2017 TNAFS Annual Meeting

The 2017 Tennessee Chapter meeting will take place February 28– March 2, 2017 in Knoxville, TN at the UT Conference Center.

REGISTRATION:

March 1 and 2 will be our usual technical sessions beginning at noon on March 1st.  Early registration ends February 1, 2017. Please visit our Square Store to purchase your registration. A registration form will also need to be sent to Tim Churchill to complete your registration. Download that form HERE.

ABSTRACTS:

Deadline to submit abstract is February 1, 2017. We are accepting abstracts for both oral and poster presentations. Oral presentations should be no more than 15 minutes. Poster presenters must provide a way to display their poster during the banquet session.

Students presenters are invited to compete for the Best Student Paper Award and participation in this competition should be indicated on the abstract.

All abstracts should be submitted to Brian Alford (jalfor12@utk.edu) and any questions should be directed to him.

Please use the following formatting guidelines for all abstract submissions:

TITLE OF PRESENTATION (upper case letters)
Author(s) names (last name followed by first name and initials). Presenting author’s name underlined
Full address(es) (no academic titles or official positions)
E-mail address of presenting author
Text of the abstract (250 word limit)
Oral Paper / Poster (Please indicate which is preferred)

*indicate participation in student competition

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

We will offer 3 Continuing Education Workshops on Tuesday, the 28^th: Freshwater Mussel ID, Crayfish ID and R Statistics.  **Mussel ID and R Statistics run concurrently so it is impossible to attend for both classes! We are excited to offer these classes to our members.  There will be a $25 fee per course.  Our mission through this is to build up a CE budget so that we can continue to offer quality CE opportunities to our membership. We are in the process of having the courses certified through AFS so that CEU credits are official.

Mussels:

Teacher: Gerry Dinkins

Mr. Dinkins is the Curator of the Parmalee Malacology Collection at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture on the UTK campus. The collection is one the largest in the world, and Mr. Dinkins will bring shells of TN species (some extinct) to the workshop as learning aids. Participants will learn how to identify mussels using shell specimens contained in the Parmalee Malacology Collection at the McCLung Museum of Natural History and Culture on the UT campus. This is one of the largest collections of mussel shells in the U.S. and contains common and endemic, federally endangered species to Tennessee rivers that participants may encounter during their careers. Participants will get to see and touch the shells, which will help them learn how to identify them correctly, rather than by looking at photos or illustrations. Participants will learn about the taxonomic relationships between the major subfamilies, as well as their life history and major threats with powerpoint lectures. 4 hours, Morning Session, 8 am – Noon.

Crayfish:

Teacher: Carl Williams

Mr. Williams is a Region 4 Fisheries Biologist with TWRA in east Tennessee, and he specializes in crayfish ecology and taxonomy. Participants will learn how to identify crayfishes using preserved specimens contained in the stream invertebrate collection at the Region 4 TWRA office in Morristown, TN. The collection contains common and endemic, federally endangered species to Tennessee rivers, as well as invasive species that participants may encounter during their careers. Participants will get to see and touch the specimens, which will help them learn how to identify them correctly, rather than by looking at photos or illustrations. Participants will learn about the phylogenetic relationships between the major subfamilies and genera, as well as their life history and major threats with powerpoint lectures. 4 hours, Afternoon Session, 1 pm – 5 pm.

 

 

Introduction to Statistics using R

Teacher: Dan Walker

This course will introduce the student to the importing, file structure, coding, analysis, and graphic techniques that can be used by fisheries biologists to analyze typical fishery-independent datasets. Example data will be provided as well as R code to perform analyses. Analyses will include t-tests, ANOVA, simple linear regression, calculating CPUE, length-frequency histograms, von Bertalanffy growth curves, and catch-curve regressions for estimating mortality. 4 hours, Morning Session, 8 am – Noon.

LODGING:

A hotel block has been negotiated at the Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park, 525 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN 37902 at a rate of $105/night. Government and University employees should ask for the government rate of $96/night.

Please call the hotel to make reservations at 865-522-2800 and reference reservation code AFM to secure the rate.

BANQUET:

Wednesday evening, March 1st, will be the Awards Banquet, Auction and Poster Session. Additional tickets to this event can be purchased online. Awards nominations are currently being accepted for Outstanding Fisheries Scientist, Friends of Fisheries and Distinguished Service Awards.

T-SHIRTS:

Tennessee Chapter t-shirts are available featuring an illustration of a Black Crappie by Joseph Tomelleri. Sizes S-XXXL are available for $15 each. Shirts can be purchased at the meeting or in advance.

We look forward to seeing everyone there! If you

have any questions please contact Brian Alford (jalfor12@utk.edu) or ChrisMorton (chris.morton@tn.gov)