Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution of Poeciliid Fishes Virtual Forum

Join from the convenience of your home, meet like-minded people from around the world

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us all to miss out on conferences that we would usually use to share and discover research and to network. This has particularly impacted students and other early career researchers. To mitigate the impact, we are hoping to rally the poeciliid research community together for a one day virtual forum featuring some awesome keynote speakers. We want to provide students with an opportunity to present their research and meet like-minded people from other institutions.

The virtual form will be held  on February 26, 2021, 9-6 PM CST, through Zoom. Attendance is free of charge for everybody, but registration will be required.

To download a flyer for sharing, click here.

To download the program and abstracts, click here.

Events

Keynote Speakers

Sarah Fitzpatrick
W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University
Playing ‘God’ with Guppies: Informing Conservation with a Model Experimental System
Kate Laskowski
Department of Evolution & Ecology, University of California Davis
You’re Unique Just Like Everyone Else: What a Clonal Fish Can Tell Us About Behavioral Individuality
Molly Schumer
Department of Biology, Stanford University
The Genetic Basis of a Lethal Incompatibility Between Hybridizing Swordtail Species
Jaime Zúñiga-Vega
Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Superfetation and Matrotrophy in Viviparous Fishes: Ecological Correlates and Tests of Adaptive Hypotheses

Contributed Talks

Besides the keynote talks, we invite anyone to submit an abstract for a talk, although depending on the number of abstracts received, preference will be given to early career researchers. Two formats will be available: (1) 12-minute talks for people that would like to present their research; (2) 3-minute minitalks for people that just want to introduce themselves and their interests, including undergraduate students and starting graduate students that may not have any data yet.

Details about abstract submission can be found below. If we receive more submissions than available slots, we will let selected speakers know at least three weeks prior to the virtual forum.

Networking Lunch and Happy Hour

To foster networking, we will offer smaller group meetings in breakout rooms over lunch and during a happy hour at the end of the forum. This will allow students to meet PIs from different institutions and to build their peer network.

Preview of the 9th International Conference of Poeciliid Biologists

The 9th International Conference of Poeciliid Biologists will take place September 15-17, 2021 at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The meeting will be chaired by Dr. Bart Pollux and Dr. Alexander Kotrschal, who will present a preview of the conference during the virtual forum.

Logistics

Important Dates

  • Deadline for abstract submission: January 15, 2021
  • Deadline for registration: February 19, 2021
  • Virtual forum: February 26, 2021

Abstract Submission

We are soliciting abstracts for oral presentations, both in 12 and 3-minute slots. 12-minute slots will be regular conference-style presentations; 3-minute slots are especially for students that may just want to briefly introduce themselves and their research interests and projects. The deadline for abstract submission is January 15. Please make sure to also register for the meeting using the separate link below.

The following information is required for abstract submission, and you may want to have it ready before using the abstract submission website:

  • Presenter name and affiliation
  • List of co-authors
  • Presentation type (12-minute talk or 3-minute minitalk)
  • Title of the presentation
  • Brief abstract (150 words maximum; only needed for 12-minute talks)
  • Abstract tweet (280 characters maximum; please include the hashtag #poeciliidforum and your Twitter handle, if available); note that this information will be used to live tweet the virtual forum and garner some visibility for presenters

Registration

Attendance of the forum comes at no cost, but registration is required by February 19. Link to registration website. Registered participants will receive the Zoom connection information in the days prior to the virtual forum. To register, provide the following information using the registration website.

  • Name and affiliation
  • Contact information

Inquiries

For questions, please contact Zach Culumber or Michi Tobler.