25th Benthic Ecology Meeting
Thursday 3 April to Sunday 6 April, 1997
Portland, Maine, USA
General Information
From its humble beginnings in 1972, the Benthic Ecology Meeting has
grown to become one of the largest annual meetings of marine
ecologists in the world. For our silver anniversary this year we will
return to our northern New England roots for a meeting in Portland's
Marriott Hotel. In addition to the standard fare of high quality
scientific presentations, this year's meeting will include keynote
addresses by Paul Dayton and Jeff Levinton, a field trip to New
England's famous rocky intertidal shore, and social/poster sessions in
the evenings prior to dinner in Portland's Old Port district. The
hosts for this year's meeting are the University of Maine, Bowdoin
College, Bates College, Maine Sea Grant, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean
Sciences, the University of New Orleans, and the University of New
England.
Keynote Addresses
In celebration of our silver anniversary, Paul Dayton and Jeff
Levinton will present keynote addresses on the general theme of
Benthic Ecology - Past, Present, and Future. These talks will be
scheduled for Friday and Saturday mornings. Come hear visions of the
future from two senior scientists who have been working in the field
since before the benthic ecology meeting began!
Presentations
Multiple concurrent oral presentation sessions will run from 9 to 4 on
Friday and Saturday and Sunday through noon. Oral presentations will
be limited to 15 minutes (approximately 12 minutes of presentation
plus 3 minutes for questions/discussion). Each individual may be
first author on only one talk and may present only one talk. All
talks will be presented in the Marriott Hotel in Portland (Maine, not
Oregon). Meeting rooms will all be equipped with a 35 mm slide
projector and an overhead. A limited number of video projectors and
other special audio-visual systems will be available by prior
arrangement with Bob Steneck (see additional information below).
Poster sessions will be set-up over the lunch hour on both Fri. and
Sat. Combined pre-dinner socials and poster sessions will be held on
those evenings. Authors are strongly encouraged to be by their
posters during that time. Appetizers and beverages (both alcoholic
and non-alcoholic) will be available at these sessions, and we hope
that everybody will plan to attend as either presenters or viewers.
This format seemed to be well received last year in South Carolina and
we encourage you to present your work in this venue. Space for oral
presentations may be limited and some participants may be asked to
present posters instead. Stands will be provided for posters sized to
fit within a 4-foot X 4-foot space.
Housing
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Marriott Hotel/Sable Oaks
(207 871-8000 voice, 207 871-7971 FAX). All rooms (singles, doubles,
and quads) will cost US$75 per night, regardless of the number of
occupants. Reservations should be made as soon as possible, but no
later than March 3, 1997. After that date, reservations will be
accepted on a space or rate available basis. All reservations must be
either accompanied by a first night room deposit or guaranteed by a
major credit card. Check-in time is 4 PM and checkout is by noon.
When making your reservation, please indicate that you are affiliated
with the Benthic Ecology Meeting.
Travel
Portland is served by Delta, Continental, USAir, American, and United
airlines. We have arranged for discounted tickets booked with Delta
airlines. These can be accessed by calling the Delta Meeting
Researvations Department at 1-800-241-6760. Refer to this meeting
with file number XD478 (this special rate covers travel from 31 March
to 9 April 1977). The Marriott Hotel is located within minutes of the
airport and runs a free shuttle service. The hotel is also easily
accessed by automobile via interstate highway I-95. For those of you
arriving from the South (in other words, almost all of you), take I-95
to Exit 7. Turn left on Maine Mall Rd. and then left on Running Hill
Rd. The Marriott/Sable Oaks is on the right after you cross the
highway. Free outdoor parking is provided.
Meals
Continental breakfast is covered by the registration fee and will be
available in the coffee-break area prior to the first morning talks.
A full breakfast menu will be available in the hotel restaurant. The
Marriott Hotel will offer discount priced lunch options (US$2.50 to
US$5.00) in a buffet format, as well as a full menu in the restaurant.
Numerous other restaurant options are available within a 15 minute
walk. For dinner, we suggest any of a number of excellent
restaurant/bar/beer pub options in Portland's Old Port district. Free
shuttle buses will run between the hotel and DiMillo's Restaurant in
the Old Port district every half hour from 7 to 12 PM.
Registration and Abstract Submission
The cost of registration is US$80 for faculty, post-docs, and
professionals, and US$55 for undergraduate and graduate students.
Registration fees include a name badge, admission to all talks and
socials/poster sessions, a printed program and abstract book, and
refreshments at breakfast, coffee breaks, and socials. Registration
is performed electronically, followed by mailing in a check to cover
fees (the address is on the registration form). Access the
registration form using a World Wide Web browser (such as Netscape or
Internet Explorer) over the WWW at:
http://benthic.sc.edu
If you have absolutely no access to a WWW browser, you may receive
registration materials via email by sending a message to
forms at benthic.sc.edu (but this will be more work for you and for us
than using the WWW form). If you do not have access to email, contact
us via phone or paper mail for instructions. The deadline for early
registration and the submission of abstracts is March 3, 1997.
Presentation space is on a first-come, first-served basis, so please
submit your registration and abstracts by the deadline. Abstracts
must be validated by payment of the registration fee. Late
registrants will not be guaranteed a copy of the abstracts.
If you will also be presenting a talk or poster, abstract submission
can be done electronically along with (or subsequent to) registration.
Again, if you have absolutely no access to the WWW, abstract
submission instructions will be sent to you along with your email
request for registration information (see above). The body of the
abstract will be limited to 1000 characters in length (the same as
last year).
On the abstract form on the web (and listed below) there is a list of
topics compiled from previous meetings. Please indicate your first
and second choices for your talk or poster. In addition, please
indicate the three sessions which you are most likely to attend on the
registration form. Note that these topics are deliberately organized
by process rather than habitat or organism. Related topics may be
combined when the presentation sessions are organized.
Session Topics
1. Herbivory 8. Biogeography 15. Chemical Ecology
2. Predation 9. Biogeochemistry 16. Benthic-Pelagic Coupling
3. Competition 10. Nutrient Dynamics 17. Hydrodynamic Processes
4. Disturbance 11. Microbial Ecology 18. Evolutionary Ecology
5. Larval Ecology 12. Ecotoxicology 19. Physiological Ecology
6. Recruitment 13. Population Genetics 20. Animal-Sediment Interactions
7. Productivity 14. Reproduction and Development
Tentative Meeting Schedule
Day Date Time Activity
Thursday April 3 8 to 11 PM Combined Social and Registration
Friday April 4 8 AM Keynote Address - Paul Dayton
9 to 12 Morning Presented Papers
2 to 5 PM Afternoon Presented Papers
5 to 8 PM Social/Poster Session
Saturday April 5 8 to 11 AM Morning Presented Papers
11 AM Keynote Address - Jeff Levinton
2 to 5 PM Afternoon Presented Papers
5 to 8 PM Social/Poster Session
Sunday April 6 8 to 12 Morning Presented Papers
Final Schedule and Mailings
The schedule of presentations will be posted on the Web
(http://benthic.sc.edu) by March 17, 1997. We will not mail printed
schedules or abstract books prior to the meeting. You will receive
both of these items at the meeting.
Field Trip
There will be a free field trip to New England's famous rocky
intertidal shore on either Thursday or Sunday afternoon. The trip
will depart from the Marriott Hotel at 1 PM for a visit to the
Portland Head region and return by 6 PM. If you would like to
participate in this field trip, please indicate your preference for
day on the registration form. The field trip will occur on the day
that receives the most votes. The field trip will include one or all
of the following ecologists: Paul Dayton, Amy Johnson, and Bob Vadas.
Participants will receive further details from us later. Please note:
space on the bus is limited to 55 seats and will be filled based on
the date and time that we receive your registration fee.
About Portland
Portland is a small, picturesque seaport that is one of the cleanest
and safest cities in the United States. It was the home of Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow and parts of the town look much as they did in
his day. Portland is second only to San Francisco in number of
restaurants per capita and first in the nation in number of brew pubs
per capita. It has an art museum featuring the works of three
generations of Wyeths (RC, Andrew, and Jamie). Within a 20 minute
drive you can visit the exposed rocky coast of Maine or L. L. Bean in
Freeport.
When you arrive you will get an information packet with details on the
above attractions plus maps and information on recommended
restaurants, brew pubs, and other current happenings in the Portland
area during the meeting.
T-shirts
Twenty-fifth anniversary t-shirts will be available. Shirts are short
sleeved, 100% cotton and feature a design by renowned cartoonist and
benthic ecologist Karsten Reise. Some shirts will be available at the
meeting, but to be sure of getting one of these special edition shirts
order one with your registration.
Additional Information
Questions on specific topics should be addressed to the following:
Scheduling information, registration, and abstract submission/editing:
http://benthic.sc.edu
Automatic information via email (you're reading it now):
info at benthic.sc.edu
Registration/abstract forms (only if you have no access to the WWW site):
forms at benthic.sc.edu
Projection equipment, socials: bob at benthic.sc.edu (Bob Steneck
207-563-3154 x233)
Restaurants and housing: will at benthic.sc.edu (Will Ambrose)
General information: rick at benthic.sc.edu (Rick Wahle
207-633-9659)
Abstract submission queries: dean at benthic.sc.edu (Dean Pentcheff
803-777-3936)
Abstract submission queries: phil at benthic.sc.edu (Phil Yund
504-280-6943)
Field trips: amy at benthic.sc.edu (Amy Johnson
207-725-3026)
Registration, receipts, posters: linda at benthic.sc.edu (Linda O'Clair)
