Technical divisions (TDs) are smaller groups within the Society whose members have a specific professional interest. The TDs also represent the key technical disciplines that comprise the study and application of reclamation science. The Society recognizes their value and serves as an umbrella organization to provide national recognition. They may develop special sessions for the Society’s annual meetings and publish professional manuals. Each agrees to support the policies and objectives of the Society. The Chair of each division facilitates at least one meeting of their division each year (at the Society’s annual meeting) and helps to recruit new members and communicate the goals of the Society with their professional networks. With the help of the TD representative to the National Executive Council (NEC), TD Chairs also solicit presenters for the annual meeting, solicit papers for the Society’s journal, pursue sponsorships for the annual meeting, and suggest TD-specific webinars throughout the year.
To facilitate these objectives, the division intends to:
- Meet at least annually at the ASRS National Meetings and discuss how the Division will contribute to next year’s annual meeting, discussing not just what would be relevant but identifying who will solicit papers on specific topics.
- Identify in advance related topics and authors for articles for ASRS’s Reclamation Matters magazine.
- Supply information about the Division on ASRS’s website, to foster communication between Division members.
- Periodically send out e-mails to Division members (through the Executive Secretary) so that those who cannot attend an annual Society meeting are made aware of what has transpired and given an opportunity to participate in Division activities.
- Prepare technical summary papers on topics that are the subject of current public policy debate when an issue of importance emerges to stimulate the Division membership.
- Encourage interactions with ASRS’s student chapters and mentoring relationships with undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers, so that the next generation of professionals are aided and encouraged to develop skills and expertise in this important field of research and practice.
As part of the Strategic Plan developed in 2018, the Society’s TDs were reviewed and revised, with new TDs being proposed and approved by the NEC in summer 2021. The new TDs were developed to continue the Society’s focal transition to reclamation as a whole, rather than mining. There are now six TDs in the Society: Soils, Water, Vegetation, Wildlife, Technology, and Engineering and Construction.
