Overview of Scientific Program Format

The theme of this year’s conference is “Science for Stewardship: Advancing Solutions for Coastal Resilience and Sustainable Futures” and we strive to emphasize interactions among participants and focus on scientific and management issues that encompass the Pacific Northwest with a particular emphasis on impacts on coasts and estuaries. The structure of the scientific program is meant to encourage extended discussion about the ideas and data presented through posters, fast talks, and organized panels. We look forward to contributions in the following formats:

1. Posters (with poster previews): Each poster session will highlight 12 posters, with the lead or presenting author of each given one minute at the beginning of the session to introduce the topic of the poster to the audience. The remainder of the poster session will be available to explore information in more detail through audience circulation and group discussions around each highlighted poster.
2. Fast talks: Each session of “fast talks” will include a small number (4-6) of presentations, generally aligned around common themes that emerge from submitted talks. Each presenter will have 5 minutes and 10 slides to give an overview of research question and results, with slides being advanced automatically at 30-second intervals. After the fast talks are completed, presenters and audience members will have an additional half-hour to organize into groups for a facilitated discussion about each talk. A poster or handout of conceptual diagrams, data, etc will be helpful as an additional resource of talking points for the breakout sessions.
3. Special-topics panels: In this third format, groups of people will self-organize to give 3-5 brief (<10min) perspective presentations relevant to a provocative or emergent topic. The entire panel session will be given one hour, at least 20 minutes of which should be allocated to a live facilitated discussion with the audience. Panel topics should be conceptual (e.g. biological responses to climate change in estuaries, invasive species management), methodological (e.g. advances in stable isotope analyses), beyond research (e.g. strategies for public outreach and involvement), applied to current issues (e.g., is ecosystem restoration working), career-related (e.g., prognosis for future needs and opportunities), or otherwise synthetic as imaginations and interest lead.

If you have an idea for a panel topic and are searching for additional panelists – or have other questions regarding presentations at the meeting – please feel free to contact:

Jason Stutes at pers.cerf@outlook.com

Carolyn Prentice at carolynisabella@gmail.com

Deadline for abstract submission is midnight Sunday, March 16th.

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Abstract Submission Guidelines

• Deadline for abstract submission is midnight Sunday, March 16th.

• TITLE: The title of the abstract must be in all caps and must not exceed 160 characters. In the case of a Special Topic Panel, use the topic of the panel as the title.

• AUTHORS: Include full names, affiliation, and contact information for coauthors, e.g. Jane Smith (University of Academia, smithj@acad.edu), John Jones* (Department of Agency, jonesj@agency.gov). In the case of a Special Topic Panel, this list will include each presenter who has agreed to join the panel.

• PRESENTING AUTHOR: Identify the presenting author with an asterisk (this will be the primary contact for the Program Committee). In the case of a Special Topic Panel, this person will be the primary contact, organizer, and facilitator of discussion.

• ABSTRACT: The body of the abstract must adhere to a maximum count of 250 words (exclusive of the title). Please make the abstract as informative and representative of your presentation as possible. Try to avoid using special characters (e.g. μ, α, Π…) as these may not appear properly in the final program. In the case of a Special Topic Panel, the abstract can be used to describe the importance of the topic, contributions of panelists, and potential for synthesis during discussion. Panelists do not need to submit separate abstracts at this stage.

• KEYWORDS: Include three keywords in your submission that describe the content of your presentation. These will be used to categorize and group each abstract, so please think about these carefully. If relevant, consider keywords that denote level of biological organization (e.g. molecules to ecosystems), spatiotemporal scale, and natural or anthropogenic drivers (e.g. pollution, invasive species, climate change).

• PRESENTATION FORMAT: Identify a preference for one of the three formats described above: Poster Session, Fast Talk Breakout, or Special Topic Panel. Note that final determination will be made by the Program Committee, based upon topic, capacity, and scheduling constraints.
• POSTER DIMENSIONS: Posters can be in either landscape or portrait orientation. Regardless of orientation, poster width and height cannot exceed 46 inches. Mounting materials will be provided. Please include contact information on your poster for those interested in following up.