Scientific Program

The Raptor Research Foundation invites abstracts for oral and poster presentations at our annual in-person scientific conference. Presentations on any aspect of raptor biology, ecology, conservation, and management are welcome. Three presentation formats will be available for presenters to choose from: 15-minute oral presentations, 7-minute lightning talks, and poster presentations.

If we reach our maximum number of abstracts for 15-minute oral talks or think your abstract is better suited for another presentation type, we will notify you of this change prior to your abstract being accepted. We suggest that attendees plan to be the presenting author for only one contributed 15-minute oral presentation. We anticipate limiting the number of poster or lightning talk abstracts that a single presenting author can submit. If your presentation is accepted, you or a co-author are committing to presenting in person. If you are no longer able to present we ask that you contact the scientific program committee as soon as possible.

Preparing your Abstract

Please use the following guidelines to prepare your abstract submission. Any abstract not following these guidelines may be returned to the presenting author for editing.

Please submit your abstract in English.
Abstracts can be typed directly into Oxford Abstracts, or text can also be copy-pasted from a Word document. However, you will need to bold and italicize words directly in the box after you type or paste them into Oxford Abstracts.
Submit a full title (max 25 words) and a short title (max 45 characters).
Write the title in bold font. If the common name(s) of a species is included, please do not include its scientific name(s) in the title (include it in the body of the abstract).
Include all authors first and last name/surname, affiliation, and the email address of the first author only. The presenting author is indicated by checking the “Presenting*” box in Oxford Abstracts.

Body of the abstract:

250 words or less.
Succinctly summarize the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of the research.
Common names of species should be reported with uppercase initials (i.e. Black Harrier; Short-eared Owl), followed by its scientific name(s) reported in parenthesis in italic, only after the first use.
Use metric units.
Standard abbreviations should be used for measurements (mm, m, km, g, kg, Hz, s, min, h, °C, etc.), as well as for statistics (r, rs, t, X², F, U, Z, df, SD, SE, N, P, AIC, ANOVA). Periods (.) should be used as decimal marks and commas (,) as thousand separators. Spell out whole numbers less than 10 unless accompanied by a unit (e.g. 3 cm or 1%) or when describing a statistical result (e.g. P=0.05; P<0.03). Please leave a space between the number and the unit (e.g. 3 cm), but none between the statistic symbol and the number (e.g. P=0.05).
Use continental dating (e.g. 10 July 1975) and the 24-hr clock (e.g. 13:00).
Do not use citations in the abstract.
If you are submitting an abstract as part of an approved symposia or as part of the Andersen, Koplin, or Wings to Fly Awards, please make sure to tick the specific box on the Oxford Abstracts website (see the following link for additional requirements).
A sample abstract is provided below and on the Oxford Abstracts submission page, please take the time to read it and format your abstract accordingly.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified via email no later than 20 July. Prior to the conference, all authors will be provided with a follow-up email with details specifying the room, date, and time of their presentations. Questions regarding symposia and general abstracts should be directed to [email protected] or [email protected]

Failure to meet the format requirements or submission deadlines may result in the rejection of your abstract(s). Click here to watch a demo on how to submit your abstract using Oxford Abstracts. When you are ready, submit your abstract here:

Abstract Submission and Notification Dates:

May 15 - Deadline for symposia abstract submittals

June 1- Deadline for general abstract submittals

June 30- Deadline for completion of abstract reviews

July 20- Notification to all applicants of acceptance status

Sample Abstract

Heavy metal exposure in resident and migratory raptors in México

Meagan L. Campbell¹*([email protected]), Jaime R. Von Osten², Enrique Alarcón Gutiérrez¹, Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza¹

1Universidad Veracruzana, Inbioteca, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. 2Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México, Campeche, México.

Increased habitat loss and contamination in the tropics cause ornithologists to suspect that birds encounter elevated contaminant exposure during migration and while overwintering. Our research question is: where are migratory raptors exposed to higher metal concentrations during their annual cycle? We hypothesized that sampling heavy metals in blood and feathers would help us identify the boreal or austral source of contamination. During the fall of 2016 and 2017, we sampled juvenile (hatch year) Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), Cooper’s Hawk (A. cooperii), Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis), Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), and Short-tailed Hawk (Buteo brachyurus) in Veracruz, México (a primary migratory corridor for raptors in the fall). We analyzed 194 blood and corresponding feather samples through voltammetry for zinc, cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, and aluminum. We compared mean values of metal concentrations and found that feather concentrations were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than blood, and mean values of migratory and resident species had comparable metal levels. The only significant differences between resident and migratory species (wet weight, ppm) were: Hg in blood (resident > migratory, P<0.01), Zn in feathers (migratory > resident, P<0.01), and Pb in feathers (migratory > resident, P<0.05). This study provides information about the temporality of heavy metal exposure pathways in raptors outside of their breeding areas in North America. Higher Zn and Pb levels in feathers in migratory species indicate elevated exposure in nesting areas, where the feather developed, whereas higher Hg levels in the blood of resident species alludes to higher exposure in México.

Symposia

The Raptor Research Foundation invites symposium proposals for our annual scientific conference. Presentations on any aspect of raptor biology, ecology, research techniques, conservation, care and rehabilitation, health and medicine, and management are invited.

If you’re interested in organizing a symposium, please contact the Scientific Program chairs as soon as possible. The deadline for submission of symposium proposals is 15 May, although early submission is welcome and highly encouraged. Chairs of symposia selected for inclusion in the conference will be notified as submissions are received and approved.

Symposium proposals should include:

Proposed symposium title.
Name, affiliation and email for symposium organizer/s.
Provide 3-5 sentence rationale for the symposium’s topic at the meeting.
Determine how long you anticipate the symposium will be?

6-8 talks
8-12 talks
> 12 talks

*Note talks are 15 minutes each including questions and transition. Upon request we have been trying to provide 15-30 minutes at the end of the symposium for a discussion. Please let us know if you want this and include that in your total talks above.

List potential authors recruited to participate in the symposium.
Please include a description of the symposium topic (~300 words). This will be printed in the program book and put online when promoting the conference.
Provide one photo that will be paired with your symposium title and description (used online and in the digital and print program book).

As a reminder, symposia presenters have a separate abstract submission deadline. All symposia abstracts need to be submitted by 15 May. Please inform authors of this deadline when asking them to participate.

To submit proposals or if you have questions please email the Scientific Program at [email protected] or [email protected].

Preparing Presentations

Oral Presentations

Presentations should be in English however, we strongly encourage (not mandatory) presenters to have bilingual slides to help maximize non-native English speakers' access to presentations. Google Translate and DeepLTranslate are acceptable translation websites.
Full length talks should be 12-13 minutes long followed by 2-3 minutes for questions and for transition to the next speaker.
Lightning talks will be no longer than six minutes long followed by one minute for questions and transition. See below for additional details regarding lightning talks.
Presentations must be in Microsoft PowerPoint, preferably widescreen format, formatted to display properly on a PC computer.
Any videos or acoustic files must be embedded and not linked to an online video. - Please verify that the link(s) work(s) after uploading your talk to the computer running the presentation.
Presenters are strongly encouraged to visit these resources for instructions on how to design/create content for color-blind-friendly PowerPoint presentations.

We ask that you bring your presentation(s) on a flash (USB) drive so that it can be uploaded at the conference prior to your session. More details will follow closer to the time of the conference.

POSTER SESSIONS

Posters should be in English however, we strongly encourage (not mandatory) presenters to have bilingual posters to help maximize non-native English speakers' access to presentations. Google Translate and DeepLTranslate are acceptable translation websites.
Posters will be mounted on ~ 91 x 122 cm (3’x 4’) panels (vertical x horizontal).
Posters can be of any dimension and orientation as long as they fit within the mounted panel.
Include the title and author(s) at the top of the poster, as stated on the accepted abstract.
Text and illustrations should be readable from a distance of 2 m (6.8 ft).
Presenters are to attach their posters to the corresponding panel number assigned to their poster number, on Thursday 2419 October, after 15:00 (3 pm).
Materials for mounting posters will be available at the hotel.
Poster presenters are required to attend their poster during the poster session.
Presenters are asked to visit these resources for instructions on how to design/create content for color-blind-friendly poster presentations.

For guidance follow “Ten simple rules for a good poster presentation.”

What Are Lightning Talks?

Lightning Talks (aka Speed Talks) are short presentations that focus on just a couple of key points and are usually used to share knowledge and provide an overview of a topic. It is not a thorough examination of your research. They are perfect to present research with little to no data, to propose a new project, or just to tell a nice story about your past, current or future research! Each speaker will get seven minutes (we recommend a 5-6 minute presentation, allowing one-two minutes for questions and transition) and must use a limited number of PowerPoint slides – use more pictures and little text! The main goal is to spark new conversations and collaborations across disciplines with fast-paced presentation. You can find more details about lightning talks here.