SCOPE:
The Marine Section of the Society for Conservation Biology will be hosting its first stand-alone meeting, the International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC), from 20-24 May 2009 at George Mason University near Washington D.C. This will be an interdisciplinary meeting that will engage natural and social scientists, managers, policy-makers, and the public. The goal of the IMCC is to put conservation science into practice through public and media outreach and the development concrete products (e.g., policy briefs, blue ribbon position papers) that will be used to drive policy change and implementation. This meeting will encompass the 2nd International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC1 was held in Geelong, Australia in October 2005). The IMPAC2 component will consist of an organized track within the IMCC addressing MPAs as a cross-cutting issue through the full range of posters, papers, workshops and symposia.

IMCC encourages authors to submit papers that apply to the major themes and tracks below, describing original work, including methods, techniques, applications, tools, issues, reporting research results and/or indicating future directions.

Major themes that will be addressed include:

• Global Climate Change,
• the Land-Sea Interface,
• Ecosystem-based Management, and
• Poverty and Globalization

Cross-cutting issues encompass topics of global relevance and importance
to marine conservation that relate to the major themes.

• Marine Protected Areas
• Education & Outreach
• Governance Arrangements
• Fisheries and Aquaculture
• Economics

In an attempt to tackle the most pressing issues currently facing marine conservation, IMCC will host exciting plenary talks and solicit creative submissions for interactive symposia and workshops. The conservation community will be challenged to go beyond the typical communication of data and propose symposia and/or workshops where talks will be followed by lively, participatory discussions to address a controversial topic or develop innovative solutions to a current conservation challenge. Individuals are limited to presenting only one symposium, workshop, oral, speed, or poster presentation. If your name appears on more than one abstract, make sure you are listed as the presenter for only one of them.

SYMPOSIA ORGANIZERS will be encouraged to invite a select group of speakers and to devise creative ways to facilitate discussion both within invited group and the audience.

WORKSHOPS will be held to bring together people with diverse expertise with the goal of developing a list of recommendations, outlining a publication, co-writing a policy briefing or white paper on a specific topic. Workshops can be held for up to 4 consecutive days.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS will be limited to 15 minutes. Contributed oral presentations will be grouped by theme and topic. Please choose from the list of themes and general topic areas below. This will assist us in selecting an appropriate session for your presentation. If your abstract is accepted but cannot be accommodated as an oral presentation, we may offer you the opportunity to present a poster.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Poster presenters will receive general instructions on poster format in the email notification of acceptance. Posters will be displayed prominently and for the entire meeting; special sessions dedicated to posters will allow in-depth discussion between authors and attendees.

SPEED PRESENTATIONS
If your paper topic would be of interest to a wide range of people and you would like your presentation to lead to an extended conversation with colleagues who are specifically interested in your work, you may wish to submit an abstract for a speed presentation. In the first hour of a speed presentation session, 15 speakers will be given four (4) minutes each to present their key ideas and results. In the second hour, presenters will station themselves at separate tables where they can interact with people who are interested in learning more about their work.

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Dr. Daniel Pauly, Dr. Ratana Chuenpagdee, Dr. Rod Fujita, Dorothy Childers and Alexandra Cousteau.

Dr. Callum Roberts will be giving the Dr. Ransom A. Myers Memorial Lecture at the evening banquet on May 24th.


IMPORTANT DATES

• 1st Call for symposia and workshops:
  April 3 - June 1, 2008
  Decisions by July 15, 2008
• 2nd Call for 1500 word submissions:
  August 1 - September 15 2008
  Decisions by 30 October 2008
• 1st Call for oral presentations, speed presentations, and posters:
  1 September - 15 October 2008
  Decisions by 30 November
• 2nd Call for 1500 word submissions for oral presentations:
  1 December 1 - 15 January 2009
  Decisions by February 1

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
We encourage proposals from individuals or groups involved in cutting edge conservation science or practice who can demonstrate an alignment with the goals of the Society for Conservation Biology and the SCB Marine Section, which are:

• Conservation Science: The scientific research and knowledge needed to understand and conserve biological diversity is identified, funded, completed, disseminated and applied to research, management and policy.


• Conservation Management: Conservation practitioners and managers are provided the scientific information and recommendations needed to conserve biological diversity at all scales.


• Policy: Policy decisions of major international conventions, governments, organizations, and foundations, are effectively informed and improved by the highest quality scientific counsel, analysis, and recommendations so as to advance the conservation of biological diversity.


• Education: Education, training, and capacity building programs are identified, strengthened, and developed to inform the public, education leaders, and support current and future generations of conservation scientists and practitioners.

Individuals may submit more than one proposal; however, no individual may give more than one presentation in the following categories: symposium, workshop, oral presentation, speed presentation, or poster.

There are limited spaces for symposia, workshops and contributed oral presentations. We will be judging contributed papers in a two tier fashion. 1st abstracts (250 words) will be judged based on criteria below and allowing for spread of topics across the major themes of the conference. Abstracts that make the initial first cut will be given the opportunity to submit an extended abstract. The final list of symposia, workshops and oral presentations will be chosen from the extended abstracts.

Reviewers have access to the entire abstract except the names of the presenters. To increase the probability that your abstract will be accepted, and in your preferred format, please consider the following criteria carefully:

1. scientific merit
2. application to marine conservation/management
3. relevance to chosen theme/cross-cutting issue(s)
4. relevance to IMCC theme ("From science to management and policy")
5. clarity of presentation (e.g. abstract begins with a clear statement of an issue and ends with a substantive conclusion)

Please note: We do require that all presenters register for the IMCC by the end of early bird registration: 15 February 2009.

TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENTS
To encourage international and student participation, we will offer the opportunity to apply for reimbursements to offset travel and other expenses. Please monitor the website for further information.


MENTORING PROGRAM
To encourage participation of members whose first language is not English, we will offer a mentoring service for participants who wish to submit abstracts for oral, speed or poster presentations.

If you want to take advantage of this mentoring program, simply submit an abstract according to the standard guidelines; indicate that English is not your first language, and that you would like your abstract to be mentored. Please submit your abstract at least 2 weeks prior to deadline to allow adequate time to get comments from mentors and subsequent revision.
Instructions will be sent to your email address after you submit your abstract online.

A mentor will contact you and provide guidance on grammar and clarity of writing. The mentor also will ensure that the abstract meets the technical criteria for submission. Note that it is NOT the role of the mentor to provide scientific guidance, or to write the abstract.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Please email IMCCprogram@conbio.org