Outreach & Communications Committee
The OBFS Outreach & Communications Committee is dedicated to both internal and external relations. The committee is tasked with two primary objectives:
- Providing material to aid individual stations in describing their value to their internal stakeholders such as donors, the public, partners, and station users using tool kits and media examples
- Developing external communication pieces like one pagers, infographic brochures, fact sheets, and reports for stakeholders of OBFS such as government officials, federal agencies, OBFS donors, and national partners. See the Advocacy Page for more details and member opportunities.
A regular product of the committee is the Quarterly OBFS Newsletter targeted for the organization’s various stakeholders: the OBFS community (station directors, staff, OBFS station representatives), affiliates at partnering institutions (NSF, AIBS, LTER, ESA), decision-makers (congressional staff, local officials, and regulatory agencies), donors to OBFS, and station visitors. Check out the latest newsletter and learn how to submit articles here.
Contact the Chair of the Outreach & Communications Committee (Conner Philson) for more ways to get engaged in field station communications and advocacy! The committee is always looking for new members, volunteers, and ideas.
FSML Recognition in Journal Publications
In 2024, the Outreach & Communications Committee underwent an effort to boost Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) recognition for the research they support by (1) providing FSMLs a template to require users to recognize their station in publications and presentations and (2) by working directly with top scientific journal publishers to require that authors recognize the FSML/s where research was conducted or data/resources were used.
As a result of these efforts, 30+ publishers and individual journals now require FSMLs to be properly and standardly recognized either in the methods or acknowledgements sections!
This effort won't be complete until all journals require FSMLs are justly recognized for their vital contributions to scientific research and advancement. To help achieve this goal, contact the Chair of the Outreach & Communications Committee, Conner Philson.
