Hello MarMam,

The Marine Section of the Society for Conservation Biology will be accepting applications for travel reimbursements to cover the cost of attending the International Marine Conservation Congress (www.conbio.org/IMCC). To encourage international and student participation, priority will be given to participants from developing countries and students. Information can be found at: http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/imcc/travel_award.html

Please note that poster/paper/symposia/workshop acceptance is also a criterion for being awarded travel reimbursement.

The Travel Award Committee will notify applicants by 15 December 2008. Registration for the meeting opens 15 November 2008, with an early registration deadline of 15 February 2009. If you are selected to receive reimbursement for travel to the meeting, you must confirm your intent to attend the meeting by registering for the meeting by 15 January 2009. The only exception is if you have been asked to submit a 1500 word submission for an oral presentation; in those cases we will extend your deadline until 1 February 2009.  Otherwise, if you do not register by January 15 we will reallocate your travel stipend to the next person in our list. If you do not register by January 15 we will reallocate your travel stipend to the next person in our list.

Please also note that the 1st Call for oral presentations, speed presentations, and posters is 1 September - 15 October 2008.

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The International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) will be the first stand-alone meeting of the Marine Section of the Society for Conservation Biology and will be held from 20-24 May 2009 at George Mason University near Washington D.C. This will be an interdisciplinary meeting that will engage natural and social scientists, managers, policy-makers, and the public. The goal of the IMCC is to put conservation science into practice through public and media outreach and the development concrete products that will be used to drive policy change and implementation. This meeting will encompass the 2nd International Marine Protected Areas Congress.

Major themes and cross-cutting issues that will be addressed include:

Major Themes:

Global Climate Change

The Land-Sea Interface

Ecosystem-based Management

Poverty and Globalization

Cross-cutting issues encompass topics of global relevance and importance to marine conservation that relate to the major themes.

Marine Protected Areas

Education, Outreach and Capacity Building

Governance Arrangements

Fisheries and Aquaculture

Economics

Sincerely,

Sarah Wilson

IMCC Education and Outreach Chair and Communications Committee Member

and

Web Coordinator

Thank You Ocean Campaign

National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation

sarahw-thankyouocean@hotmail.com

www.thankyouocean.org

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