2021 MT AFS Annual (Virtual) Conference

Crossing Boundaries: Crossing disciplines, jurisdictions, and perspectives

Get the daily schedule of events HERE

Full program HERE

When: March 1- 5^th, 2021

Where: your cozy house, your office, or if you are lucky…   

Both understanding and managing aquatic resources requires a broad perspective. Biologists and managers are constantly required to link concepts from different disciplines, work successfully across jurisdictions, and consider multiple perspectives.  The conference provides a forum for invited speakers and member presentations. Topics focus on those issues of particular importance or interest to fisheries professionals.

Full Conference Registration for Members and Non-Members, as well as Student Registration, include:

• Access to all oral presentations, plenary speakers, and business, awards and committee meetings.
• Access to recorded materials following the conference
• Opportunities to support our student chapters and win prizes!

We will not be offering single-day conference tickets this year.

We are working with our virtual platform providers so that we can offer an additional registration fee of $40, you can get open access to both the Idaho, WA/BC meeting information (live or recordings).  Check back for updates!

https://wa-bc.fisheries.org/2021-meeting/

https://www.idahoafs.org/2021/

Abstract Submission

Abstract submission deadline is Feb 8^th, 2021. Click here [cvent.com] to get to the meeting abstract submission portal.

https://www.cvent.com/c/abstracts/8215f9c5-61df-4e23-a476-4cf5af1e33fa [cvent.com]

Formatting requirements: Titles have a restriction of 300 characters and Abstracts have a restriction of 1500 characters.

Session Type Talk Lengths: Contributed Sessions and Symposia will have 12 min talks (15 min slot) and Lightening 7 min talks (10 min time frames, same as last year)

Notes on approach: Given the internet and electrical issues that we often encounter in MT. We are planning to have talks pre-taped (there is speaker center through Cvent support, more soon to come), so talks will play to ensure high quality distribution but speakers will be live for moderated Q&A and panels. We will need talks 5 days before the meeting. If this creates problems for some folks, please contact lisa.eby@umontana.edu.

Registration

The MT Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Registration is now Open through our MT AFS Meeting Cvent Website [cvent.me]

If this link doesn’t work for you, please cut and paste (https://cvent.me/rq031P [cvent.me] ) into your web browser.  If you run into problems, please email: lisa.eby@umontana.edu.

Need to use two different credit cards for payment? You can click to register for the meeting and the MT Affiliate membership and then provide a partial payment with meeting registration on one card and the Affiliate Membership fees on the other. Did you already register for the meeting as an affiliate and then realize you still need to pay your affiliate dues (or want to add the enhanced registration)?  No problem!  Just log in to modify your registration to add the MT Affiliate and use whatever credit card you would like at that time.

REGISTRATION RATES (Registration opening soon)

National AFS Members $50

MT Affiliate Members $80 (costs include the MT Affiliate fees of $20)

Students/Retirees $25

Nonmember fees $100

We will offer an enhanced registration fee of $40, you can get open access to both the Idaho, WA/BC meeting information (live or recordings). If you wanted access to meetings by March 1 (start of all of the Chapter meetings), registration must be complete by Feb 26^th at 5pm.

https://wa-bc.fisheries.org/2021-meeting/ [wa-bc.fisheries.org]    &

https://web.cvent.com/event/5f43a313-5550-4c46-9505-067a659dbff0/summary [web.cvent.com]

Continuing Education Workshops

Technical Solutions for Living with Beaver (1/2 day workshop)

While there can be many ecological benefits to beaver on the landscape, beaver behavior such as tree-cutting and dam building can be problematic in certain areas.  Part of a process of building greater tolerance for beaver is helping with technical approaches to make living with beaver easier.  This workshop will be lead by Mike Callahan (Beaver Institute, https://www.beaverinstitute.org/management/overview/ ) and Elissa Chott (Clark Fork Coalition, https://clarkfork.org/our-work/what-we-do/restore-the-best/beaver-conflict-mitigation/) will discuss beaver and specifically beaver conflict mitigation tools that are being used across the U.S..

An Introduction to Low-Tech Restoration (1/2 day workshop)

This ½ day workshop, you will be introduced to the principles of a healthy riverscape and low-tech process-based restoration. This workshop will be led by Dr. Joe Wheaton who is an ecogeomorphologist and fluvial scientist in the Watershed Sciences Department at Utah State University, and restoration practitioner (http://www.joewheaton.org/).  If you are interested in finding out more about this topic check out: http://lowtechpbr.restoration.usu.edu/resources/Topics/.

 

Plenary Sessions

Joint Plenary with WA/BC AFS Chapter

Meeting at the Confluence:

The sympatric coexistence of Indigenous and Western Science in modern Fisheries 

 

Plenary Speaker: Andrea Reid, University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries as an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Fisheries Science

Link to short bio: http://andreajanereid.com/

Plenary Speaker: Zachary L. Penney, Ph.D. (Nez Perce), Fishery Science Department Manager, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Link to short bio: https://www.critfc.org/blog/staff/zachary-l-penney/

Followed by a panel discussion, Check back – more details yet to come!

 

Planned Symposia

• Learning Across Disciplines to Evaluate Success in River Restoration
• Approaches for Watershed Restoration and Stream Habitat Improvements: Approaches, Lessons Learned, and Future Directions
• Managing Warmwater Fisheries in Montana

 

If you have suggestions for additional symposia, just email: lisa.eby@umontana.edu