The Deep-Sea Biology Society
Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020
Registered Charity Number 1173699
The Deep-Sea Biology Society
Content of the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2019
||Page|
|---|---|
|Report of the Trustees|1 to 7|
|Independent Examiner's Report|8|
|Receipts and Payments Accounts|9 to 10|
## Trustees Annual Report
Covering the period 1 Jan 2020 - 31 December 2020
## Section A Reference and administration details
**Charity Name:** Deep-Sea Biology Society **Also known as:** DSBS or DSB Soc **Registered charity number:** 1173699 **Principal address:** 49 Station Rd, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6EA, UK
## **Trustees:**
|**Name**|**Office**|**Date Appointed***|**Appointing body**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Adrian Glover|President|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Craig McClain|Past-president|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Chris Yesson|Treasurer|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Rachel Jeffreys|Awards|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Erin Easton|Secretary|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Santiago Herrera|Membership|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Ilysa Iglesias|Student affairs|Jan 2020|DSBS Members|
|Paris Stefanoudis|Communications|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Julia Sigwart|Development|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Andrea Quatrinni|Early Career|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Daniela Zeppilli|Conferences|Aug 2020|DSBS Members|
|Raissa Hogan|Diversity|Oct 2020|Appointed|
|Steven Haddock|Non-executive|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Chong Chen|Non-executive|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
|Malcolm Clark|Non-executive|July 2017|DSBS Members|
|Leigh Marsh|Non-executive|Sept 2018|DSBS Members|
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
1
*Note: The appointment date is set to the date of charity registration. The appointments to the unregistered society occurred by membership vote prior to the official registration.
## **Previous Trustees:**
Trustee for conferences until Aug 2020 was Moriaki Yasuhara, who stepped down when the venue for the symposium was changed due to the withdrawal of the hosts in Japan due to COVID-19. Criag McClain’s role as past president officially ended at the 2020 AGM.
## **Names & Address of advisors:**
Argents Chartered Accountants, 15 Palace St, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1RT, UK
## Section B - Structure, governance, management
## **Type of governing document:** Constitution
## **How the charity is constituted:** CIO - Association
**Trustee selection method:** Election by members on 3-year cycle coincident with the Deep-Sea Biology Symposium
## **Additional governance issues:**
## _Trustees meetings_
Trustees manage society business by means of regular meetings conducted via video calling. These meetings are minuted by the Secretary. The trustees held 7 meetings in 2020. In an effort to include all trustees, who are located in a variety of countries, we are continuing to implement a dual-meeting strategy, where the meeting is repeated on the same or consecutive days during different time periods to allow trustees from different time zones to participate. The trustees have a dedicated website on the Slack platform to send private messages to all trustees concerning society business.
## _Risks_
A major risk to the society is a reduction of income due to a drop in membership numbers. We try to mitigate this risk by providing members with incentives to maintain memberships, these include: ability to apply for grants and awards, provide discounts to scientific conferences, and keeping members updated about the society’s activities.
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
2
## _Networks_
The society continues its relationship with INDEEP - The International network for scientific investigation of deep-sea ecosystems - which has a remit to communicate deep-sea information to the community. We are continuing to assist INDEEP with the production of the Deep-Sea Life Newsletter. Two issues were produced in 2020 One in January, and another in June.
## Section C - Objectives and Activities
## **Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document:**
We are a scientific society that exists to enable the exchange of information on deep-sea biology to all those who are interested. Our vision is to advance knowledge and awareness of deep-sea ecosystems by promoting and disseminating deep-sea research to both scientific and public audiences, to foster the next generation of deep-sea biologists and to promote demographic diversity in the study of deep-sea biology.
## **Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit):**
The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
The society enables the exchange of information on deep-sea biology through its membership program and the organisation and sponsorship of scientific meetings. Specifically, the society directly supports the triennial international Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, and by supporting the triennial International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems and triennial International Symposium on Deep-Sea Corals. These are the pre-eminent conferences in their respective fields, which reach out to academic, public, industry and government stakeholders. The society issues grants and awards. These include travel awards to support the society's mission of fostering the next generation of deep-sea biologists (e.g through student awards) and to promote demographic diversity by enabling researchers from developing countries to attend symposia. The society also provides annual and triennial prizes recognising excellence in research.
The society provides a public forum for discussion and information related to deep-sea biology through the website (http://dsbsoc.org) twitter feed (@DSBSoc), slack forum (http://dsbsoc.slack.com) and emails. These services also provide information and articles on upcoming and recent events in the world of Deep-Sea Biology, as well as news on job and studentship announcements. The society’s student forum provides access and assistance to students, while our mentoring program connects senior and junior researchers and students to offer career advice, help and support.
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
3
## **Additional details of objectives and activities:**
## _Policy on grantmaking_
Grants and awards are distributed by the society according to our principles. A group of trustees independently score applicants based on scientific merit and other criteria specific to the award. Applicants are ranked based on the combined scores. The top ranking applicant(s) are selected for the award, after approval at a meeting of the trustees.
## _Contribution of volunteers_
The society is fortunate to receive hard work and assistance from its trustees, who all contribute their time and efforts on a purely voluntary basis. The society has also received voluntary support from many members of the deep-sea community.
## Section D Achievements and performance
## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
## _Virtual symposium “eDSBS”_
On 19-21st August 2020 the DSBS conducted a virtual symposium “eDSBS” that was virtually attended by 352 members from 38 countries. This event incorporated 82 research talks, 67 science posters, 4 workshops and 4 social events over the course of 3 days. This event provided deep-sea
researchers an opportunity to meet and share ideas during what was a very disrupted and difficult year for many people due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This event was organised and run by trustees and members on a relatively small scale budget and was free to all society members. A paper has been drafted to help share the Society’s experiences and lessons learnt in the conduct of such a virtual conference to help those planning similar events in future.
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
4
## _Members_
Memberships were boosted by the virtual symposium, which was only open to members. The year ended with the society having 465 members, close to our all time high. We have increased our representation from Latin America and Africa, partly by membership waivers which were offered through the organisation of eDSBS. Membership remains a long-term source of funding for the society.
## _Administration_
The society continues to manage memberships through the Wild Apricot platform. We continue to remain compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Our Annual General Meeting was conducted virtually on 20th August 2020 during the virtual symposium “eDSBS”, where 11 trustees presented and discussed a summary of our activities to 122 members in attendance. The minutes of the 2020 AGM are available on our website (http://dsbsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Minutes-of-DSBS-AGM-2020_Final.pdf).
## _Awards_
We have used our income from membership, grants and event sponsorship to continue our commitment to prizes and awards. Our regular awards linked to travelling to meetings or visiting labs have been somewhat curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our major awards in 2020:
- A Dive Deeper research bursary was awarded to support the professional development of deep sea scientists
● The paper of the year was awarded to L Macheriotou and colleagues for their paper “Phylogenetic clustering and rarity imply risk of local species extinction in prospective - – deep sea mining areas of the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1924), p.20192666”.
- A variety of awards for talks and poster presentations were presented at the virtual eDSBS meeting.
A full list of award recipients is available on our website.
## _Mentoring & Student support_
The society's mentoring program began in 2018 with three groups totalling 20 people. This year (2020) we expanded this mentoring network into new territories with 80+ participants. We also conducted events during the eDSBS symposium.
The society has initiated a webinar series providing support to early career researchers, with content provided by a wide range of deep-sea researchers covering topics such as work-life balance, science outreach and proposal writing.
We continue to support students through our dedicated student webpage,and facebook group.
## _Communications_
The society's website and social media presence continues to expand. The website http://dsbsoc.org/ continues to be a significant resource for news on funding, cruises, jobs and new scientific papers. Our twitter feed @DSBSoc has more than 6000 followers (June 2021). Our Slack channel to foster communication amongst researchers (https://dsbsoc.slack.com/) currently has 554 members (+60% on last year) and has sent 6,600 (+100%) messages (June
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
5
2021). We continue to support the Deep-Sea Life Newsletter, which is a valuable resource to the deep-sea community and the society will continue to support and develop this resource.
## _Diversity_
The society created a new office-bearing trustee position of “Diversity officer”, which was formally approved by the membership at the AGM. The remit of this role is to tackle diversity, equity and inclusivity issues in the Society and the wider field of Deep-Sea Biology. We also ammended our constitution to include a Code of Conduct that explicitly prohibits discrimination in the Society and expands our commitment to inclusion and equity. The society also approved a Diversity Fund aimed at generating opportunities to increase representation of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in the field of Deep-Sea Biology.
## Section E Financial review
## **Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves**
The charity seeks to hold reserves in line with charity commission guidance. We aim to hold funds sufficient to cover a typical year of expenditure.
## **Details of any funds materially in deficit**
None applicable
## **Further financial review details**
The charities principal source of funds are membership fees, which have provided a steady income stream from the time of the society’s formation. Memberships were boosted by the eDSBS meeting (which was free to all members).
This year we had success raising sponsorship funds for the virtual meeting eDSBS from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF).
Funds were also received from GBMF to support the 7th Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems conference, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will hold these funds until the meeting is rescheduled (planned for 2022).
At present we have no investments. The trustees are investigating investment options that would provide a return on our reserve holdings while maintaining access to these funds.
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
6
## Section F Other optional information
No additional information is provided.
## Section G Declaration
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
Signature Full Name: Chris Yesson
Position: Treasurer Date: 7th July 2021
DSBS Trustees Annual Report 2020
7
## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of The Deep Sea Biology Society**
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of The Deep Sea Biology Society**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Deep Sea Biology Society (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2020.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Mark Johnstone FCA ICAEW Argents Chartered Accountants 15 Palace Street NORWICH Norfolk NR3 1RT
29 September 2021 Date: .............................................
|The Deep Sea Biology Society||1173699||
|---|---|---|---|
|Receipts andpayments accounts|||CC16a|
|01-Jan-20
For the period
from|To|31-Dec-20||
## Section A Receipts and payments
|A1 Receipts|Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
-
16,990
-
-
-
1,750
-
-
18,740
-
-
-
18,740
1,100
1,463
1,000
299
632
-
-
4,494
-
-
-
4,494
14,246
- 137
70,506
84,615|Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
14,927
-
-
-
-
-
14,927
-
-
-
14,927
-
-
-
-
3,863
-
-
-
-
3,863
-
-
-
3,863
11,064
137
-
11,201|Endowment
funds
to the nearest £|Total funds
to the nearest £
14,927
16,990
-
-
-
1,750
-
-
33,667
-
-
-
33,667
1,100
-
1,463
1,000
4,162
632
-
-
-
8,357
-
-
-
8,357
25,310|Total funds
to the nearest £
14,927
16,990
-
-
-
1,750
-
-
33,667
-
-
-
33,667
1,100
-
1,463
1,000
4,162
632
-
-
-
8,357
-
-
-
8,357
25,310|Year ended 31
December 2019
to the nearest £|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Grants|-||-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|14,927||-|
|Membership|16,990|||16,990||16,514|
|Product sales|-|||-||5,602|
|Events|-|||-||76,502|
|Symposium|-|||-||24,431|
|Donations|1,750|||1,750||-|
||-|||-||-|
||-|||-||-|
|Sub total (Gross income for
AR)|18,740|||33,667||123,049|
||||||||
|A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).|||||||
||-||-
-
-|-|||
||-|||-||-|
|Sub total|-|||-||-|
|Total receipts
A3 Payments|||||||
||||-|33,667||123,049|
||||||||
|Awards|1,100||-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|1,100||25,341|
|Publications||||-||500|
|General Administrative costs|1,463|||1,463||1,484|
|Promotional costs|1,000|||1,000||-|
|Events|299|||4,162||55,857|
|Bank charges|632|||632||3,123|
|||||-||-|
||-|||-||-|
||-|||-||-|
|Sub total|4,494|||8,357||86,305|
||||||||
|A4 Asset and investment
purchases,(see table)|||||||
||-||-
-
-|-|||
||-|||-|||
|Sub total|-|||-||-|
|Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end|||||||
||||-|8,357||86,305|
||||||||
||14,246|11,064|-|
25,310||36,744|
||- 137|137|-
-|-||-|
||70,506|-||70,506||33,762|
||84,615|11,201|-|95,816||70,506|
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
19/08/2021
2
## Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
|Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
**charity’s own use**
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets|Signature
Details
Details
Bank account
Paypal account
Paypal USD account
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
19,007
11,201
27,647
37,961
-
84,615
11,201
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liabilityrelates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
Chris Yesson|Endowment
funds
to nearest £|
|---|---|---|---|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||OK|
||||Endowment
funds
to nearest £|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||Current value
(optional)|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||Current value
(optional)|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||-|
||||When due (optional)|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of approval|
|||Chris Yesson|24 September 2021|
|||||
CCXX R3 accounts (SS)
19/08/2021
3