Science Iowa minutes
May 17, 2022
4:30 p.m.
Dan Chibnall called the meeting to order at 4:32 p.m.
Introduction of members in attendance as needed – Joe Coulter is a professor emeritus in the College of Public Health in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.
Approve the minutes of the April 19, 2022, meeting. See:
Ruth moved approval. Approved by acclamation.
Treasurer’s report – Ruth Henderson
There was no change in the balance from April. Kaitlin Higgins has received a $200 donation but has not yet forwarded it. Business savings balance is $120. Business checking balance s $880.40. We must buy event insurance this month for the Science Festival trail event. Ruth will pay it and seek reimbursement. She also will pay the deposit for the DNR trailer.
Old business:
2022 candidate survey – Tom O’Donnell
See: https://iowasciencepolicy.weebly.com/
Tom said about a dozen candidates have responded but not all actually answered the questions. He asked board members to contact candidates in their area and urge them to respond. There is some social media going out but the major push for attention will come for the general election.
Science Festival Trail: Updates; possible assignments – Ruth Henderson
Ruth has registered for high school student volunteers at West Des Moines. She may also register with Waukee. She will get event insurance in the next couple of weeks. She also is working on contacts and a Google document for organizations we want to attend. She will share that with us. She asked board members to review the list. She asked those who have personal contacts with organizations to sign up to contact them.
Ruth also asked board members to provide ideas to make the event special. For example, we bought popcorn last time; this time we may want to rent a machine. Ruth will contact Kate Garner about generating publicity. She also has a spreadsheet for businesses to provide donations, whether items or money. She thought about contacting Raygun for T-shirts. Dan suggested print-on-demand T-shirts.
Tom suggested fundraising. We can offer water bottles as a premium. Ruth would fulfill orders. Tom will write text for a fundraising plea.
Grant application research – Tom O’Donnell
See:
Tom noted that he had compiled the spreadsheet from the Foundations Center and trimmed it from a longer list. He will dig into it to see what some are seeking and how we can match their needs. He asked board members to examine the list for any foundations they’re familiar with and let him know. Ruth noted that Nathan has a relationship with Bayer, which provided a $5,000 grant for the Valley greenhouse. Nathan said their application program is easy.
Ruth also researched grants from organizations that may be willing to support the Science Festival Trail. She has applied to Whole Foods and Costco but has not received a reply. Nathan says he applied for some grants from them but never heard back.
New business
Reelection – Tom O’Donnell
See bylaws:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mBZmTWoOmSvpij2zpkIN1puTnqB4LQewKCRfHgvV0iI/edit?usp=sharing
Tom noted that the bylaws say he is to stand for election this year. He wants to know how we should handle this: do we take nominations and then seek votes via MailChimp? Dan and Maurine expressed support for keeping Tom on the board. Dan noted that the bylaws say an officer holds office until a replacement is elected or appointed. Dan said if we want to retain Tom, we could put out a ballot running him unopposed. Ruth said we also could seek write-in votes. Dan will ask a colleague about the best way to handle this.
Adjourned at 4:59 p.m.