We appreciate your efforts to bring the very best of your knowledge and insight to a wider audience at the conference, and to help us make this event as engaging, collaborative and cutting-edge for your colleagues as possible. We are pleased to provide a venue for you to advance discussion of natural areas topics to this audience.
Please consider this year's conference them and topics when preparing your proposal. Our theme is At the Water's Edge - Managing our Land and Water in a Changing Landscape.
Topics:
Best Management Practices on Land for Freshwater Ecosystem Integrity
Mitigating the Impact of Energy Development
Advances in State Forest Management
Identifying Natural Areas for Conservation
Management of Wildlife Habitat
Invasive Species Management and Prevention
Using Data and Technology to advance Conservation
Parcelization of Large Private Land – Opportunities for Conservation
Native Plant Conservation Initiatives
Pollinators in Natural Areas Management
Management Planning to advance the Conservation of Special Species/Natural Communities
Urban Natural Areas and Green Infrastructure
Wetlands Conservation (for Rare Species)
Climate Change – Species and Natural Communities on the Move
Restoration of Natural Areas Qualities
More detailed information is available on this page on each kind of proposal we are seeking, as well as links to the proposal forms. Keep in mind that ALL presenters are asked to cover their own registration, accommodations, and expenses.
Symposium
What is a symposium?
Symposia consist of 5 invited speakers whose talks are strongly integrated. Talks are 25 minutes with 5 minutes for questions. After the 5 talks, there will be 30 minutes available for facilitated discussion in a flexible format; session organizers are requested to use the time to advance and expand the conversation on the topic, with a view towards inspiring continued debate. We ask that organizers consider symposia an opportunity to start conversations at a deeper level than simple presentation Q&A.
How are individual presentations different from a Symposium presentation?
An individual presentation is a single talk which takes place in a 30-minute time slot, with 10 minutes for Q&A and discussion. At the Natural Areas Conference, each presenter during a session takes responsibility for fostering an engaging Q&A and discussion period for their own presentation, by having in mind several questions that can engage attendees on the material they present. An individual presentation can stand on its own, although the program committee may choose to place your presentation, if accepted, within a Symposium. However, an individual presentation is not proposed as part of a Symposium.
How are posters different from individual presentations or symposia?
A poster presents information in the primary form of a physical poster, whose size cannot be more than 4 feet by 4 feet. If accepted, the presenter will bring their poster to the Natural Areas Conference and mount it in the place designated for the Poster Session and Reception at the event venue. Poster presenters agree to be present during the Poster Session and Reception IN PERSON in order to present their work and respond to questions by attendees. The program committee may also opt to offer some presenters who submitted an individual presentation abstract an opportunity to present work in the form of a Poster, instead of an oral presentation.
What is a Field Workshop?
Field Workshops are not Field Trips. Although Field Workshops are definitely intended to be a fun outing to a natural area or natural area-related site, and may incorporate a recreational component, Field Workshops are different from Field Trips. They are opportunities for NAC attendees to see some of the methods and initiatives they’ve been hearing about during sessions as they are working on the ground in real time, and they are related to the conference theme and specifically tied to one or more of the conference topic areas. They are usually organized by local volunteers specifically for the conference, and may be led by the same people who presented on a related topic.
What is a Workshop?
Workshops are events that have a greater instructional component than symposia and individual presentations, and participants typically remain in the workshop for the entire session, rather than moving between sessions. They are also more in the hands of the organizer, in the sense that while we review proposals and list them in our registration and in our conference program, organizers are responsible for communicating with participants, and we ask that they take on some of the burden of promoting their workshop themselves.
What is an ID Workshop?
ID Workshops are held during regular sessions but have a greater instructional component than presentations and are 90 minutes long. They may include a field component. They are typically focused on terminology and identification tools for a particular group of species, such as invasive insects, sedges, etc. Leaders for these workshops may require that participants use their own field scopes.
MORE INFO OR SUBMIT PROPOSAL
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