Call for nominations – Honorary membership of NBN Trust

We are seeking nominations for Honorary Membership of the National Biodiversity Network Trust. Do you know someone who you think should receive this accolade?

Honorary Membership can be awarded to one or two persons each year and is agreed upon by the Board of Trustees. They do not have to be a member or part of a member organisation to be nominated.

The person being proposed must meet at least one of the criteria listed below.

1. An outstanding personal contribution to biological recording including the mentoring of others
2. A long established contribution as a scheme organiser involving, for example, significant advancement of recording methodologies, extension of recording at a national scale to a wider range of taxa, development and application of taxonomy for biological recording
3. A significant technical contribution to development of the NBN leading to new opportunities for accessing or using biological records
4. Through a major motivational leadership role in biological recording contributing to the NBN
5. Innovative use of the data collected by biological recorders that significantly advances understanding or influences policy and practice

If you wish to nominate someone please note the following criteria

• Nominators must be a Member of the NBN Trust. This can be as an individual member or as an employee / member of an organisation that is a member. Please check with the Secretariat if you are unsure if you are a member or not.
• Nominations must be in writing and demonstrate how the individual meets at least one of the criteria listed above.
• Nominations must be received by Friday 30 July 2021.
• Nominations should be emailed to support@nbn.org.uk
• The Board of Trustees will decide by majority vote of the Board at its meeting in August 2021. It is expected that just one award will be made although the Board of Trustees reserves the right to either make no awards or multiple awards, depending on the quality of the nominations received.
• If the person you nominate is to receive Honorary Membership we will notify you of this following the Board meeting.
• It is intended that the Honorary Membership will be announced at the NBN Conference in November 2021.

What should you include in your nomination?

1. Your name and contact details
2. The name of the person you are nominating, group or society they are connected to (if any) and their contact details
3. As much detail as possible as to why the Board of Trustees should award them honorary membership

When submitting your nomination please do not assume that the Board of Trustees already knows the great things the person you are proposing has done, you need to tell them!

Guidance

In order to help you to write your nomination and for the Board of Trustees to have sufficient information on which to make their decision, you may want to consider the following questions when preparing your nomination:

• Why do you think they should receive Honorary Membership?
• How has the NBN partnership benefited from the work that they have done?
• What changes have come about due to the work or influences they have made?
• What contributions have they made that have benefited others?
• How will they continue to influence the NBN partnership?

For Background:

The awarding of the Honorary Membership is referred to in the NBN rules and standing orders Section 2 A.

“Honorary Members, being individuals proposed by any Member of the Trust, whether or not they belong to the organisations recognised for Founder, Ordinary or Associate membership. Honorary Membership will be awarded to the chair on his or her appointment to the Board of Trustees and to individuals that, in the opinion of their nominator(s), have made an outstanding personal contribution towards the objectives of the Trust. All Honorary Members are entitled to nominate, attend and vote at general meetings of the Charity.”

You can read more in the paper ‘Criteria for awarding Honorary Membership’