The IES' 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place on the 7th March 2012. We are pleased to announce that Dr Heather Barrett-Mold was elected as the new Chair. Heather has been a member of the IES since 1978 and became a Council member in 2004 since which time her responsibilities have included the education portfolio, Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chair. She feels that being a member of Council has brought her into contact with many environmental scientists from a variety of specialisms and, as well as being fascinating, has given her a more informed view of the big picture.

Professor Noel Nelson was elected as Vice Chair. Noel is a dispersion modeller at the Met Office. Laurie Richard, an Associate Director at ARUP, was elected Honorary Treasurer.

In March we also welcome Steve Jones as our new Office Administrator. This is a new position focusing on membership care, providing support in delivering new projects and the smooth running of the office. The position will allow us to maintain our standards of speedy response to membership enquiries and increase our capacity to undertake more ambitious projects. Steve has previously worked for IIRSM and the Eurospan Group. Steve studied law at university before spending a number of years in Japan teaching English.