A NEW AWARD BEING OFFERED BY THE AUSTRALIAN RANGELAND SOCIETY

(From the Range Management Newsletter 19/2)

Announcing ….  The Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management

From the ARS Council, July 2019

 

Introduction

At the Society’s AGM in May 2019, a proposal was accepted to establish an Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management.  The recipient of this award shall have rendered or is a significant contributor to the betterment of the rangelands.

 

Background

The ARS has only one formal award, being that of a Fellowship.  The Guidelines state that a Fellowship can be awarded to:

‘Any person who has rendered or is rendering distinguished service to the Society or to the rangelands, may be appointed a Fellow of the Australian Rangeland Society by Council acting on the written nomination of not fewer than six members, submitted to Council’. 

Fellowships can only be awarded to members of the Society, with the criteria including both service to the Society and to the rangelands.  Further, the rules (established in 2010) require that the Fellow must have been a member of the ARS for 10 continuous years.  Finally, there is a limit of the number of Fellows to four per cent of Society members.

These rules and their implementation limit the Society’s capacity to recognise people who are not members, but who are making or have made an outstanding contribution to rangeland science and or management.  These people include pastoralists, natural park managers, traditional owners, NRM managers, researchers, environmental managers on mines, philanthropists etc.

 

The Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management. 

The new Award will recognise people who have made or are making a significant contribution to rangeland management, across biophysical, economic, social and governance domains.  Presentation of the Award will also raise the profile of the ARS as an organisation committed to the rangelands, its people and activities.

 

Determination

Awards of Excellence in Rangeland Management will be given, or not given by the Council on the basis of a written nomination (not less than 200 and not more than 500 words), which documents the contribution of the nominee to the rangelands, together with citation of not more than 100 words for publication in ARS and other media.  The nomination is to be supported by six members of the Society, two of whom must be Council members.

 

Criteria for the nominations

The following criteria need to be addressed in submitting a nomination for an Award.

  • Length of time associated with the rangelands.
  • Nature of the commitment to the use and management of the rangelands.
  • Unique contribution to the science and/or art of rangeland management.
  • Contribution to building capacity in the rangelands community.

 

Process

(The process presented here is similar to that for nominating and approving the appointment of a Fellow).

a)     Any member of the Society may support a nomination of a person for consideration for an Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management.  The nomination needs to be supported with evidence of the person meeting the criteria and endorsed by six members of the Society, two of must be Council members.

b)     The award is to be made by Council, who may appoint a special committee to consider nominations, if they so wish.  Nominations are to be assessed against the ‘criteria’.

c)     Nominations can be submitted to Council at any time, but in the event that an Award is to be given, it will be announced at the subsequent AGM.

d)     Publicity can commence after the Award is announced, with the Awardee to be formally presented at their ‘home location’ in the company of family, colleagues and others by the nearest available Council member.  This will also raise the profile of the ARS.  The Awardee needs to be further recognised at the subsequent Biennial Conference.

 

Nature and benefit of the Award

A recipient of the Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management will receive a medal and framed certificate to be presented at their ‘home location’ with the winner recognised at the subsequent Biennial Conference, a year’s complimentary membership of the ARS and complimentary registration at the subsequent Biennial Conference.  In return, there will be an expectation that the recipient will give a talk to the conference about their life and work related to the rangelands.

The presentation of the award needs to be publicised widely to raise the profile of excellence in rangeland management, and also the profile of the ARS.

 

We are calling for nominations for the inaugural Award!

Please give some thought to someone who might meet the criteria presented above and be a worthy recipient of the inaugural Award of Excellence in Rangeland Management.

As noted above, nominations can be sent to the Council at any time, and will be considered at the next Council Meeting.  For information, dates for Council meetings during the remainder of 2019 will be 5 September (during the Canberra conference) and 27 November 2019.

Please send nominations to:

Bob Shepherd

Secretary, The Australian Rangeland Society

14 Gauvin Street, CHARTERS TOWERS Qld 4820

Ph: 0467 802 430(M); 07 4761 5150(W); 07 4787 2891(H)

Email: boblee.sheperd@bigpond.com or bob.shepherd@daf.qld.gov.au