ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

West Palm Beach, Florida, USA / August 1-5, 2022

THANK YOU to everyone who participated virtually and in-person for the 24th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center from August 1-5, 2022 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

SMM2022 was the first fully hybrid, live-virtual conference for the Society of Marine Mammalogy, and attracted the largest number of attendees since the first conference held in Santa Cruz in 1975.

Going hybrid meant there were two ways to participate in SMM2022: live and in-person in West Palm Beach and/or virtually through our new online experience. All attendees have access to the virtual conference platform so people who were not be able to join the conference in person were still be able to participate, present, and interact with other conference attendees and vendors. It was a whole new conference experience!

SMM2022 spanned 5 days, each day there was a plenary session with distinguished keynote speakers that was live-streamed. Four concurrent sessions were be accessible to attendees via live-streams and pre-recorded content. Virtual presentation content was made available on-demand prior to the conference and all recorded conference content will be available on the virtual conference platform for 6 months.

Workshops on crucial topics in marine mammal science and conservation were also held prior to the main conference, July 30-31, 2022. Participation was open to both in-person and virtual attendees (depending on the workshop); however, these were not recorded and thus not available on the virtual platform. Click HERE for more information on workshops.

Despite these challenging times, the organizing committee and the board of the SMM worked very hard to make this conference safe, diverse, and inclusive. Our top priority was to provide a safe and healthy environment for all participants at SMM2022.

For more information about SMM2022, click HERE.

For more information on our suggested guidelines for COVID, click HERE.

SCHEDULES AT A GLANCE

Below are the official schedules at a glance for SMM2022! There will be a content available only to participants visiting the conference in-person and virtually, but we have assigned both virtual and in-person presentations to specific sessions in the program. This is to highlight all of the amazing research being done by all of our attendees—whether you are attending in-person or virtually! We also want to help people easily connect with other researchers working on similar topics.

IN PERSON SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

VIRTUAL SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

SCHEDULES EXPLAINED

Live-Streaming Plenaries

All plenaries will be live-streamed on the virtual platform. Staff in the live event will be monitoring the virtual platform Q&A chat box and will be selecting questions to pose to the speaker, so don’t miss the opportunity to engage in real time!

Live-Streaming Scientific Sessions

During the conference there will be up to four concurrent sessions at the conference center. Two of those sessions (sessions in the Grand Ballroom and Ballroom ABC) will be live-streamed. These sessions and their topics are identified by the pink boxes in the Virtual Schedule-at-a-Glance. Viewers watching the sessions live will be able to post questions to the session moderator to watch during the question and answer portion. If your question isn’t asked and answered, you can always follow-up with the presenter by visiting their abstract page on the virtual site or by directly messaging them. If you are a presenter, please make sure you check your virtual page regularly to engage with our huge virtual audience.

Meet the

Plenary Speakers

Dr. Sylvia Earle
OPENING PLENARY SPEAKER

Michael J. Moore, Vet. MB. PhD

Michael A. Castellini, PhD

Susana Caballero, Ph. D.

Nantarika Chansue, DVM, PhD

Meet the

Plenary Speakers

Michael A. Castellini, PhD
Plenary Speaker

Nantarika Chansue, DVM, PhD
Plenary Speaker

Michael J. Moore, Vet. MB. PhD
Plenary Speaker

Susana Caballero, Ph. D.

"In a sea of change, be the change you wish to see."

our

SPONSORS

BLUE-GREEN INITIATIVE

We have pledged to mitigate the carbon footprint of our attendees through a combined use of an energy efficient venue, elimination of single use plastics and styrofoam, employing compostable and recyclable products, decreasing the use of paper and purchasing carbon offsets, as well as making the conference available virtually.

For the first time in the history of our Biennial Conference, we have initiated a carbon offsetting program. Although the conference is hybrid, and by nature will reduce our carbon footprint (and be more inclusive!), we propose that attendees offset their personal carbon use and buy back the carbon cost of your flight and/or accommodation!

EVERY DOLLAR contributed will be donated to the Miami Waterkeeper, a local non-profit organization, who will put the money towards local conservation and outreach activities in Biscayne Bay, a subtropical estuary located in the Miami area. Our goal is to directly use the offsetting for a local conservation initiative that should generate interest from our attendees.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our carbon offset program for the conference!

For more information on our Carbon Offsetting Program and how offset costs are calculated, click HERE.

DIVERSITY MATTERS

Marine mammal science is only strengthened by the participation of people representing all ages, career stages, races, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, as well as national, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. The SMM is dedicated to enhancing diversity in its members and conference attendees.

INCLUSIVITY

Our conference aims to push boundaries and will be more inclusive than ever! Our virtual platform will allow for thousands of marine mammal scientists and enthusiasts that have previously been unable to participate. SMM2022 will reflect the Society’s true desire to make the conference accessible and inclusive to the widest audience. 

BLUE-GREEN INITIATIVE

We have pledged to mitigate the carbon footprint of our attendees through a combined use of an energy efficient venue, elimination of single use plastics and styrofoam, employing compostable and recyclable products, decreasing the use of paper and purchasing carbon offsets, as well as making the conference available virtually.

For the first time in the history of our Biennial Conference, we have initiated a carbon offsetting program. We propose that attendees offset their personal carbon use and buy back the carbon cost of your flight and/or accommodation! EVERY DOLLAR contributed will be donated to the Miami Waterkeeper, a local non-profit organization, who will put the money towards local conservation and outreach activities in Biscayne Bay, a subtropical estuary located in the Miami area. Our goal is to directly use the offsetting for a local conservation initiative that should generate interest from our attendees.

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our carbon offset program for the conference!

For more information on our Carbon Offsetting Program and how offset costs are calculated, click HERE.

DIVERSITY MATTERS

Marine mammal science is only strengthened by the participation of people representing all ages, career stages, races, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, as well as national, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. The SMM is dedicated to enhancing diversity in its members and conference attendees.

INCLUSIVITY

Our conference aims to push boundaries and will be more inclusive than ever! Our virtual platform will allow for thousands of marine mammal scientists and enthusiasts that have previously been unable to participate. SMM2022 will reflect the Society’s true desire to make the conference accessible and inclusive to the widest audience.