A SEA CHANGE:
TRANSFORMING SCIENCE INTO STEWARDSHIP
Marine mammals live in a rapidly changing world and face a wide range of challenges and threats from both the natural environment and human actions. Science focused on marine mammals is addressing these challenges through new and advancing methodologies and techniques.
The conference theme, “A Sea Change: Transforming Science into Stewardship”, will highlight the value of diversity in all forms in marine mammal science, from our multidisciplinary approaches to the improvement of diversity in our field.
"In a sea of change, be the change you wish to see."
Logo created by Uko Gorter
Concept by Stephen Trumble/ Sascha Usenko
ABOUT SMM2022
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.
BLUE-GREEN INITIATIVE
Our conference aims to push boundaries in 2022 and will be more inclusive and sustainable than ever. Human-induced changes around the planet are reshaping the global environment, therefore, we are committed to reducing the detrimental impacts of our conference. We have pledged to mitigate the carbon footprint of our conference 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.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
By encompassing a wide range of experiences and viewpoints, we enhance the connection between our research and the communities and cultures in which we work. The Society for Marine Mammalogy is dedicated to enhancing diversity in its members and conference attendees. The Society recognizes that the field of 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. Our virtual platform will also allow access for thousands of marine mammal scientists and enthusiasts that have previously been unable to attend. SMM2022 will reflect the Society’s true desire to make the conference accessible to the widest audience.
CONFERENCE THEMES
Diverse invited plenary talks, workshops and multi-platform presentations will be selected from submitted abstracts pertaining to the six major themes represented by our conference logo:
Anatomy/Morphology
Behavior
Conservation
Ecology
Molecular/Cellular
Physiology
Social Science
Have a question about the conference?
Contact our conference committee at conference@marinemammalscience.org