*The Technical Committee is no longer accepting abstracts*

Contact Gary Smith if you have questions regarding abstract submission - click here for e-mail.

Abstracts for oral and poster presentations are due by April 30, 2007.  

Open and invited abstracts are being solicited for oral presentations and posters.   All abstracts will be peer reviewed using established review criteria that follow the guidelines described below.  Presenters will be notified of acceptance by June 15, 2007.   Session assignments also will be confirmed for oral presentations at that time. Abstracts of accepted oral and poster presentations will be printed in the Conference program.

SUBMIT ABSTRACT HERE

Guidelines for Submitting Abstracts (oral presentations and posters):

·         An abstract should contain: title, author(s), and introduction – scope and purpose, i.e., question asked, brief description of methods, results and conclusion.

·         An abstract is a single paragraph summary of your entire talk or poster in 250 words or less.  It is not an outline of what you are going to present.  An abstract is a summary of the major or key points of your methods, results, and conclusions or discussion.  It should be concise and to the point.  The abstract must include:

o        The title and author(s). 

o        In one sentence, describe the general topic you are presenting and why it is important. 

o        In one to two sentences, write your scope and purpose of your study, i.e., the question asked or hypothesis tested. 

o        Describe in one to two sentences how you did your study (methods). 

o        In one to two sentences explain your results, be specific and state only your main points. 

o        Finally, in one sentence summarize what you found out about the general topic or question you studied (conclusion). 

Do not include literature citations or references to figures or tables. Remember, meeting participants generally decide whether or not to come to your talk by reading your abstract, and your abstract becomes part of the meeting program and is a permanent record of your presentation.  See examples of abstracts.

·         Abstracts must use Standard English, and follow English syntax, grammar, and punctuation rules. Poorly written abstracts will be REJECTED.

Guidelines for Oral Presentations

General Instructions

·         Oral presentations should be structured to contain: introduction, objectives, methods, results, conclusions/implications. Objectives should be clearly stated. Avoid unnecessary detail in methods unless the methodology is the central topic of your talk. Primarily discuss the results and conclusions. Conclusions should relate back to objectives and be supported by the data you have presented. Your talk must be the same as your submitted abstract.

·         Each technical session has 4 presentations.  Presentations are scheduled in 20 minute segments.  Within each segment there will be: 1) the speaker introduction (1 minute or less); 2) the talk 15 minutes; and 3) the question and answer period (3-4 minutes).  Presentation time limits will be enforced.  A timekeeper will notify you when you have 5 or few minutes remaining.  When you receive a warning from the timekeeper, you should quickly summarize your talk and leave time for questions.  Session Chairs are instructed to ask you to leave the podium at end of your time allotment.

·         Presentations must start and end on time, no exceptions, because they are coordinated with all other concurrent sessions.  

·         Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 are the only acceptable audiovisual formats for electronic presentation in oral papers. Overhead or slide projectors will be available ONLY upon special request by August 15, 2007 to Jake Jacobson, Conference AV manager by email.

·         Each meeting room will be equipped with a dedicated LCD projector and PC laptop operating on Windows XP and running Office 2002 and Adobe Acrobat 7.0. It is your responsibility to make sure that your presentation will run under this system. Newer versions of files may not work — save your files in a format compatible with Windows XP and with Office 2002 for Windows or Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.

·         File names for presentations must begin with the initial of your first name followed by your last name and date of presentation.

·         Please do NOT bring your own laptop for your presentation.

·         All presenters will be expected to contact their designated session chair or the Conference AV manager at least 20 minutes in advance of the start of their session to pre-load their presentations onto the dedicated laptop. It is recommended that presentations be stored on two different media sources.  This will ensure that your presentation will be compatible with our laptops — which will have CD readers, and USB ports.

·         Acceptable media sources:  CDs, memory sticks, or flash drives.

·         Rehearse your talk before the meeting to be sure that it does not exceed the allotted time. Have peers evaluate your talk.

·         See Guidelines for an effective talk. See “Strategy and checklist of effective scientific talks” (Ecol. Soc. Am. Bull. 72: 8-12, 1991) for details on the guidelines and the article by Michael Fraidenburg on effective use of PowerPoint.  See Avoiding PowerPoint Perils.  

·         Presentations should be complete and in a format suitable for posting on Conference web sites (with permission of the presenter).  Contact Jake Jacobson, Conference AV manager by e-mail for details. 

Guidelines for Poster Presentations  

Poster Size and Display

·         Standard poster spaces are 6 feet wide that will be assigned along especially designed walls in the Conference facility; standing poster boards will not be available.  Poster presenters should request the location of their assigned space at the registration desk or by contacting the poster chairpersons upon arrival at the Conference Center.

·         Limit your poster size to 36 inches x 48 inches.  Posters can be either portrait or landscape.  Larger sized posters may be accommodated depending on the number of posters submitted.  Contact the poster chairpersons if you wish a larger space to accommodate a larger poster.

·         Presenters are required to assemble and disassemble their own poster.

·         Please bring your own tacks, push pins, or t-pins to affix your posters.  

Poster Format and Design Tips

·         Posters are encouraged as they allow extended informal discussions and active participation by authors and coauthors. Posters are displayed for day 1 and day 2 of the Conference.  Posters should be available for interested persons to view even when the author is not in attendance.

·         Each poster should be accompanied by a one page summary of the poster which includes a brief description of the project/research and a summary of findings and field implications.  The one page briefing is expected to be handed out to participants who are attending the poster session. The number of copies to be furnished by the poster participant will be determined at a later date.  For further details contact the poster chairpersons prior to the conference. 

·         A special Conference social-poster session has been scheduled on the first day of the Conference to provide an opportunity for discussion in a relaxed setting after completion of the oral sessions. Authors are required to be present to discuss their poster during this scheduled Conference social.

·         All text must be in English.

·         Poster headings should include a title, author's name, affiliation, and contact.

·         Titles should be > 60 point font and have surrounding space for clarity.

·         Use Arial or other san-serif font for titles and headings for clarity and readability.

·         Use Times Roman or other serif font for main body text (> 24 point font) so it is legible from at least six feet away.

·         Use 24-26 point font size for chart axis titles, to match the text.

·         Choose figures over tables whenever possible.

·         A poster is not a paper: avoid too much information in text and tables; summarize using bullets and multiple smaller tables.

·         Text color should contrast well against its background.

·         Images and graphics should be large size and high quality.

·         Put captions under all graphics and credit photos when possible.

·         Consider symmetry when laying out your poster, try to balance elements like text boxes, images, etc, so they flow and are easy to follow.

·         Seek peer review for your poster for content, design, and readability.

·         KEEP IT SIMPLE- Limit yourself to one topic or hypothesis.

SUBMIT ABSTRACT HERE

For further information, please contact the SERNW or PNW SWS web sites: www.ser.org/sernw or www.sws.org/regional/pacificNW  or the following Conference representatives: 

Contacts for Poster Presentations