2018 Fall Meeting
The 2018 Fall SEERS Meeting will be held November 1-3 at the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington. Dr. Devon Eulie, Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences, is our local host.
Theme
The Art of Resilience will be our special session theme. Resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to absorb a disturbance, but also to maintain the quality of its pre-disturbance structure and functions. Our challenge is applying this to coastal systems where the intersection of land and sea, and people and the environment, creates complex interactions and synergies. For coastal communities and ecosystems, we can view this through the lens of adaptability and durability. Communities and ecosystems need to be durable (resistant) to disturbance events, and able to adapt to changing baselines. The ‘art’ is in balancing the needs and resilience of communities with that of ecosystems to the benefit of both.
Plenary Speaker
Dr. Rachel Gittman is an Assistant Professor of Biology at East Carolina University. She is interested in understanding how humans modify the coastal environment and how best to manage or mitigate the ecological consequences of those modifications to sustain ecosystem structure, functions, and services. She is particularly excited about identifying novel approaches for conserving and restoring coastal habitats and supported services in the context of developed coastal areas (e.g., evaluating designs and implementation of living shorelines; testing the methods and criteria for successful ecosystem restoration). Through collaborations with fellow ecologists, social scientists, policymakers, and coastal engineers, she is continuing to explore the ecological and social drivers of coastal development and associated shoreline hardening, as well as identifying ecological, engineering, political, and socioeconomic barriers to the implementation of natural and nature-based alternatives. Dr. Gittman earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental science from the University of Virginia in 2006 and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014.
Preliminary Schedule
The meeting will start Thursday evening (Nov. 1) with sponsor presentations, a plenary talk, poster previews, and a hearty reception. The meeting will continue all day Friday (Nov. 2) through mid-day Saturday (Nov. 3) with oral and poster presentations. Posters can remain on display the entire time, although judging of student posters will occur during the late afternoon on Friday. The banquet is still in the planning phase.
Deadlines
Abstract Submission
Abstracts are submitted during the registration process, which will be available at seers.wildapricot.org starting in late August. Abstracts for oral or poster presentations should highlight scientific research, education, or outreach in the field of estuarine science and are limited to 250 words. SEERS generally accepts all submitted abstracts that meet these guidelines, so do not wait for abstract acceptance before registering for the meeting. If you have any questions about whether your topic meets these guidelines, please contact the program chair well ahead of the submission deadline. The deadline for abstract submission is Friday, October 5 at 11:59 pm, with no extensions.
The list of authors of the abstract are provided at the time of submission. Please format as Author 1, Institution; Author 2, Institution, and so on. Graduate student authors should be denoted with a single asterisk (*) after the respective last name, while undergraduate authors should be denoted with double asterisks (**) after the respective last name. Each abstract may be submitted only once for presentation at the conference, i.e., an abstract with multiple authors needs to have one designated presenter.
Registration
Registration will open in late August. The deadline for regular price registration, abstract submission, and student travel award applications is Friday, October 5 at 11:59 pm. After this date and time, late registrations without abstracts will be accepted until Friday, October 12 at 11:59 pm for an additional $15 per registrant. Members must be current in their dues prior to meeting registration in order to receive reduced member pricing. We no longer bundle membership and meeting registration as a single payment option: they are separate transactions.
Membership
SEERS has recently changed its membership policy: starting Jan. 1, 2018, annual dues secure your membership for the 12-month period after joining rather than the calendar year. Current and recent SEERS members should already be in our database and have their renewal dates set to their last date of payment. Please LOGIN to check your profile information and renewal date and to pay dues if you need to renew. Every effort has been made to update the membership records and payment dates, but if you believe your renewal date is in error, please contact the SEERS Secretary and provide proof of payment (e.g., dated receipt from SEERS or CERF, canceled check, credit card statement).
Cancellation
After registering, if you are not able to attend the meeting, we encourage you to send a substitute attendee in your place. You may substitute at any time, even on-site at the time of the meeting. If you must cancel, a refund of meeting registration (less a $10 cancellation fee) may be requested up to October 12. No refunds will be issued for cancellation after October 12. Membership dues are not refundable.
Presentation Guidelines
Oral
Oral presentations are limited to a 15 minute time block, which includes a 12 minute talk and 3 minutes for questions. Presentations should be prepared in a Windows compatible format (ppt, pptx, or pdf). Awards will be given for best undergraduate and graduate student oral presentations.
Poster
Maximum poster dimensions will be announced at a later date. Awards will be given for best undergraduate and graduate student poster presentations.
Student Travel Awards
SEERS will offer up to five student travel awards of $150 each to qualifying students presenting at this meeting. More information and the student travel award application form, due by Friday, October 5, will be available on the Student Travel page.
Lodging
Best Western Plus
5600 Carolina Beach Rd.
Wilmington,NC 28412
Phone:910-796-0770
To reserve discounted room rates of $89.99 – $99.99/night + tax, please reserve online using this link: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.34173.html?groupId=Q11LF0W1
The rate is $89.99 on Friday and $99.99 on Saturday. Reservations must be made by October 11.
Hampton Inn & Suites- Carolina Beach Oceanfront
1 Harper Avenue
Carolina Beach, NC 28428
Phone: 910-707-1770
To reserve discounted room rates of $129/night + tax, please use this procedure:
1) Reserve online using this link: http://www.carolinabeachoceanfront.hamptonbyhilton.com
2) Group dates are November 1-3
3) Click Add Special Rate Code and type SER in the Group Code box
4) Click Check Rooms & Rates. All SEERS group room options and rates will be shown. Then follow the reservation process from there.
Reservations must be made by October 1.
Sponsorship
Meeting sponsorship supports student attendance and travel to our meetings. Sponsorship inquiries can be directed to any SEERS Board member. Sponsors may sign up and pay through our Services website.
