Minutes Executive board meeting 2025
Minutes of the 2025 Board Meeting
Date: December 5, 2025 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. via video conference
Agenda
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Brief update on ISMC activities
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Election of treasurer
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Opinion paper
Attendees
Lutz Weihermüller (Treasurer and Coordinator), Yijian Zeng (Co-Chair), Attila Nemes (Co-Chair), Anne Verhoef, Jingyi Huang, Hailong He, Mehdi Rahmati, Todd-Brown, Kathe
Absent:
Jan Vanderborght, Quirijn de Jong van Lier, Ana-Marie Tarquis, Roland Braatz
General
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Lutz Weihermüller volunteered to take the minutes, and the agenda was approved by all participants.
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Preparations for the 2026 ISMC conference in Brazil are well underway, and we expect the event website and registration to go live in early 2026.
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A financial surplus from the last ISMC conference, which took place in Tianjin in May, was transferred to ISMC (this was already explained in detail at the general assembly).
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An ISMC workshop was held in Wageningen in spring 2025. The board would like to organize such a meeting annually to discuss important ISMC coordination issues.
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A joint ISMC-GEWEX meeting was held at the University of Reading (hosts: Anne Verhoef, Yijian Zeng), and the discussions led to the formation of working groups that will specifically investigate various topics such as the harmonization of thermal and hydraulic soil properties. A paper with the most important discussion points for BAMS is also currently being prepared.
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The 2026 Summer School in Naples is in preparation. Nunzio and Paulo will hold a webinar in advance to ask participants how this Summer School should best be organized thematically.
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Yijian has drafted a first version of the ISMC position paper and asked everyone to express their interest in contributing to the chapters.
Election of the treasurer
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The election of the treasurer was already announced at the general meeting, and potential candidates were asked to contact the ISMC coordination team. There were no candidates other than the incumbent treasurer, Lutz Weihermüller. The treasurer (Lutz Weihermüller) was unanimously elected by a show of hands by all those present. There were no abstentions. The new treasurer is elected for the next three years (2026-2028).
ISMC Lecturer Award
In order to strengthen the bond between members and ISMC, the board proposed establishing an ISMC Lecturer Award. The award was discussed in detail at the general assembly. Harry Vereecken will serve as the award's namesake, so that the award will be called the "ISMC Harry Vereecken Lecturer Award." The executive board voted by a show of hands on the establishment of the award and its name. All members approved the establishment of the award. There were no abstentions.
The board will ask Harry Vereecken whether he agrees to the use of his name. Once this has been clarified, information about the award will be provided in the newsletter and on the website.