Any industrial ecologist may nominate any student (membership not required at this stage). University advisors and professors - please get your students involved! And if you are a student, you are warmly invited to nominate yourself or other talented and dedicated students to serve on the ISIE Student Chapter board of representatives.

The election process begins in September of each year

• Nomination Period: 7 Sep 2020 to 20 Sep 2020
• Preparation of Personal Statement: 24 Sep 2020 to 12 Oct 2020. 
  Nominees will be asked to write a personal statement on a prescribed electronic form. This form will be sent to all nominees on 23 Sep 2020. Only by submitting a personal statement will the nominee be considered a candidate for elections.
• Voting Period: 15 Oct 2020 to 27 Oct 2020. 
  The personal statements of all candidates will be made public to all students registered as members of the ISIE Student community. Voting will be held by electronic means during this period.
• Start of the term: First week of November 2020.

Below is some information about the ISIE Student Community and its representative board.  

What is the ISIE Student Chapter? 

The Student Chapter was formed in 2002 and has been active in providing opportunities for students to interact with the broader industrial ecology community in meaningful ways. Along these lines the Student Community has been involved in diverse activities, such as:

• Receiving funding for student meetings and financial aid for student attendance at society conferences (including the Symposium on Industrial Ecology for Young Professionals during the biennial ISIE conference);
• Increasingly, involve students around the globe through virtual networking
• Organising student competitions at ISIE and Gordon Research Conferences;
• Publishing student newsletters;
• Maintaining the students' section in the official ISIE website and social media, posting information regarding conferences, employment opportunities, and collaborations related to industrial ecology.

What is the Student Chapter Board (SCB)? 

The Student Chapter is managed by a board of about eight student representatives who administer and lead the organisation of the activities mentioned above, and who serve as a nexus between the students and the ISIE council. Activities are detailed on the students’ website.

The term of a board member is of two years, and terms in the board are staggered: each year four or five new board members are elected (in case of a tie, more members might be elected) to replace retiring board members. This ensures continuity in the Student Board.

6 students are continuing into their second term in 2020-2021, including 4 board members at-large and 1 Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer (C-DIO).  This year, the SCB is opening the Vice-Diversity & Inclusion Officer (V-DIO), alongside openings for 3 board members at-large. Nominees can choose to run for either or both positions. If a candidate runs for both positions and is elected for V-DIO, 3 other board members at-large will be elected.

The SCB will strive to ensure that there is at least one board member (new or continuing) who will be representing their region out of the current five world regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and North America. The world region selected for representation will be based on the country of the Institute or Organization the selected member is affiliated with.  The SCB currently does not have a representative from Latin America; students in Latin America are strongly encouraged for nomination!

What is expected of a board representative? 

Representatives work at the epicentre of ISIE activities and are thus expected to have a deep interest in all things related to industrial ecology. Being able to interact directly with students, researchers, and practitioners of Industrial Ecology is expected, and participation in IE related events is a plus. Board representatives attend a monthly online board meeting and work as a team with divided responsibilities to fulfil their roles including events planning and management, communications within and outside the student community, grant applications, and strategic planning regarding students within ISIE. For 2020 the Board will work on planning the 2021 ISIE Conference in a way that is safe and still impactful for all attendees.

While fundamentally the position is not too demanding on a regular basis, the board members are expected to contribute their time to the efforts of the ISIE student community and have a proactive role in these activities. For example, candidates should be prepared to attend online meetings which are scheduled to suit the time differences of the other members from across the globe and to communicate with senior ISIE members. Failure to fulfil the expectations may lead to re-elections.

The Vice-Diversity & Inclusion Officer (V-DIO) has specific roles:

• The V-DIO is expected to support the C-DIO in initiating and creating, as well as continuing initiatives to support D & I efforts of the SCB.
• The V-DIO will assume a direct supporting role as a point of contact to assist student members should they experience an obstacle to their academic career pertaining to an aspect of their personal identity (for example: race/ethnicity, nationality, gender, parental status, sexual orientation, religion).
• The V-DIO is expected to play an active role in supporting and creating or continuing initiatives: such as discussion groups, webinars, advisory committees, or advocacy to further the goal of fostering an increasingly diverse and inclusive community of industrial ecology scholars.

Involvement as a Student Chapter Board Member has many benefits

Including: the opportunity to sit on the ISIE council; the chance to build your network through interacting with senior ISIE members and student community members; and the possibility to increase exposure to the many aspects of the field of Industrial Ecology.  

Who can be a board member? 

A Nominee must be (1) a student and (2) a member of ISIE (join now!). The expected term of a board member is two years, so students early in their studies are ideal candidates. However, even if you are graduating during the second year of the term, you may also participate as a board member. Students that are not yet members of ISIE and are interested in serving the community, are encouraged to register themselves as student members now and get nominated (registration page). ISIE membership will be confirmed for all nominees.

Questions about the election process?

Feel free to email: students@is4ie.org

Other leadership opportunities

The SCB recently launched Industrial Ecology Peer Groups.  These groups enable a network of students researching similar topics to share progress on resarch, ask each other questions, and generally support each other.  Each of the roughly dozen groups need a coordinator, which is another fantastic way to lead your industrial ecology peers. Interested in coordinating? Email: students@is4ie.org