*** PRE-REGISTRATION AND ABSTRACT DEADLINE IS TOMORROW *** Announcement and Call for Abstracts Spring Meeting Southeastern Estuarine Research Society 30 March - 1 April 2006 Ponte Vedra Beach / St. Augustine, FL Pre-registration and abstracts due by 5:00pm -- 15 February 2006! REGISTER NOW TO AVOID LATE FEES !!!
Your form must be received by 5:00pm to avoid late fees. You may fax your form (843-762-8700) -- please send payment as soon as possible thereafter. The Spring 2006 Meeting of the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society (SEERS) will be held at Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Environmental Education Center in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Thursday, March 30th through Saturday, April 1st. We will have registration and a social Thursday evening (6:00-9:00 p.m.) at the hotel. Contributed oral presentations will be the full day of Friday, March 31st, and a half-day on Saturday, April 1st. There will be a change in the time for the poster session at this meeting. The poster session will be held during lunch time on Friday. Friday evening there will be an oceanview banquet with live music at Marineland, FL. More information regarding the specifics of the conference will be posted in February. Please check the SEERS website (http://links.baruch.sc.edu/seers/meetings.htm). Lodging Conference hotel will be the Howard Johnson Express Inn at 137 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL 32084. The room rates are $59.95 + 9% tax per night for either 2 double beds or one king; $109.95 + 9% tax per night for 2 room suite. Reservations MUST be made through this # -- 800-575-5290 for the SEERS meeting. These rate are only effective until February 28, 2006. A link to the hotel -- http://www.mohinihospitality.com/hojo/ . The hotel also offers a free continental breakfast every morning (which includes coffee, juices, cereals (hot and cold), and danish/muffins/donuts). Airport and Directions Please check the SEERS website for travel information in February. Registration Registration fees for the SEERS meeting include the Thursday evening social, the Friday evening dinner cruise and more, and are: $75 regular members (must be member in good standing) $95 new-members / non-members $55 student members (must be member in good standing) $70 student non-members $50 one-day registration (does not include the social or banquet). $45 Extra Banquet Ticket $20 On-site registration Fee / Late Fee *** Pre-registration greatly assists meeting planning. ***A late registration fee of $20 will be charged on all registrations after 15th February 2006. Meeting registration forms are available online (http://links.baruch.sc.edu/seers/meetings.htm). Directions and payment instructions are provided on the form. Dues If you haven't done so already, please remember to renew your membership when you preregister! New members can also join at this time. The annual membership dues for the society are: $20 Regular Member Annual Dues $15 Student Member Annual Dues Student Travel Support SEERS is offering up to five travel awards of $100 each to qualifying students attending the meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach / St. Augustine, FL. To qualify for a student travel award, students must: · be enrolled at a college or university for the Spring 2006 semester; · be a SEERS member in good standing for 2005; · be registered for the Spring 2006 SEERS meeting; and · have submitted an abstract for presentation (oral or poster) at the meeting. Please note that only one award can be granted per presentation. Also, students receiving awards must be present to give their presentation at the published time. For posters, the official presentation time will be the time during which posters are being judged regardless of whether the poster is entered in the student competition. If more applications are received than the number of grants available, priority will be given to students who have not won an award in the past two years. To apply for travel support, send (via postal service or fax) a letter of request and a copy of your abstract to Carla Curran (address below). The letter should include your name, address, phone number, email address, title of your presentation, whether you have won the SEERS travel award within the past two years, and a statement affirming that you meet the qualifications stated above. Your letter must include your major advisor's name and signature. If advisor is not available, please obtain a signature from another university official who can verify that you are currently a student. Letter of request, with advisor's signature, must be postmarked (or faxed to 912-353-3186) by 15th of February. If faxing, be sure to provide a fax cover page with Carla Curran's name on it. Winners of the travel awards will be notified in early February and are encouraged to attend the SEERS Business Meeting to receive their checks. Send letters to: Carla Curran Department of Biology and Life Sciences P.O. Box 20600 Savannah State University Savannah, GA 31404 You may direct any questions to Carla Curran at 912-691-7434 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Abstract Submission Abstracts for oral and poster presentations are due by close of business 15th of February 2006. Abstracts must be submitted in the format shown on the online abstract submittal form (http://links.baruch.sc.edu/seers/meetings.htm). Once you have clicked on the Abstract Submittal form you may be asked to "Enter Network Password", click cancel. The online abstract submittal form has an example and directions of who to email the form to. Further guidance regarding presentations will be issued after abstracts are received. Please email abstracts to Paul Pennington ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Session Chairs and Student Judges If anyone is interested in serving as a session chair or a Student Judge at the Spring meeting, please contact Denise Sanger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Additional Information Visit the SEERS web site for up-to-date information about the meeting. Questions or comments about the Ponte Vedra Beach / St. Augustine, FL meeting should be directed to: Denise Sanger SEERS Program Chair 843-747-4323 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lori Morris Local Arrangements 386-329-4544 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brian LaPointe Local Arrangements 772-465-2400 ext 276 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fun stuff to do and options for traveling family members: Historic tours of St. Augustine and Old Town Trolleys (http://www.historictours.com/staugustine/default.htm) has quoted us a price for riding the trolleys all over town, for the entire weekend, of $11 per person! Unfortunately, the trolleys only run until 5:30 pm, so meeting goers won't be able to take full advantage of it unless they extend their visit after the conference. The bonus is that the trolleys will pick-up right at the HoJo's (the ONLY hotel that offers that) so you don't have to deal with the major parking woes of St. Augustine. Historic Tours also offers a Ghosts and Gravestones tour (see their website) of St. Augustine at night. This is a lot of fun and worth the price for the haunts and laughs. It's a little pricier -- $22 for adults, $10 kids (6-12) and under 6 are free. They will do a special SEERS tour on Thursday evening if we have enough interested (at least 15). Please contact Lori Morris ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) if you are interested. The GTM NERR offers several free walking tours. Maps will be available to show trails. There is also a Birds and Botany tour every Saturday morning. If enough people are interested we can try and set one up for BEFORE the meeting. -- *************************************************** Paul L. Pennington, Ph.D. Research Marine Biologist / JHT, Inc. NOAA's National Ocean Service 219 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, SC 29412-9110 Voice: 843-762-8620 Fax: 843-762-8700 Mobile: 843-276-6488 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.chbr.noaa.gov/ ***************************************************
