WTS Board election candidates 2020

The following candidates were nominated for the open positions of the WTS Board election 2020 (this includes candidates for re-election and new candidates):

Results:

The vote for the leadership of our organization, the Working Time Society, for the next three years has been closed this morning (2020-11-16). The candidates and their statements may be viewed below. The voting for the President/Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and eight executive board members had 61 votes in total:

60 yes for the list of candidates
1 no 

The Election results are certified by me, Johannes Gärtner. If you have any questions or problems with the process or links please contact the elections committee at workingtimeelections@gmail.com.

Candidates:

Position:  PRESIDENT/CHAIR (re-election)

Candidate:  Stephen Popkin

Nominator(s):  Claudia Moreno

Endorser(s):   Claudia Moreno, Frida Fischer, Masaya Takahashi

Statement:  I have served as your WTS President for the past three years, during which time we have begun operations as a not-for-profit incorporated entity, produced a published set of review papers and consensus statements, and hosted a very well attended symposium, the output of which includes a published book of abstracts and a double volume special issue of Chronobiology International. It has been my pleasure to serve the organization and to work alongside my highly accomplished leadership team. While we have made great advancements in meeting our mission, more work is needed, especially on the following fronts: 1) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (regarding our membership, those we research, and those who would benefit from our activities); 2) Living into the larger ICOH mission of supporting the under-served and vulnerable shiftworker populations around the world; 3) creating a sustainable path for the organization so it can accomplish these goals and others that will form over time. Given the passion for the topic and commeraderie within the leadership team and with the greater membership, I believe we can accomplish these goals and ultimately improve shiftworker safety and health. My background includes a doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology studying under Prof. Don Tepas, and a one year internship at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, working under Prof. Mikko Härmä. Since 1988 I have focused on issues of sleepiness and fatigue in the transportation sector and have been involved in WTS since 1992.

Position:  SECRETARY (re-election)

Candidate:  Claudia Moreno

Nominator(s):  Frida Fischer, Masaya Takahashi

Endorser(s): Frida Fischer, Masaya Takahashi, Stephen Popkin

Statement: I have been a member of the WTS board for some time but as a secretary is a new experience. In my view, WTS has grown and attracted young researchers, which is a reason to be happy about it. However, we need more diversity geographically and ethnically. I would like to serve one more term as secretary to contribute to this needed diversity. Active strategies to invite researchers and practitioners to join us should be done. That is my main goal as a Board member for the next term.

Position:  TREASURER (re-election)

Candidate:  Anna Arlinghaus

Nominator(s):  Claudia Moreno

Statement: My previous work as WTS Treasurer has been an honor and I would like to continue managing the WTS finances over the next 3 years, particularly helping to improve the flow of transactions and membership management.
CV: Dr. Arlinghaus is an occupational psychologist working as a senior consultant at XIMES GmbH in Vienna, Austria. Her current location is in Oberkochen, Germany. She acquired her PhD at University of Oldenburg, Germany, and the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and was subsequently awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health and Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. She has been a WTS member since 2007 and served as WTS Treasurer since 2013.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (new application)

Candidate:  Mikael Sallinen

Nominator(s):  Sampsa Puttonen

Statement: I have been working at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health since 1994, with the main emphasis on working time and sleep research. Currently I lead a unit that focuses on these same topics. I also act as an adjunct professor at the University of Jyväskylä and have served as a board member in the Finnish Sleep Research Society and the Finnish Traffic Medicine Association. Since my first WTS meeting in 1997, I have been an active member in the society. As a board member over the next 3 years, I’d especially like to advance use of research knowledge when developing working hours in workplaces. To this end, it is important that the society will continue to serve as a shared platform for researchers, consultants, and stakeholders. It is also essential that we further develop ways to support young researchers and people in developing countries to participate in WTS activities.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (new application)

Candidate:  Kimberly Honn

Nominator(s): Hans van Dongen

Statement: My research portfolio includes work across several shiftwork industries (including aviation, trucking, rail, and mining) related to the regulation of work hours, fatigue, performance, and safety. I was co-chair of the 24th International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time, held in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA in September 2019, as well as co-chair of the Fatigue Risk Management Industry Day satellite event that preceded the WTS meeting. I have been a guest editor of the special issue of Chronobiology International with WTS proceedings twice, including the present issue that is now in-progress following Shiftwork2019. As a member of the WTS Board of Directors, I will share my experience with future WTS meeting organizers to facilitate planning of these events; strive to increase the visibility of our society and dissemination of our work (such as the biennial meeting and journal special issues); and work to promote international knowledge building and collaboration opportunities.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (new application)

Candidate:  Kyriaki Papantoniou

Nominator(s): Hans van Dongen

Statement: My research activities focus on studying the effects of night shift work on chronic disease outcomes and in particular cancer risk and characterizing key hormonal underlying mechanisms in human epidemiologic studies. I am willing to serve the WTS board for the next 3 years as a new executive board member. If elected I will strive to increase the visibility of the society among early-career researchers and encourage more international trans-disciplinary research collaborations, with the ultimate goal to prevent shift work related diseases in the working population.

I am a Medical Doctor (MD, University of Patras, Greece) and Epidemiologist (PhD, CREAL /ISGlobal, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain) by training, with international research collaborations (Surrey University, UK and Harvard Medical School, USA). Since 2019, I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (new application)

Candidate:  Céline Vetter

Nominator(s): Anna Arlinghaus

Statement: As part of the WTS Board, I am willing to serve a 3-year term and plan to dedicate my time to support re-imagining forms of engagement, mentoring, and collaboration in digital and remote contexts. The WTS has been my scientific home for over a decade, and has substantially contributed to my career. I would like to give back, and contribute to an inclusive, innovative, and excellent environment for all disciplines and trainees striving to improve working conditions and shift work. I have applied my background in chronobiology and sleep research to shift work research (PhD at Ludwig-Maximilian-University, 2011), and have since then fallen in love with the community and the impact we can make in improving work for all. After a postdoc in chronic disease epidemiology in Boston at Harvard Medical School until 2016, I joined faculty there, to then become Assistant Professor at CU Boulder in 2017.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (new application)

Candidate:  Elaine Cristina Marqueze

Nominator(s): Frida Fischer

Statement:

I am pleased to be a member of the Working Time Society since 2005. I have attended 4 symposia as a graduate student (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013) and 3 symposia as a professional (2015, 2017, 2019). At the meeting held in Sweden and USA, I was able to serve on the committee of young researchers. I helped the organization of the symposium held in Brazil in 2013. These conferences inspired me to follow a research path on shift work. Since 2014, I have a position as an associate professor in a private university in Brazil and am supervising and teaching master and doctoral students in Public Health. Science is in my heart! I would like to continue my contribution to the Working Time Society, helping to expand the network reaching mostly young researchers. I am excited, looking forward to be a formal member of the Board of the Working Time Society.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (re-election)

Candidate:  Phil Bohle

Nominator(s):Stephen Popkin

Statement: After enduring appalling rosters as an emergency medical technician, I have been a working hours researcher for most of the past 33 years. Since 1999, I have been a full professor at the Universities of New South Wales, Sydney and Tasmania.  I have attended 16 WTS symposia since 1989 and served on the Board in various capacities between 1997 and this year, including as editor of the Shiftwork International Newsletter and chair of the membership committee. My position statement for the 2005 Board election proposed greater support for early-career researchers, and enhanced opportunities for their active participation in the Society, combined with more research and policy leadership, including through the publication of consensus statements. Subsequent Boards have successfully pursued these objectives. If elected, I will work to build on these successes, enhance the WTS’s research and public profile, and help make it a more vibrant, rewarding association for all members. I agree to serve a 3-year term.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (re-election)

Candidate:  Anne Helene Garde

Nominator(s): Stephen Popkin

Statement: I am a professor in psychosocial work environment with 20 years of experience in working hours. My research is driven by a wish to contribute to ensuring that employees can carry out their work without impairment of their health and safety. 
For this purpose, we need high quality, multidisciplinary research, which combine results from laboratory, field, large cohort studies and intervention studies as well as collaboration with consultants, who will take the research into the workplaces. Differences in traditions and cultures across countries on how to arrange working hours may also lead to new insights. I believe that collaboration and exchange of knowledge and ideas across disciplines and countries is crucial to high quality research. If elected I will work towards making recommendations on how to arrange working hours based on research and facilitation of exchange of young researchers, as well as dissemination of the research for the benefit of employees around the world.

Position:  EXECUTIVE BOARD (re-election)

Candidate:  Greg Roach

Nominator(s): Stephen Popkin, Charli Sargent

Statement: I am a Professor at the Appleton Institute for Behavioural Science at CQUniversity in Adelaide, Australia.  My research is focused on the impact of irregular work schedules on the sleep/wake behavior, neurobehavioural function, and health outcomes of shiftworkers; the development of technologies and systems to manage the fatigue risk associated with shiftwork; and the relationships between training load, sleep patterns, and sports performance in world-class athletes.  I have been a member of the WTS for past 6 years and I was on the organising committee for the 23rd International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time in Uluru in 2017.  If re-elected to the board for the next 3 years, my priorities will be to (a) ensure the continued success of our biennial symposiums as we face the challenge of meeting in a post-COVID and world, (b) strengthen the future of our field by encouraging early-career researchers to pursue research related to understanding and minimising the negative consequences of shiftwork, and (c) encourage increased participation in our society by people from areas of the world that are currently under-represented, particularly those from less-developed countries.