Every two years, the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos (SOLAMAC) organizes its biennial meeting. This event brings together academics, researchers, government officers and students from Universities and research centers from Latin America, as well as international experts in marine mammal science. The meeting is a well-known event providing a valuable platform to promote the advancement of scientific knowledge, the development of new research ideas and the dissemination of the last advances in marine mammal science in Latin America and beyond. About 400 people attend this conference every second year.

This year’s SOLAMAC congress 2018 will be organized by the Peruvian University, Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. The conference theme is: “Multidisciplinary collaboration for the development of aquatic mammal science in Latin America”.The conference will be held in the city of Lima, from November 05 to 08 in 2018, with two days pre conference workshops (Nov 03-04).

Abstract submission deadline is July 30th 2018.

Early Bird Registration is until September 30th 2018.

Please review our website for more information!

http://solamac2018.com

2018 conference keynote speakers are:

Dr. Jay Barlow (National Marine Fisheries Service, USA), Dr. Fritz Trillmich (University of Bielefeld, Germany) and Dr. Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho (Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático, Mexico).

Applied seminars will be

We are also hosting 3 panel discussions on topics:

– Climate change & marine mammals – What can we learn from the past?

– Women in marine mammal science – Shortening barriers

– Challenges in aquatic mammal science and conservation in developing nations

Attending the conference will be a great opportunity to develop further collaborative links with Latin American scientists, and is a  peerless source of information and insight for our students and researchers.

This is the first call for attendees for our upcoming introductory training course for those who wish to learn how to use GIS in biological research, and it will provide an introduction to using GIS in a wide variety of biological research situations ranging from the basics of making maps through to studying the spread of diseases and creating maps of species biodiversity. It will consist of a series of background sessions on using GIS mixed in with practical sessions where you will work directly with GIS software to complete various tasks which biological researchers commonly need to be able to do.

The course will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 1st and 2nd of October 2018, and it will be taught by Dr Colin D. MacLeod, who has more than 15 years experience in using GIS for a wide variety of biological purposes. For those who cannot attend this course in person, a shorter online course based on the same materials is available from our sister site www.GISforBiologists.com.

The course will primarily be based around QGIS (also known as Quantum GIS), which provides a user-friendly, open-source, free alternative to commercial GIS software packages, and it is becoming increasingly widely used in both academic and commercial organisations  As a result, it is aimed at both those with no GIS experience, but wish to learn how to do GIS with QGIS, and also those who are familiar with using commercial GIS software, such as ArcGIS, but who wish to learn how to use QGIS as an alternative. However, this course is taught using software-independent approach, and it is also open to those who wish to learn how to use ArcGIS to do biological GIS.

A text book will be provided to all participants.

Attendance will be limited to a maximum of 16 people, and the course will cost £295 per person (£200 for students, the unwaged and those working for registered charities). The course fees can be paid by bank transfer, PayPal, credit/debt card, Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin or through your institution. To book a place, or for more information, email info@GISinEcology.com.

Glasgow has great transport links and is within half a days travel by car or by fast train links from most cities in the UK. For example, it can be reached in as little as 4h 30mins from London by train. It can also be reached by direct flights from many European cities and the flight time is generally under four hours.

The course will be held in central Glasgow at the IET Glasgow Teacher Building (14 St Enoch Square, Glasgow, G1 4DB, UK).

Attendees will be responsible for their own accommodation. However, Glasgow provides a wide range of accommodation options to fit most budgets.

University of Alaska Anchorage

Marine Mammal Necropsy Techniques summer course (BIOL_A490: 27 June – 4 August 2018)

This course provides students an opportunity to gain knowledge about, and hands-on experience with, marine mammal necropsies. Students will learn about animal tissue handling protocols, data recording and sample tracking procedures, and assist in necropsies under the supervision of a veterinary pathologist. During each necropsy, students will take detailed procedure notes, write a brief summary, and turn in the summary for grading and review. Two additional laboratory sessions will enable students to learn about post-necropsy analyses for diet and molecular disease screening from a One Health perspective. In addition, students will identify a relevant topic about marine mammal health, population status and monitoring, and necropsy or veterinary techniques. The topic should be linked to the necropsy work performed. Once approved, the student will conduct independent research on the topic, and write a final paper, or develop a final product (manual, handbook, etc.), that is due at the end of the course.

Register by 19 June 2018at UA Online:

https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/registrar/registration/index.cshtml

The class is listed on Craigslist right now also:
https://anchorage.craigslist.org/cls/d/uaa-marine-mammal-necropsy/6615553737.html

The 2018 International Workshop on Detection, Classification, Localization and Density Estimation of Marine Mammals using passive acoustics (DCLDE) will take place at Sorbonne University

(www.sorbonne-universite.fr) in Paris, France, 4-8 June 2018.

The program is now on line: http://sabiod.univ-tln.fr/DCLDE/

Monday, 2 tutorial sessions (full day, starting at 8:30am) on tools to observe marine mammals and to automatically extract features about their population and their marine environment:

– Machine learning – Deep learning

– Density estimation.

We are pleased to announce the American Cetacean Society’s 16^th International Conference to be held November 2-4, 2018 in Newport Beach, CA.

Whales & Us: The Next Generation

ACS’s International Conference is a highly respected gathering of scientists, educators, conservationists, students, hobbyists and anyone with an interest in cetaceans and their ocean environment.This conference will focus on the future of whale, dolphin and porpoise conservation. Activities will include speaker sessions with world-renowned experts, a poster session including a student research poster contest, a photography contest, a silent auction, book signings, an art show, vendor exhibits, and much more. We will also hold our traditional pre-conference all-day whale watching trip on Friday November 2nd, and will venture out into the rich southern California waters between Catalina Island and Orange County.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

Abstracts for the Poster Session and Student Research Poster Contest will be accepted through August 5^th, 2018.

– Poster Session: This session will showcase a variety of programs and projects based out of educational institutions, agencies, and non-profit organizations.  It isintended to encourage discussion and facilitate the exchange of current information pertaining to cetacean research, conservation, policy, and education.

– Student Research Poster Contest: We invite graduate and undergraduate students to present their work in the ACS Conference Student Contest. The contest is for poster presenters, with a $250 First-Place prize for the top presenter, a $150 Second-Place prize, and a $100 Third-Place prize. First, second- and third-place winners will be recognized at the conference Sunday morning and will be featured in an upcoming issue of the ACS Spyhopper newsletter. The student contest provides an opportunity for students at universities and institutions to gain presentation experience in a professional environment and provides a forum in which existing professionals and scientists may meet their rising peers. Abstract submissions will be accepted from current undergraduate or graduate students, student interns, and recently graduated students (within the past year) who conducted their work prior to graduation. Student authors must be from accredited institutions of higher education.

For submission guidelines and details, please visit :

http://www.acsonline.org/assets/docs/ACS_2018_Conference/poster%20session%20guidelines%202018%20ACS.final.pdf

Poster session-related inquiries can be sent to posters@acsonline.org

See you in November!

The American Cetacean Society Conference Poster Committee

AMERICAN CETACEAN SOCIETY

P.O. Box 51691

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

A special session on Passive Acoustic Density Estimation: Recent Advances and Outcomes for Terrestrial and Marine Species “ is being held during the upcoming 176^th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) on 5-9 November 2018 to be held in the beautiful city of Victoria, British Columbia Canada.   Abstracts are due next Tuesday, the 29^th of May. 

In the past, similar sessions at ASA have included marine mammal biologists and bioacoustic researchers presenting their work on related to science and conservation of marine mammals. We are encouraging researchers working on a wide range of taxonomic study subjects, including marine mammals, to present talks at this special session.

You can submit an abstract via this link:

https://asa2018fall.abstractcentral.com/

Please indicate the “Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee” in the pull-down menu on the abstracts submission page and also which session you wish to present your talk in.  

Choose the following PACS (classification number) 43.80.Ka :  Sound production by animals: mechanisms, characteristics, populations, biosonar

Please note that poster sessions are not expected to be held for this session, so only submit an abstract if you are willing to give a talk. 

For more details on the meeting including travel, accommodation and registration fees, please follow the link below:

https://acousticalsociety.org/176th-meeting-acoustical-society-of-america/

The 98th annual meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists will take place June 25th – 29th, 2018 on the campus of Kansas State University.

This year’s meeting will offer a program with five workshops, two symposia, two plenary sessions, in addition to the diversity contributed papers and posters. Workshops will provide training in using UAVs in biological research, mammalian parasites, alternatives to academic careers, interviewing strategies, and how to use the software Wallace. Symposia will include current topics in Bat Conservation and Mammalian Paleoecology. The two plenary sessions will feature student Honoraria and Fellowship recipients and the 2017 recipients of the ASM Grinnell, Leopold, and Merriam Awards—Drs. Bob Timm, Geraldo Ceballos, and Mark Boyce. And we are honored to have Dr. Blaire Van Valkenburgh, as our capstone speaker.

Registration is now open, but early registration fees end on March 31^st.

For more details go to: http://www.mammalmeetings.org/

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional society whose aims are to:

• promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists;
• raise the public’s level of awareness of the importance of ecological science;
• increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and
• ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.

Ecology is the scientific discipline that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their past, present, and future environments. These relationships include physiological responses of individuals, structure and dynamics of populations, interactions among species, organization of biological communities, and processing of energy and matter in ecosystems.

The ESA holds a regular conference and this coming meeting will be held in New Orleans (5-10 August). The 2018 meeting’s theme is: Extreme events, ecosystem resilience and human well-being

Although the call for abstracts for spoken presentations and workshops is close, the meeting will accept late breaking poster submissions until May 3^rd .

Early registration for the meeting closes on June 14^th.

For more details go to the website at: https://esa.org/neworleans/

This summer there will be a plethora of conservation biology conferences all around the world.

In particular the IMCC meeting in Kuching, Malaysia typically has a lot of marine mammal conservation content http://conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc5/. The IMCC meeting is also followed by Oceans Online – a one day conference on using the internet for marine science and conservation.

• 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB 2018)
  ​Planetary Wellbeing
  Jyväskylä, Finland
  June 12-15, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: org\eccb2018
  Follow ECCB on Facebook and Twitter
• International Marine Conservation Congress(IMCC5)
  Make Marine Science Matter!
  Kuching, Sarawak
  June 24-29, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: http://conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc5/
  Follow IMCC on Facebook and Twitter
• Oceania Congress for Conservation Biology(OCCB 2018)
  Conservation in a changing world
  Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
  July 2-6, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: http://wellington2018.scboceania.org/
  Follow OCCB on Facebook and Twitter
• North America Congress for Conservation Biology (NACCB 2018)
  Conservation Science, Policy, and Practice: Connecting the Urban to the Wild
  Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  July 21-26, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: http://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/naccb2018/
  Follow NACCB on Facebookand Twitter
• Latin America and Caribbean Congress for Conservation Biology(LACCCB 2018)
  Rainforest to Reef: Strengthening Conservation Connections Between the Caribbean and the Americas
  Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
  July 25-27, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: https://lacccb2018.org/
  Follow LACCB on Facebook
• Asia Congress for Biodiversity Conservation(ACBC 2018)
  American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic
  August 7-10, 2018
  Visit the meeting website: http://conservationasia2018.org/

In the Fall, there is an additional conservation conference on Conservation Marketing. Conservation Marketing is the use of latest techniques and studies about how to motivate people, and change their behavior, in order to get the public to act in a more conservation-oriented manner. Among our strategies to do this, we suggest drawing tried and tested techniques used by the marketing industry, for example, to gain the attention of key target audiences.

This conference is aimed towards conservation practitioners and conservation scientists who want to discuss better ways to get their conservation message to the public, and to get the public to act on this message. This conference will give scientists practitioners the opportunity to discuss effective ways to “market” and publicize conservation problems and needs, and to better engage the public in conservation efforts.

Topics include:

• Case studies of effective outreach efforts
• Innovative conservation campaigns
• Advice and case studies for engaging with specific user groups (hunters, fishermen, policy makers)
• Using social media such as Twitter, podcasts, or YouTube to highlight a conservation issue and to engage the public
• Interpreting conservation science to diverse audiences

International Congress of Conservation Marketing & Engagement(ConsMark 2018)
George Mason University Arlington Campus, Arlington, Virginia, USA
October 25-27, 2018

Visit the meeting website: https://www.consmark.org/
Follow ConsMark on Facebook and Twitter

The International Committee on Marine Mammal Protected Areas (ICMMPA), is a group of international experts dedicated to the protection of marine mammals and their habitats. Since 2009, the ICMMPA has been organizing ICMMPA conferences every other year with special focus on the Americas, held in chronological order in Hawaii, Martinique, Australia, and Mexico, that serve as an important forum for marine mammal protected area practitioners.

In 2019, ICMMPA is reaching a key milestone; its 10th anniversary since its foundation and first conference. The 5th conference will take place for the first time in Europe and specifically in the Mediterranean region. Hosting the ICMMPA5 in Greece will provide a unique opportunity to promote the protection of marine mammals at the national, Mediterranean, and European level and advance practical solutions to common problems in marine conservation.

Location: The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino, in Messinia, Greece
Date: April 8–12, 2019

The conference will feature interactive panels designed to allow participants to engage in discussions with speakers, focused workshop sessions to provide concrete outputs, training sessions, and additional opportunities to share the considerable and extensive expertise and experience of MMPA practitioners and those who guide, advise, and support the implementation of these initiatives. Special effort will be made to support conference participation not only from the Mediterranean and Europe, but also from previously underrepresented regions (e.g. Black Sea, Middle East, Red Sea and tropical Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean countries and islands of West Africa). The conference will build on initiatives generated from the past four conferences to advance our understanding of science, management, and effective biodiversity conservation in protected areas. In addition, the conference will provide updates on plans for the worldwide Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) initiative (marinemammalhabitat.org).

Call for themed abstracts coming soon. For more information and to view proceedings from past conferences visit http:www.icmmpa.org.

To receive a sponsorship package, or for more information, contact: Naomi McIntosh, Chair, ICMMPA (naomi.mcintosh@noaa.gov) or Amalia Alberini, Conference Co-Host, WWF Greece (info_ICMMPA5@wwf.gr)