Scientific Program

The Raptor Research Foundation invites abstracts for oral and poster presentations at our annual in-person scientific conference. The conference will be held on 23–26 October 2024 in Charlotte, NC, USA. Presentations on any aspect of raptor biology, ecology, conservation, and management are welcome. For paper sessions, three presentation formats will be available for presenters to choose from: 15-minute oral presentations, 7-minute lightning talks, and poster presentations.

Important Dates:

June 1 – Deadline for general abstract submittals

June 30 – Deadline for completion of abstract reviews

July 20 – Notification to all applicants of abstract acceptance status

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.

We ask that you please submit you 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
You will need to submit a full title (max 25 words) and a short title (max 45 characters)
Write the title in bold font. If the common name of a species is included, please do not include its scientific name(s) in the title (but it will be included 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 should be indicated by checking the “Presenting*” box in Oxford Abstracts

Body of the abstracts:

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 applying for the Andersen, Koplin, or Wings to Fly Awards, please follow the appropriate links on our Grants and Award page.
A sample abstract is provided on the Oxford Abstracts submission page – please take the time to read it and format your abstract accordingly.

Depending on the number of abstracts submitted, we may have to reject abstracts and/or have to switch a presenter’s preferred format to an alternative one. We thus suggest that attendees plan to be the presenting author for only one contributed 15-minute oral presentation. We do not anticipate limiting the number of poster or lightning talk abstracts that a single presenting author can submit. If your presentation is accepted, you will subsequently be required to verify that you or a co-author will be able to register for the conference and present in-person.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

If you are submitting an abstract as part of one of the 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.

Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified via email no later than 20 July 2024. Prior to the conference, all authors will be provided with a follow-up email with links specifying the room, date, and time of their presentations.

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

Preparing Presentations

Oral Presentations

Please prepare your talk in English
Full length talks will be 12 minutes long followed by two minutes for questions and one minute for transition
Lightning talks will be seven minutes long followed by one minute for transition. See below for additional details regarding lightning talks.
Presentations must be in Microsoft PowerPoint, 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 asked 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

Please write in English
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 24 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 (six minutes to talk and one for transition) and must use a limited number of PowerPoint slides – use more pictures and less text! The main goal is to spark new conversations and collaborations across disciplines with fast-paced presentations. There will be no time for questions after each presentation, however we might be able to accommodate 5–10 min at the end of the session for potential questions. You can find more details about lightning talks here.

Questions regarding the Scientific Program or related to symposia and general abstracts should be directed to RRFScientificChair@raptorresearchfoundation.org.

Questions regarding the use of the Oxford software should be directed to RRFoxfordabstracts@raptorresearchfoundation.org.

General questions regarding the conference should be directed to conference2024@raptorresearchfoundation.org.

Questions regarding the Andersen Award should be directed to Lisa Takats Priestley (email: lisa@strixeco.ca). Questions regarding the Koplin award must be directed to James Harper (email: harptech@msn.com). Questions regarding the Wings to Fly award must be directed to Andre Botha (email: andreb@ewt.org.za).

Any other questions related to awards, please contact Sofi Hindmarch (email: sofi.hindmarch@gmail.com).