30th ANNUAL MEETING
2016
STUDENT PAPER AWARDS
Are you a student submitting an abstract for a poster or platform presentation? If so, read the scoring criteria for student paper awards.
Poster Winners:
Sammie Alexander, First Place
Verena Wang, Second Place
Ammar Hanif, Third Place
Paper Winners:
William Goldsmith, First Place
Vaskar Nepal, Second Place
Alexandra Atkinson, Third Place
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
30th Annual AFS Tidewater Chapter Meeting
April 7-9, 2016
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Annapolis, Maryland
CLICK HERE for photos.
DOWNLOAD the meeting program.
DOWNLOAD the meeting schedule.
Meeting Highlights
by Rob Aguilar
The Tidewater Chapter of the American Fisheries Society held its 30th Annual Meeting in Edgewater, Maryland on April 7–9, 2016. We had 80 meeting attendees, nearly evenly split between students and professionals, representing 24 academic, government, non-profit, and private organizations from six states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Florida, and Delaware.
The poster and oral presentations were generously hosted by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). The meeting kicked off on Thursday afternoon in the newly renovated Mathias Atrium and a tour of the Smithsonian Fish Collection at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. A total of 21 posters were presented and 14 were given by students. We received many compliments regarding the food provided by Giolitti’s Deli, as well as the high-quality beverages.
This year, a total of 29 oral presentations (18 by students) were held all day on Friday and a half-day on Saturday in SERC’s Schmidt Center. Similar to last year, in lieu of the student-mentor lunch, a “round-the-room” ice-breaker was held first thing Friday morning by which students (followed by professionals) gave one minute self-introductions to the audience. Afterwards, 18 students and 1 professional delivered oral presentations. Saturday morning, 10 professionals delivered oral presentations. Most people stayed for the entirety of oral sessions, which is always a good indication that folks were interested in the program. The quality of the oral presentations and posters were superb, particularly from the students. A tip of the hat to all involved! Although we pushed back the date of this meeting to avoid any weather issues (re: last year), it ironically snowed for about 5 minutes on Saturday.
The banquet social was held Friday evening at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Philip Merrill Center in Annapolis, MD. Attendees enjoyed good company and delicious food provided by Saucy Salamander all while overlooking the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. The banquet social also featured the presentation of awards for best student poster and oral presentations, as well as raffle prize drawings and a silent auction for a VEMCO VR2Tx Receiver valued at $2,400. The generous donations of space/monies/items provided by Maryland Sea Grant, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, VEMCO, Smith-Root, Giant, Chick-fil-A, Flying Dog Brewery, North Carolina Sea Grant, Minxies’ Trinkets, John Cooper, Sara Mirabilio, and myself contributed greatly to the overall success of this meeting.
Thanks to all those who attended the 2016 Annual Meeting, as well as all our meeting sponsors. We couldn’t have done it without you. I look forward to another great Tidewater Meeting next year in Virginia hosted by President-Elect Sally Roman!
MEETING SPONSORS
