Baltimore Ecosystem Study Annual Meeting 2013

Dear Members, Collaborators and Friends of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study:

You are invited and encouraged to attend the 2013 Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) Long-Term Ecological Research Program Annual Meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, 22-23 October and the Community Open House and Greening Celebration on 23 October.

The Annual Meeting is designed to share the technical scientific results of the project with BES researchers, educators, local, state and federal agency representatives while also being open to the media, and interested community members.  The Community Open House is an informal venue to share non-technical project information and results with teachers, students at all grade levels, community members, media, and regional decision makers.

Annual Meeting:

The fifteenth BES Annual Meeting will be held at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center at 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21209.  Here is a link to Directions.

The Annual Meeting talks will start promptly at 8:30 am on Tuesday and will feature Keynote Speaker Austin Troy, a BES Co-PI for many years, and author of the BES Book of the Year, “The Very Hungry City.”  The Wednesday session will begin at 8:00 am, ending at 12:15 pm.  The Community Open House will begin at 6:00 pm.

This year we are combining the BES Annual Meeting with our NSF Mid-term Review.  Therefore, presentations by BES participants and collaborators will be scheduled for Tuesday, 23 October only.  Already scheduled for Wednesday morning are talks by BES Co-PIs to present overviews of the project directed to the Mid-term Review Team.  These talks should be of interest to all participants and are intended to illustrate current projects and progress.

Those who have research results gathered as a part of, or particularly relevant to, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, are invited to present a 15-minute talk or a poster summarizing the results.  If you would like to present your research at the meeting, please submit your abstract of no more than 250 words by Friday, 11 October.  The abstracts will be published on the BES website as well as in the program booklet.  You can include one graphic or table with your abstract.  Please submit your abstracts electronically using the online form Here.  This is a strict deadline, so be sure your abstract reaches us by 11 October.  As noted above, the number of talks accepted will be limited by the time slots available on Tuesday, 22 October.  Acceptance of talks will be based on a first come, first served basis. 

You are welcome to bring your posters and put them up first thing Tuesday morning.  As an enhancement to our poster session, before lunch on Tuesday, each poster presenter can come up to the podium and show a slide of their poster.  Two minutes will be allotted for each presenter to say just a few very brief words about their poster.  This will give an opportunity for each poster to be highlighted and allow for those interested in further discussion to talk with the presenter at their poster.  Following lunch presenters will stand with their posters for more in-depth talks with attendees. 

The final program of talks and posters will be posted via the web at beslter.org shortly before the meeting.

All presentation and poster files need to be uploaded to the BES drop box by Friday, 18 October or you will not be able to give your talk.  NO files will be accepted on-site on flash drives or other media.

Our BES Artist-In-Residence, Patterson Clark will exhibit some of his work during the meeting as an opportunity to show the link between science and art.

Annual Meeting Parking/Bus:

There is free parking available at the Arboretum.  The Vollmer Center is a reasonable walk from the #1 bus stop.

Annual Meeting Meals:

Coffee will be available for all attendees.  Pre-paid breakfast and lunch will be available onsite for both days.  We encourage you to register and pay for your meals in advance.  There will be very few extra meals available if you sign up at the door.  You can also bring a bag lunch.  Options for local dining close by are limited.  There is no fee to attend the meeting.  The only costs are for your food and drink: Breakfast $9.50 and Lunch $14.00.  When you register you will be able to select which days you would like to have breakfast and/or lunch.

Descriptions of the meals are included on the registration form available on the BES website home page.  The link is http://beslter.org/bes_am_asp_2013/bes_am_reg.html.

You can either pay by credit card via the registration form (which goes through PayPal) or by check payable to "Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies."  Checks should be mailed to Holly Beyar, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, PO Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545.  You will be given tickets for your pre-paid meals along with your name tag when you arrive at the meeting.

Meeting Registration:

All Annual Meeting attendees and participants will need to register by Wednesday, 16 October.  If you have any questions, please contact Holly Beyar at (845) 677-7600 x210 or Beyarh@caryinstitute.org.

Community Open House and Greening Celebration:

The Twelfth Community Open House and Greening Celebration will follow the Annual Meeting on Wednesday evening 23 October from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Visitor Center.

The Community Open House and Annual Greening Celebration is a joint gathering by BES and the Parks and People Foundation.  This event highlights community involvement in various greening activities such as community gardens.  It is also an opportunity for community members to meet and talk with BES researchers in a less formal setting to learn more about BES.  The event will feature non-technical displays and handouts.  Please contact Valerie Rupp at Parks & People, 410-448-5663 x114 or Valerie.rupp@parksandpeople.org, with any questions about the Open House, or if you would like to submit a non-technical poster or other display.

I encourage all participants and collaborators in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study to present a talk or poster at the Annual Meeting, as well as to attend the Open House in order to promote communication and mutual understanding in this spatially, topically, and institutionally very diverse study.

Sincerely,

Steward T.A. Pickett

Project Director