From the president of the EAFE.

This is my first letter following my election at the Murcia meeting in September. We had a good time in Spain and the EAFE are grateful to the organisers and the University for hosting our 2010 meeting.

I join the Board of the EAFE at what I think is a crucial time in the evolution of the association. From small beginnings we have grown over the last eight years and with it has grown an expectation of greater things. The original role of the EAFE was to arrange meetings so that research, ideas and best practice can be discussed by those in Europe interested in Forensic entomology. Membership is based on interest in the subject and the original European envelope has been expanded and enriched by associate members from other parts of the world.

A number of aspects of how we currently operate are in need of some reconsideration and change. The meetings are largely self-supporting but there are other aspects of the association that are run on the goodwill and generosity of some members. The website is a good case in point and is probably key to the functioning of the EAFE as a distribution point for information. This a site hosted by one of the members’ institutions and run by the member. From small origins it has grown markedly in content and number of visits, and there are aspirations for its use in the future, such that the host institution is now concerned and would like it hosted elsewhere in the future. This means we will need to pay to have a new host for the website, which in turn raises the question of where the funds might come from to do this. For example should we add a levy on those attending the meetings or have an annual membership fee? This is one of several areas that we as the Board need to grapple with in the coming months.

So I believe these are important times for the association we need to grow and change in a sustainable way but in doing so not lose hold those things that attracted people to join the membership of EAFE in the first place.

I look forward to the next three years serving you and am grateful that I do so in conjunction with a capable and experienced group of fellow Board members.

Bryan Turner

October 2010