Hello SWR, The NSS Members in the Grotto have by now received their 2009 election ballots with five candidates running. You can vote for four candidates.
Since the the ballots were mailed, two more NSS members have have decided to run as write in candidates. These are Lee Florea and Bill Putnam. I feel both of these candidates are very solid and will/are helping with the NSS. Lee Florea is a current Director of the NSS whose three year term is ending. Bill Putnum has done huge things with the Southeastern Cave Conservancy (SCCi). Both are motivated and will be assets. In the last nine days (since April 5th), I have received 138 emails on the subject. Most of which were about the email burst sent out by NSS President Gordon Birkhimer with Lee Florea's Director Platform I will be writing in both candidates names (Lee Florea and Bill Putnam) on the NSS ballot. Candidates need only about 1000 votes to win. thanks, Ray Bill Putnam's platform is at: http://www.putnamconsulting.com/ Lea Florea's platform is below: LEE FLOREA, NSS 37909FE/LF My active caving began in 1991 near my family farm in eastern Kentucky. Caving was a convenient distraction from my studies. By 1993, I became a NSS member and an active participant in the Green River Grotto. During my time as a college student, the goals of my weekend trips changed from recreation, to exploration, and eventually survey. Expedition work with the Cave Research Foundation and participation in summer field courses at Mammoth Cave completed my transformation from a career in physics to a life-long passion for geology and caving. Recently I returned to Kentucky from a six-year tenure in Florida when I accepted an assistant professor of environmental geoscience position at Western Kentucky University. These past fifteen years, I have supported the Society, the community, and the environment in a number of ways. For example, I served as the first president of the Kentucky Speleological Survey and I helped to found the Florida Cave Survey. Additionally, I have worked in a central role with the 2001 and 2008 conventions and with the 2009 International Congress. I have struggled to protect cave resources for many years from interstate highways and coal mines in Kentucky and golf courses and housing developments in Florida. The NSS has achieved public awareness of caves over the past six decades, but now the Society must adapt its strategies to remain in a crucial role of cave research and protection. A coherent vision for a new NSS Office Headquarters is central to that theme. During my first term as a NSS Director, I have made progress on a number of goals. Specific actions that I have sponsored include: 1) A streamlining of our policy regarding scholarships; we are now able to offer two Ralph Stone Awards to graduate students each year. 2) A renewal of the NSS Preserves Research Initiative including a line of funding to support awarded grants. 3) Board Acts that have resulted in the move and inventory of our NSS Speleo Museum. If elected to the Board for a second term, I will continue my efforts to see the Society through the present economy, white nose syndrome, and a move to a new headquarters. I will make it a priority to seek solutions and bridge the growing gap between non-scientist cavers and non-caving scientists using my experience in resource protection, policy research, and grant writing.
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