Proceedings of the Sixty-first Annual Meeting of the Northeastern ...

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WSSA board approved $5,000 to support the development of weed pages for
www.gardenmosaics.org . Toni DiTommaso is involved in this project.
WSSA membership dues will increase to $135 regular and $40 student, which includes online
access to the journals. There will be an additional charge of $20 for those desiring a printed
copy of Weed Science and Weed Technology.
A WSSA Graduate Student Organization has been formed, with a Constitution and Manual of
Operating Procedures developed. Their president will serve as a representative to the WSSA
board. Each regional will have 2 representatives on the GSO board. The NEWSS graduate
students will elect representatives for the WSSA GSO board.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Daniel L. Kunkel, Chair and
Lee Van Wychen, Director of Science Policy, WSSA
WSSA Names New Director Of Science Policy - Based on the consensus of the WSSA
Board, Dr. Lee Van Wychen took over the position of Director of Science Policy on July 11,
2005. Lee brings a wealth of Washington experiences to the job. He was selected as a
Congressional Science Fellow through the Agronomy, Crop and Soil Science Society’s
Congressional Science Fellowship program in 2003. During the past two years, Lee has
worked in the offices of Rep. Gil Gutknecht (MN) and Nick Smith (MI) where he analyzed,
advised, and implemented the offices’ legislative strategy on agriculture, environment, science,
energy, trade, and budget policies. His experiences on the Hill have helped him to build a solid
network of contacts in federal lobbying and stakeholder groups, academic societies, and
regulatory and oversight agencies.
Lee Grew up in Wisconsin and completed his Masters degree in Weed Science under the late
Dr. Gordon Harvey in Madison. Lee then completed a Ph.D. in Land Resources and
Environmental Science under Dr. Bruce Maxwell at Montana State University. Lee can be
contacted at: Director of Science Policy, National and Regional Weed Science Societies, 900
Second Street, N.E. Suite 205, Washington, DC 20002, Phone:(202)408-5388, Fax:(202)408-
5385, Email: Lee.VanWychen@WeedScienceOrgs.com
Working in conjunction with Rich Bonanno, WSSA Washington Liaison Committee Chairman,
Lee listed six goals that he would like to accomplish in his first newsletter report.
The following are a list of those goals followed by updated meeting notes from a conference call
with the WSSA Washington Liaison Committee and Regional Weed Science Presidents on
October 26, 2005.
1. Expand the awareness of weed science issues and increase participation in the 7 th National
Invasive Weeds Awareness Week (NIWAW 7).
a. PTI Grant for 2007- Lee asked for guidance in regards to applying for another
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation- Pulling Together Initiative (PTI) grant of
$15,000 for NIWAW 8. Rich indicated that WSSA would like to continue to play a
major role in future NIWAW’s. Since then, Lee completed the Pre-Proposal on Oct.
28, 2005 and final Proposal on Dec. 9, 2005. Formal announcement of award
recipients is on May 15, 2006.
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