Dear APB Members,
We are looking forward to a positive and productive year, and extend our best wishes to you for 2021!
Our strength over the past year has been our highly engaged and committed Board of Directors working with quiet determination to build on our foundation as a respected and effective organization.
We held monthly board meetings throughout the year in addition to special meetings for workshop and conference development in the spring.
At weekly meetings throughout the fall of 2020, we focused on reviewing and refining everything from our constitution and bylaws to operational procedures, member services, marketing strategies and strategic plans.
We have also been engaging with regulatory bodies like the Superintendent of Professional Governance and the College of Applied Biology.
One thing we have been neglecting, however, is regular communication with members. While we have been working behind-the-scenes on developing communications capacity and strategies, we have yet to engage you in our plans.
And so, we come into the New Year with a renewed commitment to providing more opportunities for interactive discussion and outreach with members.
Today we invite you to ring in the New Year with the APB by taking advantage of these 5 opportunities
#1 Ask Questions, Pitch Ideas
Join the APB Board of Directors for a strategic planning session the evening of January 13th. This session provides an opportunity to ask questions and provide input that will guide APB priorities for 2021.
Everyone welcome!
This session is open to any past, current and prospective members interested in learning more about the APB's vision, member services and strategic plans.
Participation options: Participate by video conference or by telephone. Details will be forwarded to registered participants.
Registration: Register online today at professionalbiology.com/CPD/events or send an email to [email protected] to be added to the registration list.
If there is sufficient interest through early registration we will consider adding a morning or weekend session.
Mentorship and community outreach continue to be priorities of the APB. Guided mentorship provides an opportunity for experienced professionals to share their insights, wisdom, and hard-earned lessons with the next generation of professionals.
In addition to supporting a professional learning community, mentorship encourages critical discussion of the skills and diligence needed to become an effective biologist in BC.
Heading into 2021, the APB Mentorship Program proudly supports three new mentor-protégé pairs and a growing pool of prospective protégés and mentors.
Congratulations to mentorship pair Keith Story (R.P. Bio.) and Cora Watts (B.I.T.) for recently completing their first semester of the program, which has focused on wetland restoration, career development, and advanced data analytics.
We look forward to the success of all of the new mentorship pairs and welcome applications for new mentors and protégés in 2021!
The APB Mentorship Program is eligible for CPD credits and has been strongly endorsed by the College of Applied Biology.
For more information on the mentorship program and how to apply, please visit professionalbiology.com and click on the “About APB” tab to find the mentorship page.
One of our new initiatives is to profile APB members and the work of professional biologists in our outreach communications.
If you’d like to be featured please contact [email protected] for details.
We are also facilitating teaching opportunities for members through development and presentation of APB workshops and webinars.
Contact [email protected] for details or to pitch your ideas.
We are developing opportunities for members with specialized expertise to help build on our capacity for advocacy across a broad range of topics relevant to biology and professional practice.
In January we anticipate tendering two projects with honoraria for the development of reviews and recommendations pertaining to 1) Climate Change Action in Professional Practice and 2) the Province of BC’s Old Growth Strategic Review.
If these particular opportunities are of interest to you, or you’d like to pitch another priority topic for board consideration, please contact [email protected] to be added to the notification list.
All opportunities for tender will be posted to BioServe. Stay tuned for updates!
The APB has a strong foundation of 400 dedicated members and we know that the APB is as important to this core group as it is to the Association’s Directors.
But to build capacity and act on our long-term vision we need to grow our membership. And to do that, we need your help with "word-of-mouth" advertising.
Over the next few days we’ll be sharing posts about APB membership benefits on social media. We hope that you’ll follow us on your favourite platform and share our posts with your professional networks to encourage prospective members to join us.
An engaging three-day event you won't want to miss.