2015 Meeting Home Page

 

The 2015 Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter was held at the Holiday Inn in Tyler, Texas, from January 15 – 17, 2015.   Keep checking back here in the months ahead as the details unfold.

Meeting Program:
Click here to download the full 2015 Annual Meeting Agenda

Preliminary Program Overview:

Registration (Thursday, 1:00 – 5:30 pm and Friday 7:00 am – 5:30 pm)

Continuing Education Workshops (Thursday, 2:00 – 4:00 pm)

  • Poster design: Organizing an effective poster presentation; what to include and major pitfalls to avoid by Deborah Wade (TPWD Inland Fisheries), 2:00 – 3:00 pm
  • Utility of Free and Open-Source Geographic Information Systems (QGIS) in Fisheries. Dan
    Bennett (TPWD Inland Fisheries), 3:00 – 4:00 pm

To sign up for the workshop, check the appropriate spot on the meeting registration form. If you have specific questions about the subject material you can contact Deborah Wade
(deborah.wade@tpwd.texas.gov; 903-670-2234) and/or Dan Bennett (dan.bennett@tpwd.texas.gov); 903-593-5077).

Student/Professional Mixer (Thursday, 5:00 – 6:30 pm). This is a good opportunity to catch up with colleagues, and to network with new faces to our field. A host bar with beer and wine will be provided.

Plenary Session (Friday, 8:00 – 10:00 am) Invited speakers will present information on “Drought and its effects on Texas fisheries” from a range of perspectives. Presenters include;

  • Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas State Climatologist, Office of the State Climatologist, Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; “What do we know about future drought?”
  • Dr. Thomas B. Hardy, Chief Science Officer, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX; “Application of unmanned aerial vehicle supporting Guadalupe Bass restoration during drought”
  • Dr. James Tolan, Fisheries Ecologist with TPWD Coastal Fisheries and an Adjunct Professor in the Physical and Life Sciences Department at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; “How much doesthe color blue weigh?”

The session will end with a question and answer period for the speaker panel.

Lunch (Friday, time period TBD) Friday’s lunch will be on your own, including the Student-Mentor Lunch. To sign up for the student-mentor lunch, check the appropriate spot on the meeting registration form or contact Michael Homer – Michael.homer@tpwd.texas.gov, 325-692-0921.

Contributed Papers and Presentations (Friday and Saturday, time periods TBD)

Banquet, Awards ceremony, and Auction (Friday, 6:30 – 10:00 pm) Feast on grilled chicken and beef fajitas and all the trimmings on the Holiday Inn’s “Mexican Specialty Buffet”. A host bar with beer and wine will also be available. Following the annual awards ceremony we’ll top the evening with the “world-famous entertaining” TCAFS auction and raffle.

Past-presidents’ Breakfast (Saturday, 7:00 am) A complimentary breakfast buffet will be provided in the North Star Room on the second floor adjacent to the elevators.

TCAFS Business Meeting (Saturday morning, time period TBD)

Click here for the First Call for Papers. The deadline for abstract submission is December 1, 2014.

Click Here for the 2015 TCAFS Meeting Registration Form. Registration now includes annual chapter dues  (receipts will show itemized charges separately) for both Professionals and Students and access to all technical sessions, the continuing education workshop, Student/Professional Friday Lunch, and the Friday night banquet. The deadline for early registration is December 31, 2014!!!!

Hotel Information
The Holiday Inn South Broadway is located at 5701 South Broadway Avenue in Tyler. The following link will provide a map on Bing maps which will allow you to get directions to the hotel from your location http://binged.it/1yVw3Tr

Room rates are $83 per person for single king or double queen suites plus tax.  The number to call to make your reservation is 903-561-5800.

  • Check-in time: 3:00 pm
  • Check-out time: 12:00 Noon

When making reservations, please identify yourselves as being with the “Texas Chapter American Fisheries Society” in order to secure the group rate.

Important – the cutoff date for making your reservation is December 18, 2014, a date which is rapidly approaching. After this date, state and federal employees will continue to be offered the $83 rate as long as rooms are available.