Hello everyone, The Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) Marine Science Graduate Student Organization will be hosting a Graduate Student Symposium (GSS 2021) during the weekend of April 16th-18th. Due to COVID-19, we have opted to hold the event virtually this year; however, this allows us to expand our range of opportunities to all grad students and undergraduates and to a wider variety of research topics, including sessions for marine mammal research, such as megafauna conservation, stable isotope, trace element and genetics work. We will also be hosting a keynote speaker, mental health panel and a variety of fun and educational workshops: Fishing Rigs and Fly Tying, Communication and Leadership Styles, Diversity of Careers, Social Media for Scientists and Science-ing Abroad. We will be holding the event as a live virtual conference, meaning that students will present in real-time in front of virtual audiences and receive live questions and feedback. To achieve this goal, we encourage all students, faculty and staff at research institutions and members of the press and general public to join us and participate throughout the weekend. To be a presenter, you must be either a graduate student or undergraduate, but you do not have to be a student to attend. The cost to register as a student or faculty member is $45, which will include a welcome packet and t-shirt (and abstract fee if you are a student). If you are a member of the general public or a technician/researcher that is not faculty, registration is $7.50. For presenters, abstracts are due March 19th. Included in this email is a graphic that contains session topics. Please feel free to distribute these materials to anyone that may be interested. Registration forms can be accessed at our conference website: https://whova.com/web/msgss_202104/ If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out at msgso.gss2021@gmail.com . We look forward to hosting y'all in April! Sincerely, The DISL Marine Science Graduate Student Organization