ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FALL 2002 MEETING

OCTOBER 24-26, 2002

UCONN AVERY POINT, GROTON, CT.

Hosted By

Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut

Long Island Sound Foundation

State of Connecticut, Department Environmental Protection

Coast Guard Academy

Co-Sponsored by

Connecticut Sea Grant New York Sea Grant

CALL FOR PAPERS & PRE-REGISTRATION

MEETING SITE:

The Fall 2002 NEERS meeting will be held jointly with the bi-annual Long Island Sound Research Conference, at the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut in Groton Connecticut. The campus is located at the water's edge with a commanding view of Long Island Sound, The Race, and Fishers Island. The conference will be held entirely on the Avery Point campus, but other reasons to visit southeastern Connecticut include historic Mystic (with its Mystic Seaport museum) and two world-class casinos: Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods.

This NEERS meeting is being held jointly with the bi-annual Long Island Sound Research Conference. Therefore the meeting will begin Thursday morning. All day Thursday and part of Friday will feature oral presentations relating to Long Island Sound and its watershed. The program will be composed predominantly of contributed papers, so those of you with research related to Long Island Sound please submit abstracts. Oral presentations and posters are both encouraged. Sessions Thursday and Friday will be held in the large theatre in the Academic Building. Just follow the signs once you are on campus.

SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS:

Oral presentations will be limited to 15 minutes with an additional 5 minutes for discussion. Poster presentations will be on display for the duration of the meeting, and highlighted during a special poster session. Reports of work in progress as well as completed work and reviews of relevant subjects are encouraged. Students may compete for the Ketchum and Rankin awards for oral presentations, or the Dean Prize for posters (see below). Every NEERS presenter must be (or become) a NEERS member. Contact NEERS Treasurer (603-862-2175) if you are unsure if your membership is current.

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Abstracts must be RECEIVED BY 8AM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2002 (Note deadline has been extended to September 11, 2002) to assure timely preparation and distribution of the Meeting Program. If you plan a long Labor Day weekend, consider submitting your abstract before the final day. The abstract deadline needs to be strict (especially for those requesting oral presentations) because the local chairman and Program Chair, Pat Kremer, will be going on a two week cruise in mid-September and the program needs to be completed within a week of the abstract deadline! Abstracts should be submitted via the NEERS web site (www.neers.org and select “meetings”, then “Fall 2002 meeting”) A less preferred method of submission is via email . Please note on email submissions if you are a student (graduate or undergraduate) and if you prefer oral, poster, or are willing to do either. No Faxes will be accepted. All submissions will be confirmed and the lead author will be notified of his/her scheduled time within a week of the abstract deadline. If you have any special restrictions concerning the timing of your presentation, please alert the program chair via email prior to the abstract deadline. Changes in the program are difficult after it is formulated.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING ABSTRACTS:

All abstracts have a 1750-character limit (about 250 words). The character limit includes spaces, and applies to the body of the abstract only; the authors and titles are excluded from the character limit. Web submissions are constrained automatically to the allotted amount of text, so do not be too verbose. Even if you would prefer an oral presentation, please consider checking the ?oral or poster? option if you are willing to present a poster instead. This makes things easier in making up the final program.

Author(s), address(es), and presentation title must appear in the format given in the example below. Use footnotes to minimize the space for adresses when multiple authors are from more than one institution. Include email for the presenting author. All words in the title should be CAPITALIZED.

Example:

Presenter, I. M1., C. U. Soon2, and M. E. Too1, 1Department of Research, Top Notch University, Downtown, CT 06007, 2 Department of Teaching, Quality Small College, Rural. CT 06001. <Presenter@TNU.edu>

THIS PRESENTATION YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS

PROJECTION:

In additional to overhead and slide projection, we will accomodate the more and more popular MS Power Point option. Specifics concerning the handling of computer projection will be included in the mailing of the program.

STUDENT PRIZES:

Prizes will be awarded to students chosen by the judging panel in the following categories: graduate student oral presentation (Buck Ketchum Prize, $100), undergraduate student oral presentation (Stubby Rankin, $100), graduate or undergraduate student poster presentation (David Dean Prize, $100). Papers and posters are judged by a committee in terms of overall effectiveness, scientific content, and quality of the presentation. Students are encouraged to review the scoring criteria on the NEERS website. (www.neers.org and select ?student center? then ?presentation judging criteria?). Students who have won an award are not eligible for that award again. NEERS appreciates contributions towards the endowment fund for these prizes, so give generously when you pre-register.

STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS:

Three travel awards, each for $100, will be awarded to help cover costs associated with attending this meeting. Both graduate and undergraduate students may apply. Selection will be made by lottery and does not affect eligibility for student presentation prizes. To be considered for a travel award, please have your faculty advisor send an email to by September 4 to certify that you are a student in good standing and you need the financial assistance. As always, NEERS greatly appreciates donations to the Bill Niering Student Travel Endowment fund.

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES:

After the Thursday afternoon session, there will be a reception in the Marine Sciences Building. Enjoy drinks and hors d'oevres as you tour the new building and visit with old and new colleagues.

On Friday we feature a SOCIAL along with POSTER VIEWING, followed by the AWARDS BANQUET from 7:00-9:00 PM. After dinner enjoy our own PRIVATE PARTY WITH DJ (9:00 PM until Midnight) at the Branford House, our on-campus mansion. For those who prefer not to dance, side rooms will be available for less high volume activities.

OTHER MEALS:

The cost for lunch (Thursday and Friday) and continental breakfast is included in the registration fee. Without the pressure of finding off-campus dining, the lunch breaks should be a good opportunity to look at posters and our waterfront campus (hope for beautiful New England Fall weather).

BUSINESS MEETING:

The Business meeting will be held after the last presentation on Friday afternoon. This is an election year, and NEERS is getting a jump on Congress by electing our officers in October. All NEERS members (students included) are allowed to vote.

FIELD TRIP:

A tour of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is being planned for Saturday Oct. 26. More information will be provided with the program for the conference.

REGISTRATION:

The Registration fee for this meeting is $65 for NEERS members, and $45 for students. Included in this fee: all breakfasts (Thurs - Sat), all coffee breaks, lunches, Thursday reception, Friday post-banquet party. The pre-registration deadline is WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9. Pre-register on the web at www.neers.org (select ?meetings?, then ?fall 2002 meeting?). It is a HUGE help to the organizing committee to know about how many people will attend, so PLEASE PRE-REGISTER. Followup your pre-registration with a check made out to ?NEERS? mailed to Dr. David Burdick, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, 85 Adams Point Road, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. Alternatively, you may mail the enclosed registration form to Dave. Use this opportunity to amke sure your NEERS dues are paid.

GETTING to UCONN, Avery Point :

From the North or South. Interstate #95 to exit 87, rt 349 (Clarence B. Sharp Highway). Continue south (towards Long Island Sound) until the second traffic light. Turn right on to Rainville Ave (there should be a sign here directing you to UCONN. At the next light, turn left (Benham Road). Continue passed Pfizer (big buildings and tanks, etc.) until you arrive at the entrance to UCONN, Avery Point, approx 1.5 miles. Go in the main entrance. Be sure to obey the 20 mph speed limit, the campus police are strict about this. At the first opportunity turn right into the parking lot. Proceed past the campus police station (gatehouse from the old estate), and ?Academic Annex? to the Academic Building. Enter the side of the building and up to the Theatre landing on the second floor.

Coming from Long Island, the Cross Sound Ferry is a restful way to travel. See http://www.longislandferry.com/. Reservations: (631)-323-2525. After leaving the ferry parking lot in New London, cross train tracks, turn right at signal. Follow signs to Providence to merge onto Interstate #95. Cross the Gold Star Bridge over the Thames River to Groton, and proceed as described above.

QUESTIONS?

Contact NEERS Program Chairman and Local Organizer, , Department of Marine Sciences, 1080 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT 06340 860-405-9140

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Holiday Inn or Hostel at Project Oceanography.