Those of us who are both ecologists and herpetologists may have already noticed that next year's annual ESA meeting (http://www.esa.org/portland/) will be August 5 - 10 in Portland Oregon, while the spectacular one-every-5-years World Congress of Herpetology (http://www.worldcongressofherpetology.org/) is 8-14 August 2012, a mere 315 miles (500km) away in Vancouver. A little creative scheduling may make it possible for us to enjoy both worlds.
The good folks at ESA recognize that some herpetologists/ecologists will want to attend both meetings (and present at least at ESA), and would therefore need to leave ESA early to attend WCH. Therefore they make this suggestion: 1) submit a poster abstract (ESA's deadline is Feb. 23, 2012) 2) choose "reptiles and amphibians" as your highest ranked choice of theme (#1). They offer to make one or more poster sessions out of such posters and schedule those sessions for earlier in the week. They can't make a similar promise if people submit talks or choose other themes as their top choice because they could end up scheduled in other sessions. If you plan to present at WCH as well, note that the deadline is for those abstracts and early registrations is February 29, 2012. Dr. Russell Burke Department of Biology Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549 516.463.5521 voice
