Our apologies for cross-posting,
SOCIETY FOR MARINE MAMMALOGY 18th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE BIOLOGY OF MARINE MAMMALS
The 18th biennial conference will be held at the Quebec Conference Centre (http://www.convention.qc.ca) during 12 to 16 October 2009 in Quebec City, Canada. Quebec City is the only walled city in North America and is just winding down its 400th Anniversary celebrations (http://www.quebecregion.com). The Conference will open on the 11th October by the usual evening icebreaker and will end on the evening of 16th October by a banquet and dance. Materials for pre-registered participants and on-site registration will be available Sunday, 11 October 2009.
A conference website is now operational and will serve as the primary resource for all of the deadlines and information related to the conference. To learn more, go to the Society for Marine Mammalogy website (http://www.marinemammalogy.org/) and click on Learn more under 18th Biennial Conference Quebec.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOP PROPOSALS The conference this year is almost two months earlier than the conference dates in recent years. This means that the deadlines for abstract submissions and workshop ideas are also approximately two months earlier. Workshop proposals will be due on 15 March 2009, whereas abstracts for both oral and poster presentations will be due on 19 April 2009 to allow sufficient time for peer review and notification prior to the meeting. There will be three concurrent sessions of oral presentations, and two hours per day exclusively dedicated to posters to allow sufficient time for viewing the anticipated large volume of poster presentations. Meeting space for a number of pre-conference symposia and workshops has been arranged with the convention Center for the 10th and 11th of October 2009, and will be available free of charge to organisers. Any refreshments or audio-visual equipment will be at the expense of organisers. Selection of pre-conference workshops and symposia will be made by the scientific committee based on merit.
A formal call for abstracts and further announcements will be made soon. In the meantime, if you are interested in organizing a pre-conference workshop or symposium, we invite you to fill an application through the Society website and conference webpage. The scientific committee is being co-chaired by Veronique Lesage and Robert Michaud. Do not hesitate to contact them with your ideas at congres_smm2009@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
Video Night As in past conferences, we hope to continue with the traditional video night. Janie Giard and Jean Lemire are helping to organize this event. More information will be provided soon.
TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATION Experient is negotiating room rates for Biennial participants at the Hilton and Delta hotels. Both hotels are right beside the conference centre. International flights will arrive via Toronto or Montreal or direct to Quebec City International Airport. Major international carriers include Air Canada, Continental, Northwestern, and United airlines, while WestJet and Porter are national carriers. Details of visa requirements will be posted on the website, but all delegates are recommended to confirm these with their local travel agent or embassy.
STUDENT TRAVEL AND GRANTS The Society for Marine Mammalogy encourages student participation in the 18th Biennial Conference and has committed funds in the form of Student Travel Grants to help defray travel expenses. Students must be members of the Society and have an abstract that has been reviewed and accepted (either oral or poster) for the meeting to be considered for a travel grant. More information on applying for these grants will be available on the conference web site.
Mike Hammill Conference chair
congres_smm2009@dfo-mpo.gc.ca