Minutes of the Council Meetings and the General Assembly at the XXVIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society Nairobi, Kenya August 19–25, 2018

The Pre-Congress Meeting of the Council of the International Primatological Society

August 19, 2018

12:30 PM – 5:30 PM

United Nations Office in Nairobi, Conference Room 13

• I. The meeting was called to order at 12:45 PM by President Strier. A special welcome to our newest affiliate member, the African Primatological Society.

• II. Members of the council introduced themselves. In attendance were:

  • A. IPS officers: Karen Strier, President; Patrícia Izar, VP for Education; Nancy Caine, Secretary General; Cat Hobaiter, VP for Communications; Steve Ross, VP for Captive Care and Breeding; Jo Setchell, VP for Research; Steve Schapiro, Treasurer and VP for Membership; Janette Wallis, VP for Conservation.

  • B. Representatives of affiliated societies: Ivan Norscia (Italy); Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (Africa); Tatyana Humle (France); Jonah Ratsimbazafy (Madagascar); Baoguo Li (China); Zaki Zainol (Malaysia); Ramesh Boonratana (Southeast Asia); Stella de la Torre (Ecuador); Liliana Cortes Ortiz (Mexico); Kim Phillips (USA); Michio Nakamura (Japan); Jordi Galbany (Spain; European Federation); Luciana Oklander (Argentina); Leandro Jerusalinsky (Latin America); Tobias Deschner (Germany); Trudy Turner (South Africa); Amanda Webber (Great Britain); Xyomara Carretero (Colombia); Leonardo Oliveira (Brazil); Maria Joana F. Silva (Portugal). Absent from the meeting were representatives of the Indonesian and Peruvian IPS-affiliated societies.

  • C. Ex officio members of the council: Anthony Rylands (Primate Specialist Group of IUCN); Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Immediate Past President of IPS.

  • D. Visitors and guests: Members of delegations from China and Malaysia presenting bids; Júlio César Bicca-Marques (incoming Secretary General); Marina Cords (incoming VP for Research).

• III. Johannes Refisch, local host for the congress, welcomed us to Nairobi.

• IV. Officer reports. Prior to the meeting, each of the officers provided written reports to all members of the council regarding their actions over the past two years. These are available to members on the website. In addition, brief reports were submitted in writing by Anthony Rylands and Jo Setchell regarding the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN and the International Journal of Primatology, respectively.

  • A. Treasurer Schapiro summarized the financial and membership reports.

    • 1. The total amounts we hold in our three funds (General Fund, Conservation Fund, and Galante Fund) change dramatically in accordance with the cycle of revenue and expenditures associated with the congresses. E.g., in December of 2017 we had $417,229 in our accounts; this amount included a large number of registrations for the current congress. This registration income will be used to pay congress-related bills in 2018, and thus the account balance will shrink in December 2018 relative to December 2017.

    • 2. Likewise, membership numbers rise in association with congress registrations, and fall in the intervening year. VP Schapiro reminded us how important it is to renew membership in non-congress years, as this income funds grants and awards every year, including in non-congress years. Also, there was a drop in membership in 2012 when some 250 Congolese gratis memberships were not renewed.

    • 3. IPS has given out an average of about $77,000 in awards and grants each year between 2008 and 2018.

    • 4. About $42,000 is taken in each year for membership dues. Clearly, this does not come close to funding the grants and awards we give each year. IPS relies on donations from supporters, successful investments (largely a function of the overall economy), and profits from congresses to make up the difference.

    • 5. Congress budgets are always designed for a break-even result, but in most cases we benefit from unexpected numbers of attendees, fund-raising efforts during the Congress (e.g., the silent auction), etc. Treasurer Schapiro expects the Nairobi congress to generate a profit.

  • B. In the interest of time, the other officers’ reports were not given orally. There were no questions from the council about other officers’ written reports.

• V. There was unanimous support from the council for pursuing the initiative called “Primatologists Without Borders,” introduced by Steve Schapiro.

  • A. Primatologists Without Borders was inspired by the ongoing volunteer efforts of primatologists and friends to help restore Cayo Santiago and Punta Santiago after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

  • B. Primatologists Without Borders would provide an organizational structure to facilitate volunteer efforts in response to crises around the globe that have affected nonhuman and human primates.

  • C. There would be no cost to IPS for “hosting” PWB. Doing so would allow PWB to operate within a non-profit organization and facilitate advertisement of PWB activities.

  • D. Steve Schapiro will work with new IPS Treasurer, Trudy Turner, on the details of how PWB will function within IPS.

• VI. IPS Congress in 2022

  • A. In addition to written bids submitted to the council in advance of this meeting, we listened to presentations associated with bids from:

    • 1. Xi’an, China (presented by Guo Songtao)

    • 2. Kuching City, Malaysia (presented by Joleen Yap)

  • B. The council discussed the relative merits of the bids and voted by secret ballot. (Council members from the bidding countries were excused from the room during this time).

  • C. Both bids were deemed to have merit, but the winning bid was Malaysia.

    • 1. President Strier congratulated the Malaysian delegation on a fine bid, but asked that the organizers be clear that IPS is the parent of these meetings and must be given the appropriate authority in planning.

    • 2. Treasurer Schapiro noted that incoming IPS treasurer Trudy Turner will be working closely with Malaysia to finalize the business plan for the 2022 meeting. Will all of the risks and rewards be assumed by the Malaysian Primatological Society, by IPS, or both?

    • 3. The Malaysian delegation assured the council that it is aware of concerns facing LGBTQ colleagues when they are in countries such as Malaysia (and Kenya) with discriminatory laws. We were assured that the organizers will do everything they can to make the congress safe and inclusive. (Note: in a later conversation, concerns about restricted visas for people from Israel arose and were discussed among the IPS officers, and the topic was revisited at the post-congress council meeting.)

• VII. Stella de la Torre, who will serve as local arrangements host, offered a brief update on the 2020 Congress in Quito, Ecuador.

  • A. Planning is going very well, and the website will be available soon.

  • B. Registration will likely open on November 1, 2019.

  • C. A request was made by Dr. de la Torre and Dr. Leandro Jerusalinsky that the IPS Congress in Quito be jointly hosted by IPS and the Latin American Society of Primatology. There was unanimous support from the council for this proposal.

• VIII. VP Janette Wallis raised concerns about photographs in which people are touching or holding wild primates. This is particularly troublesome when the person in the photograph is a scientist, as it conveys the message that it is appropriate to interact with wildlife in this way.

  • A. We agreed that IPS should develop a clear statement that opposes this practice.

  • B. This topic will be included in a broader ad hoc committee on ethics in primatology (see item X., below).

• IX. Michio Nakamura, the affiliate representative from the Primate Society of Japan, asked that IPS endorse PSJ’s plea that the Japanese government provide support for monitoring the Japanese macaques living in the Fukushima disaster area. Dr. Nakamura shared information with us about the seriousness of this matter for both the macaques themselves and the entire ecosystem. President Strier agreed to immediately write a letter in support of PSJ’s efforts in this regard.

• X. President Strier reported that accusations of sexual harassment recently led to the cancellation of IPS membership for a primatologist whose own university had determined the veracity of the accusations against him.

  • A. The IPS By-laws (Article 2, section 3, part c) provided the basis for our action (i.e., for revoking his membership in IPS).

  • B. However, it became clear that IPS could benefit from a code of conduct that would make our expectations about professional behavior of IPS members more clear, and guide our actions should there be a violation.

  • C. The officers will establish a committee that will take the first steps toward creating a code of conduct for IPS members.

  • D. A workshop on sexual harassment and ethics is on the agenda for the current meeting.

• XI. Speaking on behalf of the European Federation of Primatology (EfP), Jordi Galbany provided an update on EfP contributions to the working group on Protection of Animals in Research established by the European Union in 2010. President Strier suggested that the IPS website would be a good place for EfP to post information about the continuing activities of this working group.

• XII. VP Hobaiter asked for approval to activate an Instagram handle for IPS. She explained that Facebook and Twitter are the best ways to make IPS accessible not just to IPS members but to anyone who is interested in research, education, and conservation of primates. Those in range countries tend to use Facebook for social media; others rely more on Instagram and Twitter.

  • A. There are always concerns about monitoring the content of posts to social media. We agreed that this and other issues about our social media presence could be handled by a social media committee, chaired by the VP for Communications. Such a committee could be written into the by-laws as a standing committee or could be considered an ad hoc committee.

  • B. VP Hobaiter stressed that members from all of the affiliated societies should make efforts to be active participants in IPS social media, to reflect the international scope of our organization and its goals.

• XIII. President Strier addressed several issues associated with the Awards Committee (AC), of which the President of IPS serves as chair.

  • A. In the next round, the AC will provide guidelines for nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Some nominations are much more thorough than others, and this may put certain candidates at a disadvantage.

  • B. It was noted that we need to be sensitive to the fact that it can be difficult for otherwise worthy nominees whose work has been done within a more limited regional scope to compete with nominees whose work is more widely known. Should regional awards be considered?

  • C. Should the LAA be given more often than every two years? Members of the AC felt strongly that there are many worthy recipients of this award, and most are passed over simply because we present the award only every two years.

  • D. Likewise, should there be additional IPS awards? There are many ways that our colleagues serve our profession, and they deserve recognition. Anthony Rylands noted that the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation and the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation also give awards to primatologists.

  • E. The IPS constitution and by-laws do not limit additional awards, but neither do they codify awards other than LAA.

  • F. There might be value to making a change to the by-laws to formalize additional awards. This issue will be taken up by officers.

• XIV. President Strier raised concerns about low voter turnout in IPS elections.

  • A. Members do not necessarily know the candidates and do not feel invested in the voting process.

  • B. One idea is to have brief biographical videos of each candidate that will accompany the ballot.

  • C. VP Hobaiter stated that she hopes to make videos for the website with current officers describing themselves and what they do in accordance with their offices. This may help members understand the importance of the offices and, hence, the importance of voting. It might also increase the number of nominations we get for officer seats.

• XV. Issues raised by affiliates

  • A. There remains concern about congress abstract submission deadlines and the fact that nonrefundable conference registration must accompany the submission.

    • 1. If the abstract is not accepted, the person suffers significant financial loss.

    • 2. Likewise, some do not have the resources to pay the registration themselves, and must wait for support from their university or other funding agency. But, those funding sources may not even consider giving financial support until the abstract is accepted.

    • 3. Unfortunately, if abstracts could be submitted without paying the registration, there would be no way for congress organizers to know how many people are indeed committed to attending, and accurate planning for the congress would be difficult and risky.

    • 4. There seems to be no easy solution to this problem, but the officers will continue to grapple with it.

  • B. A related issue is the high cost of the banquet, which prevents attendance by many who come to the congress. There was general agreement that there has been a trend toward expensive banquets of late, and that perhaps we should settle for more modest banquets that favor inclusion of all attendees over more expensive meals, venues, and entertainment.

  • C. The safety and inclusion of LGBTQ people at our congresses remains a concern. Should we hold meetings in locations with discriminatory laws? This is of big concern to IPS, and the officers will continue to give careful thought to it.

• XVI. Secretary General Caine solicited opinions from the council about priorities for the agenda of the General Assembly.

  The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 PM.

  Respectfully submitted by Nancy G. Caine, Secretary General.

General Assembly of the International Primatological Society

August 24, 2018

4:00–6:30 PM

United Nations Office in Nairobi, Conference Room 2

• I. The meeting was called to order at 4:10 PM by President Strier.

• II. Johannes Refisch, local host of the meeting and the head of the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) housed at the UNON, reported that over 800 people had registered for the congress, representing some 63 countries.

  • A. Holding the congress in Africa meant that a spotlight could be put on African primatology and conservation. Dr. Refisch thanked the Institute of Primate Research, the African Wildlife Foundation, the Colobus Trust, and the Great Apes Survival Partnership for helping to plan the meeting.

  • B. Dr. Refisch thanked his dedicated team of interns and volunteers who worked so hard to make the congress run smoothly.

• III. Steve Schapiro reported that the first-ever FIPA (Federation of International Primatological Associations) soccer tournament was a great success. There were four teams (New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys, Prosimians, and Apes), each of which played two games, held during lunch breaks. The Apes team prevailed in the championship game, but all four teams put talented squads of men and women on the field. Thanks to LabDiet for its generous support of FIPA.

• IV. The photo contest held as a fund-raiser at the congress this year netted about $1400 in profit for IPS.

• V. The financial status and membership trends of IPS were summarized by Treasurer Steve Schapiro. (Note: reports by the other IPS officers are available on the IPS website and were not presented at the General Assembly in the interest of time.)

  • A. IPS is currently in sound financial shape but we depend on membership dues, donations, fund-raisers, careful financial management, and successful congresses to remain in the black.

  • B. We continue to use our income to fund grants and awards every year. In 2018 we spent about $77,000 on grants, awards, and the PCTP (pre-congress training program). Note that membership dues account for only about $42,000 of our yearly income.

  • C. Those interested in additional details on finances or membership are referred to the minutes of the pre-congress council meeting (included in these compiled minutes) and the IPS Bulletin.

  • D. We currently have 1162 members. There was a large increase in African memberships this year. We always lose members in non-congress years, and this results in an unfortunate loss of revenue. Members are implored to renew their IPS membership each and every year!

• VI. Stella de la Torre reported that the 2020 IPS Congress in Quito, Ecuador, will be held August 16–22.

  • A. Registration will likely open on November 1, 2019.

  • B. The congress website is under construction.

  • C. The Sociedad Latinoamericana de Primatologia (SLAPrim)will co-host the meeting with IPS.

• VII. President Strier announced that the 2022 IPS congress will be held in Kuching City, Malaysia. An excellent bid was also received from China.

• VIII. VP for Education, Patrícia Izar, announced the winners of the student poster and oral presentation competition. Each winner receives $500; honorable mention receives $250.

  • A. Best student poster: Holly Fuong

  • B. Best student oral presentation:

    • 1. Two students received honorable mention: Felipe E. Silva; Leslie Wilmett

    • 2. The winner was Kotrina Kajokaite

• IX. VP Janette Wallis reported that the Pre-Congress Training Program (PCTP), held at Mpala Research Centre, was extremely successful.

  • A. Twelve participants (equally distributed across Africa, Asia, and habitat countries in the Americas) were able to attend the PCTP, as well as the congress itself, with full financial support thanks to funds from the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, IPS, and the Bristol Zoological Society.

  • B. Janette was joined by co-instructors Lynne Isbell, Zimbo Boonratana, and Mauricio Talebi.

• X. President Strier congratulated all of those who won IPS or IPS-affiliated grants and awards in the past two years, and introduced new officers.

  • A. A fund established by Russell Mittermeier to honor Adelmar Faria Coimbra Filho provided money to bring two Brazilian students to the congress this year. The Sociedade Brasileira de Primatologia oversaw the selection of the students.

  • B. A round of applause was given for winners of the various awards and grants given by the Conservation, Education, Captive Care, and Research Committees of IPS since the 2016 congress. Names of these winners can be found in IPS Bulletins and on the website.

  • C. Earlier this year the IPS Awards Committee announced Clifford Jolly and Colin Groves (posthumously) as winners of Lifetime Achievement Awards.

  • D. A special Presidential Award was made to Milton Thiago de Mello for his many contributions to Latin American primatology.

  • E. Special commendations were made to Steve Schapiro, Janette Wallis, and Nancy Caine for extended and exemplary service to IPS as Treasurer/VP for Membership, VP for Conservation, and Secretary General, respectively. Dr. Schapiro served IPS from 2002 to 2018; Drs. Wallis and Caine served from 2008 to 2018. The commendations included gift certificates donated by the Galante Vineyards. President Strier also thanked Jo Setchell for her eight years of service as VP for Research and her continuing distinguished service as Editor-in-Chief of IJP.

  • F. Citing the maturity of our organization and the wealth of talent in our ranks, The Awards Committee and the IPS council agree that the LAA should be given more often than once every two years, and that new awards might be in order.

  • G. Joining the ranks of officers are Trudy Turner (Treasurer/VP for Membership); Júlio César Bicca-Marques (Secretary General); Tatyana Humle (VP for Conservation); Marina Cords (VP for Research). These new officers assumed their positions at the end of the General Assembly.

• XI. President Strier summarized several new initiatives from IPS.

  • A. A recent case of misconduct in the form of sexual harassment and subsequent revocation of IPS membership brought to the fore the need for a code of conduct for IPS members. A roundtable discussion that addressed “MeToo” in primatology was held during the congress. The officers are committed to making progress toward a code of conduct this year.

  • B. Steve Schapiro returned to the podium to describe an idea called “Primatologists Without Borders.” PWB would organize intermediate and long-term aid in the form of manual labor and financial support to places where disasters have affected human and nonhuman primates.

    • 1. PWB would use IPS as its “home” for the purpose of recruitment and taking in donations, but there would be no financial or legal consequences or obligations for IPS itself.

    • 2. An example of a PWB mission is the ongoing “Project Monkey Island” in Puerto Rico, where individuals associated (directly or indirectly) with primatology have provided manual labor, supplies, equipment, and funds to help restore Cayo Santiago and the community of Punta Santiago.

    • 3. The IPS council voted in unanimous support of the PWB concept at its pre-Congress meeting, and the officers look forward to more details about PWB as it is developed.

  • C. Janette Wallis raised concerns about photographs in which people are touching or holding wild primates. This is particularly troublesome when the person in the photograph is a scientist, as it conveys the message that it is appropriate to interact with wildlife in this way. She asked for volunteers for a working group to develop a policy against this practice.

  • D. We need volunteers to mentor primatologists who may need help with grant writing and/or publishing. Writing effectively is often an issue for non-native speakers of English. Members are asked to contact Education VP Pat Izar or Jo Setchell if you would like to help.

  • E. IPS was successful in joining with Brazilian primatologists to have Netflix withdraw a program that portrayed howler monkeys as responsible for yellow fever transmission to humans. This is an example of how IPS can exert its influence to change public perceptions of primates.

• XII. Questions and comments from the membership

  • A. Can all committees be listed on the website so that members can inquire about volunteering?

    • 1. VP Hobaiter will see to this.

    • 2. President Strier noted that a concerted effort has been made in the last two years to diversify committee membership, and that effort will continue.

  • B. Can more time be given to discussion following oral presentations during scientific sessions? President Strier expressed sympathy for this but explained that doing so would limit the number of presentations given in each session, which in turn might lead to rejections of abstracts.

  • C. A session at this congress on funding opportunities, which included representatives from several major funding agencies, was poorly attended. Might there be a plenary session devoted to funding opportunities at the next congress? President Strier referred this to Dr. de la Torre for consideration at the next congress in 2020.

  • D. The IUCN Red List, linked on the Primates in Peril tab on the IPS website, is out of date. Dr. Mittermeier conceded that an update is needed and will be done soon.

  • E. Ian Redmond made an impassioned plea for primatologists to be more vocal and active (e.g., contact your elected officials!) about the role of primates in restoring ecosystems around the world. “Primates are the gardeners of the forest; save primates to save forests to save the world.”

  • F. Could we have another installment of the photo exhibition on primatology and motherhood that was presented at the Cancun congress in 2012?

    • 1. This exhibit followed a workshop on the challenges of motherhood for primatologists that was held at the 2010 congress in Kyoto.

    • 2. Nancy Caine, who chaired the workshop and co-sponsored the photo exhibit with Alejandra Duarte, promised to reprise the exhibit in Quito, pending approval from the program committee there.

  • G. We were asked to be aware of and sensitive to the fact that primatologists in some parts of the world have little or no access to the internet, to scientific journals, to smart phones, or even to credit cards. This limits access and success in our field.

    • 1. President Strier acknowledged the persistence and detrimental nature of this problem in primatology, and asked for good ideas about how to address it.

    • 2. VP Hobaiter encouraged us to donate print journals to colleagues in areas where access is limited. Contact her for details.

  • H. Will there be child care in Quito? Dr. de la Torre will try to arrange it.

  • I. Is the Top 25 Most Endangered Primates list ready? Dr. Mittermeier said no, but it will be soon.

President Strier adjourned the meeting at 5:45 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Nancy G. Caine, Secretary General.

The Post-Congress Meeting of the Council of the International Primatological Society

August 25, 2018

8:30–10:30 AM

United Nations Office in Nairobi, Conference Room 13

• I. The meeting was called to order by President Karen Strier at 8:30 am.

• II. Members of the council introduced themselves. In attendance were:

  • A. IPS officers: Karen Strier, President; Júlio César Bicca-Marques, Secretary General; Patrícia Izar, VP for Education; Cat Hobaiter, VP for Communications; Steve Ross, VP for Captive Care and Breeding; Marina Cords, VP for Research; Trudy Turner, Treasurer and VP for Membership; Tatyana Humle, VP for Conservation.

  • B. Representatives of affiliated societies: Leonardo de Carvalho Oliveira (Brazil); Ramesh (Zimbo) Boonratana (Southeast Asia); Baoguo Li (China); Stella de la Torre (Ecuador); Leandro Jerusalinsky (Latin America); Tatyana Humle (Francophone); Tania Minhos and Maria Joana Silva (Portugal); Jordi Galbany (Spain); Masayuki Nakamichi (Japan); Anton Nurcahyo (Australia and Indonesia); Arif Setiawan (Indonesia); Tobias Deschner (Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany); Jo Setchell (Great Britain); Steve Schapiro (USA); Riashna Sithaldeen (South Africa and Africa); Andie Ang (Malaysia); Xyomara Carretero-Pinzón (Colombia); Fanny M. Cornejo (Peru); Hentrona Randrianatoandro (Madagascar). Absent from the meeting were representatives of the Italian, Mexican, Argentinean, and European Federation societies of primatology.

  • C. Ex officio members of the council: Anthony Rylands (Primate Specialist Group of IUCN). Absent from the meeting was Tetsuro Matsuzawa (immediate past president of IPS).

• III. Old business: President Strier introduced each of the items that were carry-overs from earlier meetings.

  • A. Awards

    Discussion centered around the suggestion of IPS granting one or more regional achievement awards. Discussion included whether the intention is to grant regional awards based on the geographical location of the research or the nationality of the researcher, inquire about how regional societies handle this issue, importance of considering the scale of the region. Decision was that the Awards committees (Chaired by President Strier) will work on these guidelines and bring them back to the Officers/Council.

  • B. IPS Code of Conduct

    VP for Education Izar and past VP for Research/Great Britain representative Setchell will work on this task with President Strier and Treasurer Turner. Izar and Setchell will write the first draft with input from Strier and Turner; Hobaiter will circulate.

  • C. Photos and primatologists/primates in media/ethics

    President Strier mentioned that this issue is also related to the Code of Conduct. She suggested inviting Janette Wallis to co-lead the Code of Conduct Task Force. Other suggestions/comments included a reminder that IPS has a policy statement about primates in the media; Strier will ask Wallis to work on expanding this to include photos with primatologists issues and to work with Izar and Setchell on expanded policy statement/best practices document. Izar and Setchell will work on new ad hoc committee for revised and expanded ethics statement.

    German representative Deschner suggested a joint symposium between researchers and media professionals to discuss the issue.

  • D. Primatologists Without Borders

    American Society (ASP) representative Schapiro explained some book keeping care that needs to be taken by the new Treasurer Turner if IPS starts to receive money for the Primatologists Without Borders program. Schapiro will submit a working plan in the next couple of months for discussion by the IPS officers.

  • E. Ad hoc committees

    Great Britain representative Setchell updated on the “Making capture safer” workshop. Many people were involved. VP for Conservation Humle will work with Setchell on keeping this initiative active.

  • F. Other?

    Nobody raised additional old businesses.

• IV. New business

  • A. Visa for Israelis and resource management – IPS Malaysia

    President Strier explained the problem with the visa for Israelis to enter Malaysia. She contacted the leader of the Malaysian delegation who has replied that they are already working out this issue. Southeast Asian representative Boonratana added that the visa for Israelis has to be approved by the Office of Home Affairs in addition to the normal procedure. He suggested that IPS discusses this issue directly with the Malaysian government.

    Treasurer Turner has contacted the Malaysian delegation regarding the issue about the management of the 2022 congress’s resources.

  • B. IPS Audit and website

    Treasurer Turner thanked former Treasurer Schapiro; Schapiro is responsible for the bookkeeping of this congress. She discussed details of the change in location of the Treasurer from one USA state to another, and the requirement of an audit of the accounts when the responsibility is transferred. Turner plans to propose to Springer some kind of financial compensation to IPS for institutional subscriptions and royalties related to the International Journal of Primatology. Turner will also review the Primatologists Without Borders initiative as Schapiro develops it so that it is consistent with the nonprofit status of IPS. These initiatives may require some contact (and expenses) with accountants and lawyers.

  • C. Proposal to revise student paper awards

    VP for Education Izar suggested 5 regional awards vs current 1 big winner. Discussions included the maintenance of 1 award with regional honorable mentions, 1 award for habitat countries and 1 award for non-habitat countries, awards for English and non-English speaking nationals, and awards for undergraduate, MSc and PhD students. It was also proposed that students would automatically enter the competition upon their registration in the congress. There were also questions about the composition of the evaluation committee and the existence of feedback to students about the quality of their abstracts. It was suggested that IPS should produce guidelines on how to write an abstract and deliver oral and poster presentations and that students could check a box in the registration page stating their willingness for mentorship on these tasks. Finally, there were comments on the importance to range country students of knowing in advance that their presentations were pre-selected for the competition because they would have a higher likelihood of getting financial support from their governments to attend the congress, and on the difficulty of finding enough professionals to review abstracts without overloading those that volunteer.

    President Strier summarized the discussion as being that support for 5 regional awards is weak but that there is strong interest in expanding the awards to take regional inequities into account. She asked VP for Education Izar to work with the awards committee to propose a new regional award in addition to the continuing one for us to vote about online.

  • D. Suggestion for new committee/officer on diversity

    Great Britain representative Setchell and the participants of the workshop on diversity think that there is a need of a specific committee or officer on diversity. The position could include responsibility for committees on diversity, inclusion, code of conduct and other related issues. Changes in bylaws would need to be made. President Strier asks the diversity committee to draft the proposal outlining the rationale and responsibilities for the new VP for the bylaws. It was agreed this would be called VP for Equality, Inclusion, and Equity. If approved, given that the bylaws allow it, the new officer would be selected in the next election, if ready for voting etc. by May 2019.

  • E. Proposal for a “good reviewer IJOP program” for habitat country professionals: five good reviews or X review points (assigned by editors) = one open-access publication

    Secretary General Bicca-Marques proposed a strategy to increase both the willingness of habitat country nationals to serve as reviewers for the International Journal of Primatology and the Impact Factor of the journal. He suggested that Springer should grant habitat country reviewers the right to publish a free open-access paper in IJOP after the reviewer has written five good reviews or a certain amount of review points to be assigned by the editor-in-chief or associate editors. In addition of promoting an increase in IF by making a greater number of papers from habitat countries openly available immediately after online publication instead of making them public only after the 12-month embargo, this recognition has the potential of increasing the number of reviewers and the quality of the reviews. All participants agreed that Bicca-Marques should develop the proposal and that he and IJOP’s Editor-in-Chief Setchell discuss it with Springer.

  • F. Other?

    Great Britain representative Setchell suggested that the bids for the next meetings should add a topic on childcare for attendants as suggested by a congress attendee during the General Assembly.

    President Strier encouraged regional societies to send information on field courses, meetings, etc. to VP for Communications Hobaiter.

• V. Ideas for 2020 Program Committee to consider

  • A. Pre-congress course on manuscript and grant proposal writing

    VP for Education Izar explained her idea and the local host of the 2020 IPS Congress and Ecuador representative de la Torre highlighted that she needs to check the logistics of the venue and discuss the financial implications of this pre-congress course.

  • B. IPS training courses on scientific writing at range countries

    Secretary General Bicca-Marques explained his proposal of offering 1-week workshops on scientific writing and oral presentation at habitat countries with expenses covered by the target regional society and/or local universities.

    President Strier proposed the establishment of an IPS directory of people willing to review abstracts, offer courses (e.g., scientific writing and study design), etc. available to its associated societies and individual members. VP for Communications Hobaiter, VP for Education Izar and Great Britain representative Setchell will begin organizing the directory.

    Southeast Asian representative Boonratana told that there is a foundation willing to support up to 24 participants from Southeast Asia to attend a regional training program in Malaysia that includes academic writing and journal submission.

    President Strier highlighted that the term of committee members is 2 years and that VPs need to “refresh” the composition of the committees under their responsibility of aiming to increase diversity.

    VP for Conservation Humle reminded that the sessions on writing papers and proposals were video recorded and that they will be uploaded in the IPS website. Therefore, the coming congress organizers can make them available to prospective attendees for helping them write their abstracts, prepare their presentations, etc.

  • C. Other?

    Japan representative Nakamichi thanked the Council and President for meeting the request for a letter of support for the study of macaques affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

President Strier adjourned the meeting at 10:30 am.

Respectfully submitted by Júlio César Bicca-Marques, Secretary General.