2020 Annual Meeting

Caught in the Middle – Adapting to Change in Fisheries

When: November 13, 2020
Where: Throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region

Thank you once again for helping to make this year’s first (and hopefully last) Virtual Annual Meeting a success. The meeting drew participants from government agencies, industry, non-profits, and academia.

To get the day started, Dr. Sarah Smith delivered a topical keynote followed by an industry panel discussion moderated by Dr. Douglas Zemeckis.

Contributed sessions consisted of 11 full presentations, 7 larval presentations, and 1 unique songscape. Larval presentations represented a new category highlighting 3-5 minute overviews of new or developing projects.

We would like to thank (and acknowledge the patience of) the presenters who submitted talks to produce a full day of excellent virtual content.

Best Student Oral Presentation was awarded to Emily Slesinger (Rutgers University), for her presentation titled “Spawning Phenology of a Rapidly Shifting Marine Fish Species Throughout Its Range.”

Best Student Poster Presentation (a.k.a. “Larval Presentation”) was awarded to Heidi Yeh (Rutgers University) for her presentation titled “Oyster Microbiome Dynamics Driven by Salinity and Seasonality in the Delaware Bay.”

A Virtual Networking Event moderated by Nilanjana Das allowed students and early career professionals to engage with multiple colleagues outside of the Mid-Atlantic region.

A number of individuals generously offered their time and/or expertise in support of this meeting.

Keynote: Doug Zemeckis (moderator), Sarah Smith, Jeff Kaelin, Matt Gregg, Robin Scott, Jim Hutchinson, Greg DiDomenico. Networking Event: Nilanjana Das (moderator), Camilla McCandless, Audy Peoples, Ann Petersen, John Wnek. Student Awards Committee: James Vasslides (chair), Daphne Munroe, Beth Phelan, David Stormer, Garrett Temples, Stacy VanMorter, John Wnek. Meeting Logo Design: Victoria Boucher.

Finally, we would like to recognize the efforts of outgoing member-at-large (and 2012 past-president) Roland Hagan who served in this capacity for 9 years. Roland encouraged many new members to join the Chapter and played a key role in the successful AFS Atlantic City National Meeting bid.

Please welcome Ian Park (Chapter President), James Vasslides (President-Elect), Keith Dunton (Member-At-Large), and Devon Scott (Student Representative) to the Executive Committee for 2021. The Chapter’s next meeting overlaps with the 2021 AFS National Meeting in Baltimore – hopefully we will connect with you in-person!

Sincerely,

2020 AFS Executive Committee

Agenda

Below is the link to the most current agenda.
Fall 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting Agenda

Abstracts

We look forward to hearing from both students and professionals about their current research. We had “traditional” (12 – 15 minute) presentations and “larval” (3 – 5 minute) presentations. Larval presentations replaced posters this year. They provided the presenter with the opportunity to inform members of new and developing projects.

Abstract submissions closed Friday, October 2, 2020.
2020 Traditional and Larval Abstracts

Help the Chapter – Make a Donation

If you weren’t able to attend the the meeting, but would still like to do something for the Chapter, you can donate to the Student Support Fund through our Square site. This donation will go specifically to our student membership and cover registration and travel costs to scientific conferences, as well as support our student awards for best oral and poster presentations at our annual meeting. Donate Here