Florida Chapter Annual Meeting

2026 meeting banner: Progress and Priorities in Florida's Fisheries: What fisheries and aquatic science projects should we maintain or invest in to to apply meaningful results and make positive impacts for the people, fish, and aquatic habitats in Florida

DATES & DEADLINES

Meeting: May 12-14, 2026

Early Registration: March 1, 2026

Abstract deadline:  March 1, 2026

Award nomination deadline: March 15, 2026

Registration 

Full Meeting Registration (late):  $260 ($290)

One-day and two-day registration options available, see registration form

MEETING INformation

Lodging: 

A block of rooms has been reserved for this event and you must make your own lodging arrangements with the Resort.  There are single or double bed options available for $140 per night. Reservations can be made using the link here or by calling Guy Harvey Resort and mentioning that you are attending the American Fisheries Society meeting to get this rate.

Meals:

All meals included in registration.

Late Registration:

Registrations will be accepted up to and during the meeting, however registrations made after the early registration deadline will incur a late fee. On-site registration payments can be made with cash, check or card (VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, DISCOVER). 

Presentations

Oral Presentations:

Full Oral: Speakers will be given 15 minutes for talks (12 minutes for presentations and 3 minutes for questions and/or discussion).

Speed Oral: Speakers will be give 5 minutes for talks (no time allotted for questions).

We will have PowerPoint on a laptop capable of accepting your presentation on a flash drive or other device.  Please use widescreen PowerPoint slide format for all presentations.

Poster Session: 

Posters will be presented in the evening on the first day of the meeting, and can be left up for the entire meeting. Posters should be no larger than 150 X 100 cm (60” X 40”), but they can be set up either as portrait or landscape format on an easel.  Easels/Boards will be provided, please bring your own thumbtacks.

Workshop

Structured Decision Making

Host: Dr. Conor McGowan

The tools of structured decision making and decision analysis are widely applied in natural resource management, especially in state and federal fish and wildlife management agencies. The approach applies values focused thinking for objectives driven decision making and embeds science and research directly into the decision-making process. This class offers an overview of decision analysis concepts and will help students understand the typical steps to a decision analysis process. 

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Dr. Conor McGowan has worked for the USGS Coop Units program for 16 years. He started at the Alabama Unit in 2010 and moved to Florida in 2020. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri in 2008, followed by a post-doc position at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland where he was first trained in Structured Decision Making concepts and tools. He has applied the tools to commercial harvest, land acquisition for a WMA, captive breeding, monitoring design and invasive species control. HE has also designed and taught courses on SDM Auburn University, University of Florida and the National Conservation Training Center.

Student Raffle

We need help from chapter members finding items for the raffle, which support future student travel awards.  Please contact Bob Heagy, John Davis, or Sarah Torre to get involved.

VENUE & ACCOMMODATIONS

Guy Harvey Resort

860 A1A Beach Blvd,
St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080
website

Questions?

Please contact program chair, Summer Lindelien