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Brock Ortega
First, I think the Western Section Board does a terrific job and my primary goal would be to continue that tradition and support the Board and members in every way I can. I believe that there are positive trends in spreading the love of wildlife and messaging out to all facets of society within our service area and there are programs in place to support and enhance these efforts and I will seek ways carry these efforts a step further. I also think that we have been making great headway in leading conservation efforts of species, but it is important to not forget where we came from and the real-world lessons that can come from past generations. There are exciting opportunities to blend technologies that are now hitting their stride (like eDNA, drones, and machine learning) with old school ideas and field techniques.
A little about me now I guess. I am a wildlife biologist and program manager with 33 years of experience as a consulting biologist throughout the West with touches in the Midwest and East Coast as well. I have had the honor of working with a wide variety of listed and special-status species (e.g., western spadefoot, southwestern willow flycatcher, Quino checkerspot butterfly) and hold state and federal permits or authorizations for several species. I frequently get to work on complex projects and sometime get to problem-solve for teams. I have been privileged to maintain a wide breadth of relationships as a Senior Wildlife Ecologist and Principal at Dudek and am most proud of collaborative efforts with NGOs or agencies where the focus was on conserving or enhancing species understanding, such as a grant I held for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service related to the study of Casey's June beetle. I have a current emphasis on wildlife connectivity planning and am working on several efforts across California that aim to site and design over-crossing structures for diverse species like tule elk, mountain lion, pronghorn antelope, and peninsular bighorn sheep, which is highly rewarding. While work generally restricts my field work these days, I do always look for opportunities to sneak out and favorite surveys are nocturnal amphibian surveys.
I graduated from Humbolt State University (California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt) in 1992 with a BS in Wildlife Management and have been active in the wildlife alumni association. One of my favorite activities at school was regular weekend bike rides and birding adventures at the Arcata Marsh. I have been involved in the Southern California Chapter of The Wildlife Society for nearly 20 years, serving as treasurer, member-at-large, and several years as president. During my tenure as president, the chapter received a couple Chapter of the Year awards (though they were entirely attributable to my fellow board members!). In my spare time, now that my kids are pretty much through college, I have returned to my love of foundry arts and have begun creating bronze sculptures again.
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Michael Voeltz
If we've had the chance to meet before, it may very well have been at one of our beloved TWS workshops. I was that guy with the point-and-shoot macro camera, probably taking photos of some additional critters outside of the target species. (Don't worry though, I managed some real good ones of the fairy shrimp too!)
A little about me: I joined college as a math major and quickly stumbled into a student worker position at my university's botanic garden. Before I knew it, I was graduating with a degree in plant biology. Oops! I know I'm in good company when I say it was, perhaps, an unsurprising heel-turn. Most of our stories are different, yet are frequently, beautifully, unified by those eye-opening first experiences with the intangible allure of ecology and wildlife resources.
The decade to follow would become pretty evenly split between academia and eventually consulting work. All the while, that same enthusiasm that fueled my deep dive into botany had me chasing all manner of other taxa via long-term volunteer work with agencies and non-profits. I was banding passerines and raptors for years before I started flirting with the possibility that, “Hey, I might actually be a wildlife biologist now!”
I'm proud of the trajectory I've managed, having delved well beyond just plants at this point, but all of this, in summary, are not the accolades of a lauded biologist in their field applying for President-Elect; The perspective and support I hope to offer to TWS members while I hold this position is that of a mid-career individual that has worked very recently through many of the same trials you are. My initial forays into the field of wildlife biology are not so far behind me that I've forgotten those daunting first steps.
My experiences, of course, may prove to be very different than your own. It's critical to me to listen and understand as much as possible about matters of inequality, diversity, representation, and equity in the field, and ensure that the road is better paved for those following suit. In this position, I'm prepared to continue those efforts of past-presidents, continuing active pursuits of change, while doubling down on the iterative process of improving our field and bettering our community, keeping an eye to the horizon on what can be.
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Proposed changes to the Western Section Bylaws, Fall 2024
The current Western Section of TWS Bylaws were approved on February 8, 2021. Since then, TWS has restructured and updated their Bylaws. The Western Section Executive Board determined a need to review and propose updates to the Section Bylaws to ensure consistency with TWS' Bylaws and to propose changes in Bylaws to reflect desired changes in operations and governance. On September 14, 2024 the Executive Board approved submitting the proposed Bylaws changes to the membership for a vote to approve or reject the changes.
A detailed summary of the changes
(LINK) explains the major and minor changes proposed. In addition, a track change (marked up) version
(LINK) with summary comments is provided to see the actual changes from the current Bylaws. Finally, a clean version
(LINK) is provided showing the proposed Bylaws if they are adopted. If the membership approves these Bylaws changes, they must be accepted by TWS before they are formally adopted.
Below are the major categories of changes being proposed:
- Changes for consistency with the 2021 Bylaws of The Wildlife Society
- Changes in format to make reference to Bylaws easier.
- Changes in terminology to match TWS Bylaws.
- Changes to clarify the process for elections in the Western Section
- Increased the size of the Nominating and Elections Committee from three to five.
- Stipulate that candidates for Western Representative to Council must have an official address on file with TWS within the Western Voting District boundary.
- Replaced provision for member submittal of names of candidates for President- Elect after a slate of candidates is announced to a 30-day period to submit names to the Nominating and Elections Committee to consider.
- Reduced the number of candidates to ask before offering a slate of one candidate from 20 to 10 individuals.
- Only members on the day before the notice of election ballots is made are eligible to vote in the election.
- Added direction on filling vacancies in the positions of President and President- Elect.
- Changes to clarify Executive Board proxies
- Allow for appointed Board members may have a proxy appointed when they cannot participate in a Board Meeting. Elected positions cannot have a voting proxy. Nonvoting proxies may be appointed to share information.
- Rely on Chapter Bylaws to determine if voting proxies for Chapter Representatives are allowed.
- Changes to clarify operations of the Executive Board
- Allow the incoming President-Elect to be an ex officio (non-voting) member of the Executive Board prior to official installation.
- Recognize the Board may establish Other Board Positions, such as the Historian.
- Allows the Executive Board to appoint a Chapter Representative if a Chapter fails to provide one.
- Changes to clarify removal of members of the Executive Board and Committees
- Allows the Executive Board itself to petition removal of a Board Member instead of only accepting petitions from members.
- Changes to clarify Regular and Special Meetings
- Allow the Annual Member Meeting to be held at a different time and place than the Annual Meeting and allow a virtual meeting.
- Changed the quorum for the Annual Member Meeting from 50 percent of members to 10 percent of members (approximately 100 members). Dropped clause of “ or 25 members in good standing, whichever is less” to avoid a very small minority of members voting on actions that affect the entire Section.
- Clarified the requirements to call for a Special Member Meeting and Special Board Meeting and specified a shorter due notice than for a Regular Meeting.
- Changes to address diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Added a new objective for the Section to promote and enhance human diversity within the wildlife profession, the Section, and TWS.
- Added additional description of duties for the Diversity Committee
- Changes to clarify management of general funds and investment funds
- Clarified that the Section manages two types of funds, general funds for operations and an Endowment Fund with a protected principal and earned interest to be used for education, outreach, or scholarship programs.
- Clarified that future contributions to the Endowment Fund may have additional stipulations on spending of earned interest.
- Section Committees
- Establish a three-year term for most Committee Chairs with no upper term limit.
- Establish that the President may remove Committee Chairs
- Changing the name of the Student Affairs Committee to the Student and Early Career Professional Committee.
- Added the Membership Committee and Retired Wildlife Professionals Committee as standing committees.
- Added process for Ad Hoc Committees.
- Added process for Other Board Positions such as the Historian.
- Dissolution of the Section
- Clarified disposition of assets to TWS or other 501(c)(3) in the event the Section was to dissolve. Allows TWS to distribute funds to other organization units (Chapters) within the Section boundary if a new Section is not established.
- Other miscellaneous changes. Below are a few of note, see the summary for the full list.
- Clarified that an increase in Section dues may be effective on a date other than July 1 to allow flexibility to consider member renewal drives under old rates.
- Increased the number of installments for Section Life membership from three to five to make the annual installment amount lower and more accessible.
- Increased the number of members needed to submit a resolution or public statement for consideration from two to ten to ensure there is broad support before action is initiated by the Executive Board or Conservation Affairs Committee.
