Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The new year has so far brought new signs of hope – hope for an eventual end to the COVID pandemic as vaccination ramps up and hope for a more science-friendly climate in our neighbour to the south where the new president has appointed his science advisor to the cabinet.

Because COVID is still very much with us, the SWCC conference will once again be virtual this year. After last year’s successful conference, I’m looking forward to seeing what conference chair Rhonda Moore and her team come up with this year. The AGM will also be virtual again.

At last year’s AGM in November, we were pleased to welcome some new board members and to say farewell and thanks to some departing members.

We said goodbye to treasurer Aniruddho Chokroborty-Hoque and to board members Carolyn Fell, Michelle Reddinger and Natasha Waxman. I’d like to thank all of them for their service.

And we have new board members to welcome: Ki-Youn Kim and Sunita LeGallou joined the board in the course of the year, and Beth Gallagher, Cristina Sanza and Shirene Singh joined the at the AGM. Ki-Youn heads the 50th Anniversary committee, Sunita is chair of the Book Awards Committee and Cristina chairs the Digital Media Committee. You can read the bios of all the board members at sciencewriters.ca/board-members 

Getting involved with the SWCC is a great way to hone your skills, to network, to add to your resumé, and it can be a lot of fun as well. If you’re interested in helping out on any of the committees or getting involved in any way, contact us and let us know what your interests are.

Best wishes for a bright new year.

Terry Lavender

President, SWCC