On behalf of the University of Amsterdam and Carmabi, we would like to invite you to

The second annual AcroporaNet Symposium

on December 1st (2017) in the Turingzaal at the Amsterdam Sciencepark Congress Centre (Sciencepark 123, Amsterdam). The event will last all day and be followed by an informal gathering afterwards. Scientists, policy makers and other interested parties conducting basic and applied research in fields related to tropical marine biology are welcome. Please pass this information on to anyone who may be interested, students as well. Registration is free.

Purpose

The symposium will cover all aspects of marine science and management. Experimental and observational studies of demography, behavior, and physiology provide the raw material for scientists, managers, and the public to advance their understanding of coral reef ecosystems. Effective management and conservation depends upon such fundamental appreciation of the basic ecological workings of reef organisms. We therefore invite participants to share (during a talk or poster) new findings on the fundamental workings of intact or degraded coral reef ecosystems, and adjacent ecosystems such seagrass beds, mesophotic communities, coastal areas and mangrove areas. Perspective talks are highly encouraged.

On behalf of the organizing committee,

Petra Visser (University of Amsterdam) and Mark Vermeij (Carmabi)

 

Program (as of November 20th, 2017)

for a downloadable version which also has the abstracts for each presentation, click here

 

10:00─10:30      Arrival at venue with coffee, tea etc.

10:30─10:45       Opening

Petra Visser, Mark Vermeij (University of Amsterdam, Carmabi Foundation)

10:45─11:00        Introduction and overview AcroporaNET 

Johan Stapel (Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute, St. Eustatius)

11:00─11:15          Possibility to ask questions about AcroporaNET and marine tropical research in general

11:15─11:30          3D reconstruction as a monitoring strategy for coral reef restoration of Acropora palmata on

Bonaire

Julia Huisman  (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)

11:30─11:45         Impacts of megaherbivores on expansion of invasive seagrass in the Caribbean

Marjolijn Christianen (University of Groningen)

11:45─12:00        Benthic cyanobacterial mats on coral reefs

Petra Visser (University of Amsterdam)

12:00─12:15        Ecological communities in future ocean conditions

Christiaan De Leeuw (Wageningen University & Research)

12:15─12:30        Saba Bank communities and why hurricanes and lionfish are a blessing

Erik Meesters (Wageningen University Marine Research)

12:30─12:45        An experimental approach to studying staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) genetic diversity and

transcriptomic response to nursery environments in the Dutch Caribbean

Pam Engelberts (University of Amsterdam)

12:45─13:00        Physical drivers are obscured by local human impacts at outer reefs in the tropical Pacific

Amanda Ford (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, Germany)

 

13:00─14:30       Lunch, poster presentations and possibilities to meet one-on-one

 

14:30─14:45        Invasive marine species in the Dutch Caribbean

Auke Florian Hiemstra (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

14:45─15:00        High marine population genetic structure influenced by habitat fragmentation

Diede Maas (Wageningen University & Research)

15:00─15:15        Bonaire’s reef, back to the Archaean?

Godfried van Moorsel (Ecosub)

15:15─15:30         Microbiomes of seagrasses on Curaçao

Aschwin Engelen (University of the Algarve, Portugal)

15:30─15:45        Variation of prokaryote communities in Indo-Pacific giant barrel sponges

Thomas Swierts (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

15:45─16:00        Sugar Wars: The role of DOM composition on future reefs

Ben Mueller (University of Amsterdam)

16:00─16:15         Adaptive life research at GELIFES, Groningen

Sancia van der Meij (University of Groningen)

 

16:15─17:00         Discussion, open floor and possible future plans

 

17:00─                   Drinks at the nearby bar “The Polder”

 

Detailed information

The symposium will take place in the Turingzaal (room number: Z011) of CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica) at the Amsterdam Sciencepark Congress Centre (Sciencepark 123, Amsterdam, see below) (Note the wiggly symbols indicating bus stops). The meeting will start at 10:30 AM sharp and last till 17:00 PM followed by an informal event in café “De Polder” (see map below). There will be ample coffee breaks and we will organize an on-site lunch, but the final program will be made available once registrations ends (October 30^th).

 

A map [pdf] with directions in case you are coming by car, or public transport can be found here. A map [pdf] of the SciencePark campus is here.

Registration

Please register before October 30^th, 2017, by sending an email with your name and that of your institution to carmabilog@gmail.com. If you want to present a poster or a talk, see below:

Posters

There are no strict rules for posters. You are free to bring any poster that you’ve already printed. Poster sessions will take place throughout the day near the Turingzaal. You do not need to stand next to your poster the entire time, but make sure to clearly add contact info (a picture is also encouraged!) so people can find you. Materials to attach the posters will be provided.

• Poster Size: If you have not finalized your poster, we suggest using a vertical orientation and keeping maximum paper size of approximately A0 format (about 0.85m x 1.2m).
• Poster Clarity: We suggest using font sizes of 70 to 85 point for the title, 36 to 48 for headings, and 24 to 30 for the main text. Avoid any text smaller than 18-point font! Use clear, simple fonts and be sure colors contrast against the background.
• Handouts: You are welcome (but not required!) to provide small handouts of your poster. This is particularly useful for a multilingual audience.
• Some Excellent Poster Advice: Designing conference posters and Poster Perfect

Talk Guidelines

The audience will be familiar with many of your methods and study systems. For example, you do not need to spend a lot of time or space introducing e.g., coral reefs (We all know that they’re not doing that well!) or transect methods. Instead, we want to see and hear your results! We suggest that you keep your introduction and methods sections brief to leave more time for results, conclusions, next steps, new insights and novel ideas. This meeting is to convey new ideas. Data that is already published will therefore not be accepted for a talk or poster.There will be a friendly audience that loves coral reef research, management solutions to preserve these systems and natural history. Show amazing pictures! Present new observations! Share your failures! Ask for collaborators! If you don’t have a graph for a recent meaningful result, tell us about it anyway! Let’s use this meeting to make new connections and push our field forward.

People wanting to give “pitches” (short talks (~3-5 minutes) to introduce e.g., a new research program, institution or initiative) should indicate so (see below). People interested in giving any other type of presentation can discuss their ideas by sending an email to carmabilog@gmail.com

• File Formats: Prepare your final slides with the most recent versions of Keynote or PowerPoint that you can access. Be sure to embed all video files and fonts. To avoid any problems, you are encouraged to bring a PDF version of your slides as well. Save a digital copy of your talk via email, WeTransfer, or Dropbox. If you are showing video, bring a backup copy of all video files.
• Uploading: Please send all presentations before November 28^th to carmabilog@gmail.com using WeTransfer or Dropbox. To avoid “technical issues” and ensure a timely meeting schedule we will not upload presentations on the day of the meeting.
• Time Yourself: Speakers will have 10-15 minutes to present (depending on the total number of entrees) including 3-5 minutes to answer questions. Rather than labeling your slides or poster sections as “Intro,” “Methods,” “Conclusions,” etc., consider using this space to summarize the main point of the slide or section. This is also a good cue for you if you lose your train of thought while explaining your work, and it is a nice courtesy to viewers or readers who may join halfway through your explanation.
• Some Additional Talk Advice: How to Give Better Talks and Pimp your PowerPoint

To submit a talk or poster, please send an email containing the following information to carmabilog@gmail.com:

• Your name and title,
• the name of your institution,
• title of your presentation,
• whether you plan to give a talk or poster presentation,
• abstract (max. 200 words) and
• any other information you think might be useful to contribute to making this a productive symposium.

For any other questions regarding this symposium, please contact Mark Vermei j (carmabilog@gmail.com)