A highlight of our annual conference is the presentation of awards recognizing the exceptional achievements by graduate students (Armand-Frappier Outstanding Student Award), early-career investigators (Thermo Fisher Award for New Investigators), and senior investigators (CSM Murray Award for Career Achievement, sponsored by Canadian Science Publishing and the Canadian Journal of Microbiology).

Just because we will not be able to meet in person in 2020 doesn't mean we should miss out on recognizing and celebrating the achievements of our members!

We are currently investigating the best way to acknowledge the 2020 awards recipients, and in the meantime, the deadline for submissions of nominations has been extended to May 15, 2020.

Please take the time to nominate yourself, or an outstanding student, new investigator or senior investigator. We are also accepting nominations for the Ambassador and Undergraduate Awards. Information and nomination forms for all of these awards can be found on the CSM Awards webpage.

Thank you to all those who participated in the election for the AEM Section Vice Chair. I would like to welcome Eric Bottos, Thompson Rivers University to the CSM Council as AEM Section Vice Chair.

Thank you to all of our members who have already renewed their memberships! For those of you who have not yet had a chance, I encourage you to take advantage of our two-year renewal option so you can continue to support CSM activities and enjoy the benefits of CSM membership and be all set to register for our 2021 annual conference. Forms for membership renewal or new membership application are available on the CSM webpage.

Wash your hands and look after each other,
Sincerely,

Janet E. Hill, Ph.D.
CSM President