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Tampa, Florida, November 27-December 2, 2011
About the Conference
 The Society for Marine Mammalogy is holding its 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Tampa, Florida. The "biennial," held every two years, is a gathering of marine mammal scientists from around the world, with the goal of enhancing collaboration, sharing ideas, and improving the quality of research on marine mammals.
About the Tampa Bay Area
The Tampa Bay area is an ideal location for the 2011 SMM conference – great weather, beautiful beaches, outstanding meeting venues, exciting attractions, and easy access. Centrally located on the West Coast of Florida, the Tampa Bay area offers a unique blend of urban sophistication set in a natural marine environment. With these appealing amenities to offer, the 2011 SMM Conference promises to be our best conference ever!
Conference Theme
The theme for this year's conference is:
"Cumulative effects of threats to marine mammals: Challenges to animals, scientists, and managers"
As human activities in marine and aquatic environments continue to increase worldwide, the combined and cumulative effects of these activities are posing greater threats to marine mammals as individuals, populations, and species. An integrated, multi-disciplinary approach is needed to analyze and mitigate the cumulative effects of these activities on marine mammals and ecosystems; this approach is also needed to inform conservation management paradigms moving toward ecosystem management and marine spatial planning. The conference will highlight approaches used to integrate multiple factors into analyses of effects, and examples of how multi-disciplinary approaches have helped to attain conservation goals.
While the theme for the conference is focused on the cumulative effects of human activities on marine mammals, abstracts and workshop proposals will also be accepted on the latest advances in marine mammal science and the ecological importance of marine mammals.
Program schedule now available!
(PDF format)
Information
This website will serve as the primary resource for all information related to the conference, including important dates, registration, abstract submission, workshops, travel and accommodation, and vendor exhibits. Additional web pages will become available as tabs at the top of this page.
Registration
Online registration closed on October 15, but we have plenty of room for registrations oninste. Registration will begin at noon on Sunday, November 27, at the Tampa Bay Convention Center, and continue throughout the conference. Save money on your registration fees by becoming a SMM member.
Conference Events
Workshops will be held on November 26-27, prior to the conference. There will be an icebreaker reception at the Florida Aquarium on November 27, where you will have an opportunity to view rare, endemic aquatic mammals from Weeki Wachee, Florida. The conference program begins on November 28 and ends on December 2. Other conference events include Video Evening on November 28, a panel discussion on the Gulf oil spill on November 29, the Student Affairs Workshop on November 30, a field trip to see manatees at the Lowry Park Zoo on December 1, and “Manatee Mayhem” - a student travel fundraiser – also on December 1. The conference will end with an awards and closing ceremony, followed by the conference banquet and dance on December 2 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel.
Conference Committee Chairs
Laura Engleby, Co-Chair
National Marine Fisheries Service
Vicki Cornish, Co-Chair
Marine Mammal Commission
Tara Cox, Scientific Program Chair
Savannah State University- Marine Sciences Program
Please send any inquiries to conference@marinemammalscience.org.
Past & Future
See a schedule of past and future SMM conferences.
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Conference
