Details for submitting your oral presentation for Bays & Bayous
All presentations must be submitted between 7 A.M. and 9 A.M. the morning you are scheduled to speak. Submissions will not be accepted after 9 A.M. Presentations must be on a jump drive and brought to IT staff at the presentation check-in desk. Check-in will be located near the registration desk, and if needed a volunteer at the registration desk can help direct you.
Staff will verify that any videos or images in your presentation function and display properly. PERSONAL LAPTOPS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR PRESENTATIONS.
PCs running Windows 10 and Office 365 will be in each presentation room. Presentation clickers will be provided in each room.
Presentation room computers will have internet access. Due to possible latency issues, please open any websites or videos needed for your presentation before your talk begins.
Information for Poster presentations for Bays & Bayous
Poster size: no larger than 36" tall x 48" wide
Push pins will be provided
Poster presentations take place from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. during the reception on Day 1 of the Symposium, January 24th. Please have your poster display set up before the session begins. Posters may be set up the day before, between 3:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.
Please see the list of presentations and a Poster Presentation schematic for your designated poster location.
REGISTRATION IS OPEN
GET YOUR TICKETS!!
Early registration closes Sunday night, January 15.
The cost is $250 for professionals and $100 for students. Registrations after January 15 will incur a $25 late fee per ticket.
Tickets will available on-site at the symposium.
The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and partners invite you to join them in the historic city of Mobile, Alabama, to share information on the status of research, monitoring activities, on-the-ground restoration, citizen actions, and education focused on the health of our coastal environment.
This two-day event will include presentations and discussions by local resource managers, scientists, and active participants in watershed stewardship who will share our latest understanding of the condition of the lands, waters and living resources of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The Bays and Bayous Symposium showcases the latest information about the estuary's changing watersheds, impacts from major stressors, recovery programs for species and habitats, and emerging challenges.
Note: Our 2022 event is being held January 24-25, 2023 at the Mobile Convention Center.
FROM SILENT SPRING TO SILENT NIGHT: A TALE OF TOADS AND MEN
The herbicide, atrazine is a potent endocrine disrupter that chemically castrates and feminizes exposed male amphibians. Further, atrazine exposure results in neural damage and hyperactivity and induces a hormonal stress response that leads to decreased growth and development, and immune suppression. The immune suppression results in increased disease rates and mortality. Though many factors likely contribute to amphibian declines, pesticides (such as atrazine) likely play an important role even in populations that appear to decline for other reasons, such as disease. Pesticides like atrazine are ubiquitous, persistent contaminants and, though more pronounced in amphibians, the effects described above occur in all vertebrate classes (fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals) examined, via common mechanisms. These observations demonstrate the critical impact that pesticides have on environmental health. Furthermore, reproductive cancers and birth defects associated with exposure to many of these same chemicals (e.g. atrazine) via identical mechanisms demonstrate that the impact on environmental health is an indicator of a negative impact on public health. Many of these mechanisms are being revealed only now in the scientific literature and agencies are just now beginning to deal with this emergent science and translate it efficiently into health-protective policies. In particular, ethnic minorities and lower socio-economic communities are at risk: More likely to live in contaminated communities, work in occupations that increase hazard exposure and less likely to have educational and healthcare access. Given the importance of this science and relevance to public health, there is a strong need to translate this information and provide public access to this knowledge. This need is made even more urgent, given industry's effort to confuse and misrepresent the science. Command of the science and active involvement by the public in policy decisions is vital.
The Road Less Traveled Panel provides information to students and other attendees of Bays and Bayous about available career paths for young people hoping to have a career in science, with a special focus on non-traditional non-academic pathways of which students and other attendees may not be as aware and needs in workforce development so that students can enter the job market better equipped with the knowledge, skills and abilities in-demand in the modern economy.
TROY EPHRIAM
Mayor Emeritus of the City of Prichard, Alabama, Troy has more than 20 years of scientific and field experience in environmental regulations, consulting, and construction site management planning. He owns and manages Ephriam & Associates Environmental, a small business based in Whistler, Alabama that specializes in professional, scientific, technical, and ecological site assessments pursuant to provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.
DR. KIRK RODGERS
Kirk is a hydrologist and project manager in the Little Rock office of the Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, He has worked with the National Water Quality Field Assessment as field lead for the Ozark Principal Aquifer Survey and with the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership compiling a reservoir morphology database for the lower 48 states. Spanning a 12-year career with the UGSS, Kirk has worked with the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey analyzing and interpreting potentiometric surfaces of major aquifers in the state and is currently the project manager for RESTORE, a $5.5 million dollar Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council funded "Baseline Flow, Gage Analysis & On-Line Tool to Support Restoration in Gulf States" project. Most recently, Kirk was awarded a $3.4 million dollar grant to continue work focusing on the Mobile and Perdido River Basins in Alabama. Kirk is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council of the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in addition to serving on the USGS Eastern Region Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
CHRIS HEAD
Chris Head is the Manager – Environmental Protection for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and an Owner of Admiral Shellfish Co. in Ft Morgan, AL. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Science from the University of West Florida, an unmanned aircraft license, and a 50-ton Master Captain's license. At the Tribe, he performs NEPAs, oversees the 319, 106, and WPDG grants, assists with apiary, and special projects. Chris spends his weekends working at the oyster farm or captaining private vessels.
CALRESSIA CLARK
Calressia Clark is the Director of Field Operations and Logistics at Mobile Area Water & Sewer System and has been employed there for 16 years. During this time she has continuously worked to upgrade the water distribution and sewer collection systems infrastructure with in-house staffing, engineering consultants, and contractors. The highlight of her career has been working with people to improve the utility and enhance the community.
DR. JOSHUA DUPLANTIS - Moderator
An innovator and change agent in education, workforce, and economic development, Dr. Josh Duplantis is a proven leader with experiences in k-12, 2- and 4-year colleges with a focus on department and divisional turnarounds. As a university faculty member, courses taught include personal finance, non-profit management, and an award-winning course in Servant Leadership. As Dean of Workforce and Economic Development, Dr. Duplantis leads a division that focuses on economic prosperity through job training. Coastal's Apprenticeship program is the largest and most diverse in the state and the winner of the Alabama Governor's Award for Best Practice in Work-Based Learning two years in a row most recently for its Registered Nurse Apprenticeship now being emulated around the state and country. Outside of work, Josh likes to hang out with his family, loves the outdoors, and gets way too emotional coaching his son's 3rd-grade basketball team.
This session will include an introduction to the Watershed Game, information on how the Game can be used to foster connections within local communities and educate students about water quality, land use, and resilience issues, and the opportunity to play the Coast Model with fellow attendees.
Community's RISE is an inclusive SLR education and outreach program that spans ages, locations, and demographics to generate better prepared coastal constituencies. In this dedicated session you will learn about the program, see aspects of the program demonstrated, and have an opportunity to engage with the program leads.
Participants in this panel-driven session will get to hear about key messages included in the Interagency 2022 Sea Level Rise Report, explore new products and visualization tools for communicating impacts of inundation, and get a sneak peek at plans for a new Community of Practice, all while sharing local needs for information, products, tools, and services to address your needs.
Mike deGruy Student Presentation Awards
Mike deGruy was born in Mobile, Alabama on December 29, 1951. It was here, at the confluence of 5 rivers, with an amazing delta flowing through rich swamps, all emptying into Mobile Bay and finally in the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, that Mike gained his enthusiasm for the ocean. A documentary filmmaker, specializing in underwater cinematography, Mike was also known for his storytelling and passionate TED talk about his love of the ocean on the Mission Blue Voyage. His company, Film Crew Inc., filmed for BBC, PBS, National Geographic, and The Discovery Channel, and Mike was part of the Deepsea Challenge, where James Cameron went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
In 2010, Mike served as a keynote speaker for the AL-MS Bays and Bayous Symposium, and in 2016 the Student Presentation Award was created in his honor. The Mike deGruy Student Presentation Awards will be awarded to first, second, and third-place student presenters of both oral and poster presentations. First-place winners will receive $300, with second and third-place winners receiving $200 and $100, respectively.
In 2012, Mike died in a tragic helicopter crash at Jaspers Brush near the town of Berry in New South Wales, Australia, and in 2017 a feature-film documentary about his life and work, titled Diving Deep, was released. We are proud to once again remember and honor Mike's legacy during this year's symposium.
TURNING RISK INTO OPPORTUNITY: THE POWER OF NATURE AS AN ENGINE FOR SECURITY AND PROSPERITY
At this time of urgent and expanding threats - from cost of living to climate change - government and business leaders are increasingly turning to nature to drive prosperity and security. Can our food, agriculture and energy systems, which have for too long been a source of risks, instead be solutions? From the Gulf Coast to far corners of the world, join us to explore how industries and governments are building economic opportunity and protecting quality of place in partnership with nature.
In this session, GOMA staff will facilitate conversations in an open "café" where symposium participants can learn more about Alliance resources based on their individual interests.
ADD BAYS & BAYOUS TO YOUR CALENDAR!
IMPORTANT DATES
Abstract Deadline: October 19, 2022
Abstract Deadline Extension: October 31, 2022
