2023 NCAFS Meeting

2023 Meeting of the NC Chapter of the American Fisheries Society


Millennium Hotel
Durham, NC – February 22-23, 2023

Join us at the 2023 Meeting of the NC Chapter of the AFS in February.  Our host will be the Millennium Hotel, located at 2800 Campus Walk Ave., Durham, NC 27705.  If you have questions about the meeting or would like to be involved in the planning of the meeting, please contact Kelsey Roberts ([email protected]), NCAFS President-Elect.

Schedule And Program

Note the new schedule! We will follow a different format this year and will host the business meeting on the first day before the banquet and will announce awards after all the talks are done on the last day.

Tuesday February 21

0930-1730            North Carolina Mollusk Workgroup Meeting
1815-2145              NC AFS and NC Mollusk Workgroup Evening Social at Hi-Wire Brewing (800 Taylor Street, Durham). Transportation from hotel provided.

Wednesday February 22

0700-0800          Breakfast provided by NCAFS in meeting room
0730-1800           Registration
0800- 1130          NC AFS Workshop: “Media Relations and Content Creation”
1130-1230            Lunch – On your own
1230-1245            Opening Remarks
1245-1446            Contributed Papers
1446-1500           Afternoon Break I
1500-1654           Contributed Papers
1654-1715            Afternoon Break II
1715-1830            Business Meeting
1830-2100           Poster Session
1830-2300           Social, Dinner, and NCSU’s Student Fisheries Society Raffle

Thursday February 23

0700-0800            Breakfast provided by NCAFS in meeting room
0730-0800            Rise and Shine – Bagels with Bryn, optional breakfast seminar
0800-1035            Contributed Papers
1035-1055              Morning Break
1302-1312              Stretch Break
1312-1330             Best Student and Professional Presentations Awards (W. Don Baker and Richard L. Noble awards)
1330                       Closing Comments and Adjournment

Program and abstracts are now available for download here.


COVID Safety Protocols

Our safety guidelines for the meeting are provided below:

  • Attendees are encouraged to be vaccinated prior to attending the meeting.
  • Attendees are also encouraged to use at home tests, especially if experiencing flu or covid-like symptoms, to confirm a negative result prior to attending.
  • If you have been exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid prior to the meeting, please follow CDC guidelines.
  • If you are feeling ill or have flu/Covid-like symptoms, we encourage you to stay home.
  • Masks are not mandatory; each participant should use their own judgement as to mask or not mask.

2023 Business Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the NCAFS 2023 business meeting can be reviewed here.  Thanks to Casey Joubert for recording & compiling.


Abstracts

Abstracts accepted for oral, lightning, & poster presentations.  Topics addressing any aspect of fisheries and related aquatic sciences are welcomed, including, but not limited to, management, research, conservation, outreach and education.  Presentations will be limited to 20 minutes (including a question & answer period).

Lightning Talks

6 minute talks, 1 minute question/answer for each (PowerPoint optional), for students and professionals to present new projects or programs, results from ongoing work, emerging issues, and other research or management briefs.

Poster Presentations

Posters should contain succinct headings that organize & logically display the information. Graphics should be explicit & brief. Elaboration is best done verbally, just as if it were an oral presentation using slides. A short & legible “Introduction” and a “Summary of Conclusions” are essential. The poster display should focus on (1) Hypothesis/Objective, (2) Methods, and (3) Results/Outcomes.  Click to view/download detailed poster guidelines.

Submission deadline for all sessions: January 20, 2023.

How to submit an abstract:

  1. Complete the attached abstract submission form (click here to download).
  2. Attach the abstract submission form to an email with the subject line “NCAFS Meeting 2023 Abstract”.
  3. Email the form to both NC Program Committee Members Bryn Tracy at [email protected] and Kelsey Roberts at [email protected].

All abstracts are limited to 300 words and should include clearly stated objectives, brief methods, general results, and the basic conclusion. Abstract title should appear in bold, followed by the author name(s), and affiliation(s). Please include contact information with email and phone number. If the presenter is a student, please note this on the submission. Abstracts must be submitted using the official form (example included). Please list several keywords at the end for future search capability.

Judges will be scoring all presentations for awards in both the professional and student categories.


Registration

Early registration is $75 for members, $95 for non-members, and $50 for students or retirees. Workshop registration is $20 for members, $25 for non-members and FREE for students.

  • You may join or renew your NCAFS membership as part of registration.  Or, if you would like to pay your dues separately, visit our online membership form here.  Both allow either electronic or mail-in submission & payment.
  • Deadline for early registration fees ended Feb 6, 2023.  A late fee of $10 has been added to all registration costs after this date.

Click here to begin registration


Continuing Education Course

Title:  Media Relations and Content Creation
Instructors:  Madeline David
Workshop Fee:  $20 for NCAFS members, $25 for non-members, free for students
Capacity:  50 people

This workshop will cover all of the essential do’s and don’ts of creating high quality video and photo content of aquatic resources work. Attendees will learn how to create content with the phones and cameras that most field biologists have access to, with hands-on demonstrations of the best settings and accessories to use. Attendees will then learn best practices for handling media inquiries and broadcasting content to the public.


Lodging and Reservations

Please reserve your room before Saturday, January 21, 2023 to receive the room block rate of $85 a night. You may reserve your room by clicking this room block link below. You can adjust the dates once you access the room block if you are staying two nights. If the link is not working, call the hotel directly at (919) 383-8575 and request a reservation through the “NCAFS Annual Meeting”.

NCAFS Annual Meeting Booking Link


Undergraduate Student Awards

Apply for a $300 travel award to attend the NCAFS Annual Meeting by January 15, 2023.

Award Application Forms


Sponsors

3 Oaks Engineering Logo Jennings Logo Trans Logo Dewberry Logo RKK Logo Duke Logo

Presentation Scoring Criteria

Presenters:  To assist you in putting together an award-winning presentation, below are the judging criteria for both professional and student papers.  You may also download a .pdf version of the scoresheet.

In a 5-point category, judges award 3 points for average quality (even though average quality may be very good), 4 for above average, and 5 for outstanding.

A. Individual Components (5 points for each)

  1. Title – Does it accurately describe the subject?
  2. Introduction – Does it provide adequate background, a historical context, and justification for the study?  Were the objectives and purpose clearly stated?
  3. Methods or Approach – Are they described with sufficient detail?

B. Content

  1. Structure and Organization (15 points) – Is there logical development and integration of the presentation?  Is the presentation comprehensible by members of the audience not engaged in that particular specialty?
  2. Originality (10 points) – How valuable is the presentation in communicating and presenting unique or innovative methods, concepts, or interpretations? How relevant and significant is it to fisheries science?
  3. Analytical Merit (10 points) – Are the analytical methods and study design or approach adequate and appropriate?
  4. Technical Merit (10 points) – Are interpretations consistent with the results or evidence presented?  Are limitations identified and evaluated?

C. Physical Presentation

  1. Delivery (15 points) – Does the presenter employ good voice quality, enthusiasm, grammar, eye contact, posture and body language, pronunciation, and articulation?
  2. Visual Aids (15 points) – Are the visual aids large enough, simple, understandable, relevant, and attractive?
  3. Timing (5 points) – Does the presenter complete the talk within the allotted time, and leave time for questions?

D. Other Considerations (5 points)

  1. Use this category to reward unique or attractive features which do not fit exactly into other criteria (e.g., judicious and effective use of humor).  It should be considered an extra and should not be awarded automatically.

E. Comments

  1. Provide a brief evaluation of your impressions of each presentation.  Comments will be used to break ties.