Upcoming Major North American Conferences

by Matthew Nielsen Dec. 2016

Evolution—June 23-27 2017, Portland, Oregon:

Early registration deadline—April 15, 2017; Presentation submission deadline—May 20, 2017. The big evolution conference, but it’s a pretty broad interpretation of the topic, and thanks to ASN’s involvement, it includes some ecology as well. It’s jointly sponsored by ASN, the Society for the Study of Evolution, and the Society for Systematic Biology, and typically has ~1600 attendees. Personally, it’s my favorite of the major conferences.

American Society of Naturalists—Jan 5-9, 2018, Asilomar, California:

This isn’t one of the big conferences (attendance is capped at 200), but given that it’s ours, I figured it should be mentioned. It’s biennial and not until next winter, and each year is focused around three specific symosia.

Animal Behavior Society—June 12-16 2017, Toronto, Canada:

The major meeting for animal behavior, including plenty of behavioral ecology. It typically has ~600 attendees, so it’s on the smaller end for national/international society meetings.

Ecological Society of America—August 6-11 2017, Portland, Oregon:

Presentation submission deadline—February 23, 2017. This is the really big one, with attendance usually on the scale of ~4,000. I’ve never been personally, but it covers pretty much all aspects of ecology and is big enough that there should be something for everyone (if you can find it).

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology—January 3-7 2018, San Francisco, California:

Formerly known as the American Zoological Society, SICB covers all levels of biological organization, but has an especially strong organismal focus. It usually has ~2,000 attendees. The Division of Ecology and Evolution has a strong presence, and the society’s integrative goals align pretty well with those of ASN overall, so if you study animals and are looking for an off-season meeting, this is a good choice. There is a 2017 meeting in New Orleans, but it’s a bit late to register, so I listed the 2018 meeting instead.

Is there a big meeting of likely interest to graduate student members of ASN that I missed? (I’ll admit, I know the animal-oriented conferences better than those for plants or microbes, so I wouldn’t be surprised). Let me know at maerniel@live.unc.edu.