Registration Now Open for AOS & BC 2022!

We are excited to announce that registration is now open for American Ornithology & BirdsCaribbean 2022 (AOS & BC 2022), a joint conference of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) and BirdsCaribbean (BC) with local hosts Para la Naturaleza and Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, to be held 27 June–1 July 2022 in San Juan at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. Below we provide many details to help you begin planning your conference experience!

Structure of the Conference

The conference will take place 27 June–1 July 2022, Monday through Friday, with many workshops and training opportunities scheduled on Monday, a few during the week, and one on Saturday (2 July). The complete scientific program and abstracts for symposia presentations, contributed oral presentations, and virtual poster presentations will soon be available on the conference website. The official opening reception will be held Monday evening, and each day of the main conference (Tuesday–Friday) will include stimulating plenary lectures plus many concurrent symposia, contributed papers, and poster sessions, as well as multiple roundtable discussions and lively, interactive social and networking events. We have tailored the schedule to enable broad participation. If you are a student and a first-time conference attendee, we highly encourage you to register to attend a special Conference 101 for Student Attendees in the afternoon on Monday, 27 June. You can register for this orientation session while completing the conference registration form.

Registration

Registration for AOS & BC 2022 is available through the AOS Member Portal. See the Registration page on our conference website for more details on registration costs; instructions for obtaining a letter of invitation for your travel visa application are also available on the conference website. Early Bird Registration closes at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on 1 May. Note: If you are not an AOS member or you do not have an account in the AOS Membership Portal, you will need to create an account before you register for the meeting.

AOS & BC are committed to keeping conference costs low for participants but recognize that these can still be a barrier. Please refer to our conference website for information on financial assistance, including travel awards and caregiver grants. Students and early professionals can also receive a discount off of their registration in exchange for signing up and volunteering for 10 hours. There are remote volunteer opportunities available now for those who can help translate conference communication material from English to Spanish.

Reduced Rates for Attendees from Special Countries

AOS and BC are providing reduced registration rates for residents of Puerto Rico, indigenous peoples of North America, and residents of any country other than the United States, Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the following Western European countries: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Special country registrants will have an opportunity to indicate their special country status on the registration form, upon which they will receive a coupon code that can be used when entering their payment information.

Travel Awards

The AOS and BC will be providing travel awards for a variety of groups, including to students (undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral), postdocs, and Caribbean nationals, and awards in support of diversity and inclusion to help defray expenses to attend the joint AOS & BC 2022 meeting in Puerto Rico. Although presenting as the first author of an oral or poster presentation at the conference is not a requirement for eligibility, award selection will be strongly favored for those who are contributing actively to the conference, including those who are helping to organize the conference, presenting a paper, or leading workshops, symposia, round-tables, working group meetings, or official conference field trips. Details about these Travel Awards are available on the conference website. Travel award applications are due on 8 April 2022 by 11:59 p.m. ET.

Call for Abstract Proposals: Early Professionals Mini-Talk Symposium

We invite you to submit an abstract for consideration as a presentation in the 7th Annual Early Professionals Mini-Talk Symposium at AOS & BC 2022. This symposium will highlight the exciting research performed by ornithologists in the beginning stages of their careers (i.e., have defended their Ph.D. in the past seven years, pursuing/initiating a research career, within the first five years of agency/private sector position, etc.). Details are available on the conference website. Abstracts are due on 1 May 2022 by 11:59 p.m. ET.

Caregiver Grants

Through the generous support of the National Science Foundation, AOS and BC will offer grants to offset the extra costs incurred by caregivers (such as parents of young children or those providing elder-care) to attend the annual meeting. Any conference registrant will be eligible, although priority will be given to presenters and early-career researchers. Applicants can apply for travel awards as well as caregiver awards. Details about Caregiver Grants are available on the website. Registrants will have an opportunity to apply for these caregiver awards through an online form in the AOS Member Portal.

Call for Storytellers: Stories of Resilience and Action in Ornithology 

Please join your friends and colleagues for an evening of laughter, tears, and joy as we listen to five captivating stories that reflect the diversity of experiences within our ornithological community. For this engaging event, we are seeking uplifting stories that express the theme of this year’s conference, which is “On the Wings of Recovery: Resilience and Action.”  The Storytelling event is planned at the Puerto Rico Convention Center for Thursday, 30 June, from 7:30–9:00 p.m. Members share stories that present a more holistic, complete rendition of themselves not only as ornithologists, but as people who have fears, struggles, and hopes that are relatable across all walks of life. We are partnering with Story Collider to provide skilled coaching for storytellers one month prior to the meeting to craft their stories for the stage. If you are interested in joining us in Puerto Rico to share a personal story from your experiences in ornithology, please fill out this Google Form with a short pitch of your story (200-words max) by 18 April 2022.

Conference Slack Channel

Slack is a great way to communicate with colleagues and stay up to date with conference announcements. We have channels for everything including coordination of room sharing between attendees to reduce travel costs, conference technical support, and our birding competition. You can join any number of themed discussions or send direct messages to other participants. So join up and build a place for you and your colleagues to discuss the conference and what’s next for you and ornithology. We’ll send an AOS & BC 2022 Conference Slack Channel invitation via email to conference registrants. 

Field Trips

This year’s exciting field trips are being planned by our conference partners and local hosts, Para la Naturaleza (PLN) and the Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, Inc. (SOPI). We’ve organized birding field trips in the Metro-Central, East, North, South, and Western regions of Puerto Rico. Tours are available before, during, and after the conference. Registration for these field trips is open only to AOS & BC 2022 Conference registrants; registration for field trips is separate from conference registration and will be available soon. For details on these opportunities, visit our Field Trips page on the conference website.

After two years of meeting virtually, we’re thrilled to bring you this in-person conference experience in sunny Puerto Rico! 

Sincerely,