proposals be approved, but it is still up to BFS staff to determine if proposals can be accommodated. Groups from off-campus (e.g. SUNY Cobleskill) need to be reminded that to continue working at BFS they are required to submit requests; from the PI on behalf of their students. Several members agreed it would be beneficial to have a posted BFS calendar of events or things like reserving the Barge especially now that Lake Management students are also competing for use. F. Reyda agreed to check with Chilton Reynolds about setting up a BlackBoard site or something similar that could be maintained by Jeane. 4. Review of request by M. Dami to establish a sustainable garden plot at BFS (Thayer). Proposal was approved. 5. Summer 2014 review. F. Reyda provided some feedback from the interns and faculty at the BFS last summer. No complaints of “dead time”, but when fewer faculty were around students did lack for constructive activity. Concern was expressed about interns working after hours; they should not be working after 5pm, nor required to. Some confusion on workload and project assignment; some interns are funded under specific projects but others are floaters; it’s unfair for Matt and Holly to have to figure this out and monitor multiple short term projects. Some suggestions were offered: Offer workshops to students under an outside contract, Have Cobleskill crew organize long term project, or seminar on their work; Pair up LM (Lake Management) grads and undergrad interns on skills such as electroshocking, parasitological techniques. What about plugging into the GLEON network (Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network)? Proposals of different sizes needed. Money for faculty support could be parsed out for different levels of commitment. 6. Good of order announcements. Heilveil indicated that his course is scheduled for July 6-21 2015 at the BFS. BFS campout scheduled Oct. 25-26. Next agenda should include the advertisement of BIOL 397 Internship. 7. Meeting adjourned 10:55 am. Respectively submitted, Donna Vogler