• Invitation
• Abstract Directory
• GOM Agenda
• FISC Agenda
•     POSTERS:
• MON
• TUE
• WED

USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference Overview:

The purpose of the USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference is to bring together a diverse array of USGS scientists, managers, specialists, and others who work on issues related to the Gulf of Mexico. The conference seeks to create a community of practice, across disciplines and specialties to address complex scientific and societal issues in the Gulf of Mexico and connected coastal ecosystems.

Background:

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the Nation’s most important regions, providing energy, fisheries, habitat for wildlife, recreation, transportation, and other critical ecological and societal services. Coastal areas are experiencing extreme population and development pressures. Moreover, climate change and resulting sea level rise add to the vulnerability of the coast, placing communities at risk from flooding and cyclonic storms. Geologic, hydrologic, and biological processes combine to form extremely dynamic environments that can be altered significantly by human actions and major coastal storms.

The USGS science in the Gulf of Mexico represents all disciplines and numerous USGS Programs and Offices and is well connected to partners throughout the region. This conference offers the opportunity to assess the USGS science in the Gulf and chart a direction for the future, with an emphasis on the strategic directions outlined in Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges—U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007–2017.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) science meeting, with a joint session planned for Wednesday afternoon, October 22, 2008.

Conference Goals

• The primary goal of the USGS Gulf of Mexico Science Conference is to initiate the formation of a persistent USGS community of practice focused on sharing information and working cooperatively to ultimately deliver the science needed to meet ecological, economic, and societal needs in the Gulf and Mexico and surrounding coastal region.

• The conference will synthesize past and present USGS science in the Gulf and feature synoptic presentations related to key thematic areas, such as climate change, energy, national hazards, wildlife and human health, ecosystems, education, and data integration.

• The conference will provide opportunities for scientists and others working in the Gulf to contribute to the overall synthesis of USGS science in the Gulf, primarily through posters, abstracts, and related discussions with session chairs and other attendees.

• The conference will set the stage for future strategic planning for USGS Gulf science at all levels of the organization, from science centers to USGS leadership.

• The conference will produce a USGS publication that summarizes USGS science in the Gulf and future opportunities to work with partners, providing value to States, Tribes, local governments, conservation organizations, and other Federal agencies.

Format and Approach:

The conference follows the themes presented in the USGS Circular 1309, Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges—U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007–2017, including data integration and beyond. The conference is a shared effort between the South Central Area and Southeast Area of the USGS Central and Eastern Regions, respectively. The conference is being held in conjunction with the Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) science meeting, with a joint session convened on one afternoon.

• The Program Committee members are the Science Center Directors from the USGS Centers in the Gulf States and the Gulf Science Coordinator.

• Session Co-Chairs have been identified for each session. Their responsibility is to organize and convene the session, identify capstone presenters, provide organizational information and support to presenters, receive abstracts from the Program Committee, and review abstracts identified for their session. Following abstract acceptance, Co-Chairs will distribute appropriate abstracts to Capstone Presenters for consideration in the preparation of the synoptic papers. Session Co-Chairs will organize and manage the poster session associated with their thematic topic.

• Capstone Presenters will summarize USGS Gulf science and activities under each specific strategic theme. Capstone presenters will prepare an oral presentation for the October meeting, and subsequent to the October meeting, a written (synoptic paper) that identifies major activities, issues, threats, challenges, and opportunities related to USGS science in the Gulf. Synoptic papers should be as short as possible and written for a general, non-technical audience. Images, photographs, graphs, and charts are encouraged. Authors should consider abstracts submitted for the conference as source material in addition to other USGS internal (e.g. BASIS +) and external (journal publications) sources. Synoptic papers will be peer reviewed and published as part of a USGS circular.

• A Call for Abstracts has been issued and contributors with abstracts accepted will likely be asked to prepare posters and to contribute papers, text, graphics, images, etc., to session chairs to be included in capstone presentations. Individuals throughout USGS are encouraged to submit abstracts for the poster sessions. Papers should be relevant to Gulf of Mexico issues, but do not necessarily need to reflect science actually conducted in the Gulf or adjacent coastal areas (e.g. nutrient studies on the Mississippi River that relate to Gulf hypoxia are relevant).

• A poster social will be held each evening to facilitate networking and information exchange.

• The thematic scope of the conference includes marine and coastal aspects of ecology, geology, hydrology, geography, spatial ecology and geography, engineering, education, policy development, socioeconomics, and biogeochemistry.

Registrations will continue until September 2, 2008.

Travel and Logistics:

The conference organizers have reserved blocks of rooms and detailed travel information is available on the conference Website.

Meeting Attire and Local Weather:

Attire for the meeting will be resort casual. The local weather in Central Florida likely will be hot with occasional showers.