The 23rd annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, Conservation: Harmony for Nature and Society, will be held from 11-16 July in Beijing, China. Abstracts for oral, speed, and poster presentation will be welcomed beginning 6 November 2008.

All abstracts must be submitted electronically by 11 February 2009. The call for proposals for symposia, workshops, organized discussions, and short courses was issued previously; the deadline was 31 October 2008.

SCB expects to make decisions by mid March. Notifications will be sent by email only. Please make certain that the one email address you are providing is your primary email address and is entered correctly. We encourage you to think carefully about the presentation format that best meets your goals (oral presentation, poster presentation, or speed presentation).

The scientific program will include plenary sessions, invited symposia, workshops, discussion groups, short courses, poster sessions, and concurrent sessions of contributed oral presentations and speed presentations. Due to the high level of attendance expected at the meeting and, consequently, limited time and space for oral presentations, poster presentations are strongly encouraged.

As a general rule, no individual may give more than one presentation in the following categories: symposium, oral (traditional or speed), or poster.

Meeting Theme

Since ancient times, Chinese philosophy has held that the harmony of development rests on its relationship with conservation of the environment. Humankind cannot progress without a healthy and diverse natural environment. Connections between nature and society and between biological diversity and humans are critical for achieving the goals of conservation.

CRITERIA FOR REVIEW OF 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:

-- scientific merit
-- application to conservation management or other goals of SCB
-- clarity of presentation (e.g. abstract begins with a clear statement of an issue and ends with a substantive conclusion)

We encourage proposals from individuals or groups involved in cutting edge conservation science or practice who can demonstrate an alignment with the goals of SCB, which include

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.

Conservation Policy: Major international conventions, governments, organizations, and foundations are provided with the highest quality scientific counsel, analysis, and recommendations to advance the conservation of biological diversity.

Conservation 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.

Author Registration

Presenting authors must register for the meeting by the early registration deadline of 30 April. Because late cancellation excludes others who might have presented, authors who fail to notify the Local Organizing Committee of their withdrawal by 3 May may be excluded from giving a presentation at SCB's 2010 annual meeting.

PRESENTATIONS

Oral presentation. Individuals are limited to presenting one symposium, contributed oral, speed, or poster presentation. If your name appears on more than one abstract, make certain that you are listed as the presenter for only one of them. Oral presentations will be limited to 15 minutes: 12 minutes for presentation and three minutes for questions. Oral presentations will be grouped by topic. Please choose from the list of general topic areas below. This will help 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. All oral presentation rooms will be equipped with a computer and a data projector. Detailed information on presentations at the meeting will be available to presenters several months in advance.

Poster presentation. Individuals are limited to presenting one symposium, contributed oral, speed, or poster presentation. If your name appears on more than one abstract, make certain you are listed as the presenter for only one of them. 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 presentation. If your presentation 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 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.

If your abstract is accepted for a speed presentation, you will be notified by the Local Organizing Committee and asked to prepare a four-minute presentation instead of a traditional (15-minute) presentation. If you abstract is not accepted for a speed presentation, it still will be considered for a traditional oral presentation or poster.

STUDENT AWARD CANDIDATES

Student award candidates (restricted to 15-minute oral presentations, no posters, no speed presentations) must submit two abstracts. Both abstracts should be submitted online by 21 January and formatted according to the instructions provided.

The extended abstract should have a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 800 words. The abstract must include a maximum of three figures or tables (total; not three figures and three tables). The following file formats will be accepted: Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Word Perfect, ASCII, and rich text.

Abstracts that are not submitted according to these guidelines (and below) will not be accepted. In recent years, the rejection rate has been approximately 85%. Many abstracts have been rejected simply because these instructions were not followed. Your extended abstract must include the following information.

1. Presentation title
2. Names and complete contact information for all authors. The student applying for the award must be the first author. If the abstract has two or more authors, specify the role that each author played in the work.
3. Degree pursued or, if appropriate, date of M.S. or Ph.D. defense. Current students and students with a graduation date of 13 July 2008 or later are eligible to apply.

Please make certain that the name of the student applying for the award and the name of the primary author are identical (e.g., identical surname).

MENTORING PROGRAM

To encourage participation of members whose first language is not English, SCB's Student Affairs Committee offers a mentoring service for students who wish to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations.

To take advantage of this mentoring program, simply submit an abstract according to the standard guidelines; indicate that you are a student, that English is not your first language, and that you would like your abstract to be mentored. Instructions will be sent to you by email 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. It is not the role of the mentor to provide scientific guidance or to write the abstract.

The mentoring program will close on 7 January 2009. No assistance will be provided to individuals who submit abstracts after this date.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING ABSTRACTS

Abstracts must be submitted electronically via the meeting's Web site at www.conbio.org/2009/abstracts.

Abstracts should be submitted for oral presentations (including speed presentations) and poster presentations. Abstracts for invited symposium presentations must be submitted using a session tracking number that will be provided to you by the symposium organizer.

Please follow the instructions carefully. After submission, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to verify the submitted abstract. If you do not receive that email, your abstract has not been received. It is your responsibility to verify that all information submitted is complete and correct. If you notice errors or omissions, return to your account at www.conbio.org/2009/submit and edit your submission. No changes will be made after the abstract submission deadline. Early notification of acceptance will give you ample time to register at the early rate. Your abstract must include the following information.

1. Your preferred presentation format (traditional oral, speed, or poster).

2. Whether your presentation has been invited for a symposium. If no, check "Unassigned." If yes, check "Assigned" and enter the session tracking number provided to you by the symposium organizer. If you do not have this number, please contact the organizer of your symposium. Do not submit an abstract for an invited symposium presentation without this number.

3. Abstract title. List the title in CAPITAL LETTERS. Titles are limited to 150 characters

4. Abstract. Abstracts may not exceed 1500 characters (approximately 200 words). Begin with a clear statement of the topic or objectives, give brief methods and major results, and end with a substantial conclusion. Do not use vague statements such as "results will be discussed." It is the responsibility of the author to verify the information submitted and to correct any errors or omissions before the submission deadline.

5. Mentoring program. Indicate whether you would like to request assistance from the mentoring program for students, described above.

6. Student presentation. Indicate whether the presentation will be given by a student (regardless of whether the student is a candidate for a student award).

7. Topic areas. Choose the topic areas pertaining to your abstract. Topics are listed below.

8. Presentation format. If you wish your abstract to be considered for another presentation format if your preferred format cannot be accommodated, please indicate your second and third choices.

9. Comments, if relevant (e.g., "please schedule after related presentation by Jones and Smith").

10. Student award candidate. Check "yes" if relevant.

11. Click on Accept and Continue

12. Authors. Provide contact information for all authors. Please search online, using the tool provided, to determine whether an individual and his or her contact information already have been entered. You must click "Accept and Continue" to ensure that an author's information is submitted.

13. Verification Screen
a. Verify your submission
b. If student award competitor for oral presentation, upload your paper here (format accepted: Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Word Perfect, Plain Text, Rich Text Format(rtf)
c. If submission is correct and file is uploaded correctly, click on "accept and Continue" to truly submit your paper.

14. If your paper is correctly submitted you will receive an email confirmation.

Special Characters and Formatting

See the meeting Web site for a description of codes to indicate the use of special formatting (e.g., italics, underlining) and symbols within the abstract. Replace special symbols, such as accented letters or Greek characters, with their text equivalent whenever possible.

What                Example        Code
italics               Salix nigra      <i>Salix nigra</i>
underline           Book Title      <u>Book Title</u>
superscript        km²               km²
subscript           CO₂              CO₂
plus or minus    ±                  <+/->

HOW TO SUBMIT

Abstracts should be submitted electronically. Web submission is the only format of submission. Information on where to submit will be available at www.conbio.org/2009/submit

Topic Areas

Biogeography
Communications, outreach, and education
Community-driven conservation
Conservation genetics
Conservation medicine
Restoration ecology
Environmental or ecological economics
Environmental anthropology
Environmental geography
Environmental politics and policy
Environmental sociology
Conservation psychology
Indigenous knowledge and conservation
Landscape ecology
Population dynamics
Social science

Freshwater conservation
Conservation at the land-water interface
Urban area conservation
Disturbance ecology
Grassland conservation
Rangeland conservation
Marine conservation
Savanna conservation
Sustainable agriculture
Wetland conservation
Forest conservation

Alien and invasive species
Climate change
Conservation in hotspots

Adaptive management and monitoring
Protected area planning and design
Conservation capacity building
Conservation GIS
Conservation on private lands
Ecological restoration and reconstruction
Ecosystem / conservation area management
Inventory and monitoring
Land use planning for conservation
Population viability analysis
Conservation modeling
Recovery of endangered species
Risk assessment and uncertainty
Scientists and managers: bridging the gap
Spatial ecology and conservation

Amphibian and reptile conservation
Bird conservation
Fish conservation
Invertebrate conservation
Mammal conservation
Plant conservation
Conservation of migratory taxa
Conservation of wide-ranging taxa

VISAS

Citizens of most countries will need a visa to visit China. A list of Chinese embassies and information about visa requirements is available at www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/2490/. If you require a letter of invitation to obtain a visa, first register for the meeting. Then contact Li Wang of the Local Organizing Committee (visa@ioz.ac.cn) to request a letter of invitation. Please include with your request any information that the embassy has requested, such as mailing address, passport number, nationality, occupation, and intended date of entry. The Local Organizing Committee will try to expedite letters.