Abstract Submission Guidelines and Instructions

Online Abstract Submission

All abstracts for oral or poster presentations must be submitted online. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 4 NOVEMBER 2011. We urge you not to wait until the last day to submit, as unexpected problems often arise during the submission process. The descriptions of program sessions, as well as guidelines for composing and submitting abstracts to each session are listed below. All abstracts will be critically reviewed by the Program Committee and may be rejected if they are not of high quality. Please note that the Program Committee puts a significant emphasis on the poster sessions because of the limited amount of time for oral presentations. If your abstract is selected, but there is no space remaining for oral presentations, you may be asked if you would be willing to submit a poster instead.

In order to submit an abstract for presentation at the Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting, you must follow the instructions provided below. Instructions and guidelines for submission are available on this site, as well as a user-friendly interface for submitting abstracts.

Please note that upon submitting an abstract, you must choose the appropriate session for your abstract based on the session titles and descriptions provided below and label your submission accordingly. If your abstract does not fit into one of these sessions, please label it "Other", and we will place it in the most appropriate session. There will be a special session on Regionwide Research, to highlight those research projects that are being conducted across three or more states in the Southeast U.S.

Information Required for Abstract Submission

1. Name of presenting author
2. Email of presenting author (an email contact is required)
3. Phone and fax numbers of presenting author
4. Date this information was submitted (DD/MM/YY)
5. Title of presentation (ALL IN UPPERCASE)
6. All authors of the presentation in the order you want them to appear in the program. Place each author's name on a separate line.
7. Author(s) affiliation(s) in the same order as above. Please clarify any multiple affiliations
8. Abstract describing your presentation (500 words maximum). The abstracts must be submitted in English. Please include as much information as possible so that the committee can make informed choices and so that your presentation is adequately described in the program. Abstracts will also be included (as received) in the online proceedings.
9. The session to which you are submitting your presentation. You must choose the most appropriate session based on the descriptions below. If it does not fit under any of the sessions, please label it as "Other" and we will place it in the most appropriate session.
10. Specify the type of presentation you wish to make. Your choices are: prefer oral, prefer poster or no preference. Space for oral presentations is limited, but if your abstract is selected, we may ask if you would be willing to submit in poster format.
11. Equipment needed. Your choices are: overhead projector, computer projector with MS Power Point, video/DVD player, or other (please give details).
12. Indicate whether you are a student and whether you would like to be considered for the Boyd Lyon Student Award (first and second place awards given for both oral and poster presentations of merit). Recently graduated presenters who are presenting work done as students will qualify for these awards.

    Boyd Lyon exhibited the qualities that make a good graduate student and a good researcher. He was hard working, dedicated, well read and committed to learning as much about sea turtles as possible. He strove for excellence in everything that he did. Although he is missed on a daily basis, his legacy lives on in his friends and in the research carried on in his name. It is with this in mind that we honor him by creating the Boyd Lyon Award for best student papers and best student posters.

    THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ALL ABSTRACTS IS 4 NOVEMBER 2011. ABSTRACTS MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE. ABSTRACTS SUBMITTED BY MAIL WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

    Notice of Acceptance

    Final decisions on abstract acceptance will be made by the Program Committee. All first authors will be notified via email of the acceptance of their oral or poster presentation by 9 DECEMBER 2011. If you need an acceptance letter sent to someone other than yourself, please specify this in your abstract submission.

    Should your abstract be accepted for presentation as a poster, please review our suggested Poster Preparation Guidelines.

    Proceedings

    Accepted versions of abstracts will appear as such in the online Program prior to the meeting, and in the SERSTM Proceedings, which will be made available online after the meeting.

    Cancellations

    If for some serious reason you need to cancel your presentation, please inform the Program Chair, Dean Bagley (dean@seregturtle.org), immediately. Those who fail to present their papers or posters without cancelling in advance of the meeting will not be allowed to present in subsequent meetings.

    Abstract Categories

    The Program Committee will select abstracts submitted in the following categories.

    SPECIAL SESSION ON REGIONWIDE RESEARCH

    This session will highlight sea turtle research projects that are being conducted across three or more of the states in the southeast U.S. Presentations in this session will show how research conducted over large areas can bring about a better understanding of sea turtle populations/aggregations in our part of the world and hopefully spark ideas to bring about new multi-state collaborative research in the future. All researchers with multi-state projects are encouraged to submit.

    FORAGING AND DEVELOPMENTAL HABITATS

    This session highlights inwater research and capture techniques, abundance assessments, CPUE (preferably reported in captures per kilometer/hour), vital rates data, mortality rates and sources, growth data, telemetry.

    NESTING BEACHES AND HATCHLING PRODUCTION

    This session highlights quantitative beach descriptions, including beach length and type, survey numbers by species, internesting period by species, average clutch size by species, hatching and emerging success by species, hatchling production by species, threats and predation data.

    FISHERIES INTERACTION AND BYCATCH REDUCTION

    This session highlights what is currently known about fisheries of the southeast U.S. and what is being done to reduce sea turtle bycatch.

    SUCCESS AND FAILURE IN BUILDING BEACHES FOR SEA TURTLES

    This session attempts to identify what works and what doesn't, when it comes to sea turtles and beach nourishment and armoring projects, specifically the effects on nesting females, hatchlings and hatchling production.

    HEALTH AND REHABILITATION

    This session will highlight health related research and rehabilitation topics. Preference will be given to presentations that focus on population level health and disease issues such as mortality events, novel rehabilitation techniques and problems and topics that are of interest to both the veterinary and conservation biology communities.

    MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION

    This session will highlight ongoing efforts in Marine Turtle Conservation. All topics will be considered.

    OTHER - if you are submitting an abstract and don't know which session it belongs in, check "other". We'll decide for you.