History of the Mediterranean Conferences on Marine Turtle

It has been 21 years since the 1st Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles in Rome 2001. We are in the 7^th Mediterranean conference on marine turtles. The organisation of a Mediterranean conference on marine turtles was proposed by the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (Bonn Convention) at the RAC/SPA meeting for the revision of the Action Plan for the Conservation of Mediterranean Marine Turtles in Arta, Greece in October 1998. The initiative was endorsed at the RAC/SPA Meeting of Experts for Priority Actions for the above-mentioned Action Plan (Tunis, February 1999), and the proposal was adopted formally by the Fourth Meeting of the National Focal Points for SPAs in the context of the Barcelona Convention (Tunis, April 1999). The Secretariat of the Bern Convention enthusiastically supported the idea, and eventually the above three supra-national Conventions (Barcelona, Bern, Bonn) proceeded in organizing the First Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles, which gathered over 170 registered participants from 18 countries.

The Mediterranean Conferences on Marine Turtles remained supported by the UNEP MAP-RAC/SPA, Bern Convention, Convention on Migratory Species and the IUCN/SSC Marine Turtles Specialist Group, and this tradition continues today. As the previous Conferences, this 7^th Conference has the same mission: the conservation of sea turtles in the Mediterranean.

The theme of the 7^th Conference is “Sea Turtles Conservation after the Pandemic” for further research in this area. We hope through this conference in Morocco to have more cooperation between actors in all Mediterranean countries. A more intense participation is expected after this period of Covid-19.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• Sea turtle researchers and conservation professionals.
• Large marine vertebrate researchers and conservation professionals.
• Students interested in research and conservation of marine turtles and biodiversity.
• Local, regional and national authority representatives and stakeholders, having an interest in marine turtles.
• Environmentalist and environmental organizations active in the field of marine conservation.

Guidelines for presenters

Official Conference language is English. All oral presentations and posters are expected to be prepared and presented in English.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Oral presentations will be limited to 15 minutes: 10-12 minutes for presentation and 3-5 minutes for questions. Oral presentations will be grouped by topic. If your abstract is accepted but cannot be accommodated as an oral presentation, we may offer you the opportunity to present it as a poster and vice versa.

Conference center is equipped with a computer and a projector. The projectors in the Conference center support either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio and has high resolution output.

Supported software for presentations are Microsoft Office PowerPoint and Prezi. To avoid technical problems, it is recommended that presentations are uploaded to the on-site computer, not streamed from a USB-stick or Cloud.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to support Keynote software on-site. So, in case a presenter uses Apple computers (Mac) and Keynote software to create presentations it is imperative that they convert their presentation(s) into MS PowerPoint or Prezi format prior to the conference. In case of any difficulties with conversion, the presenter should contact the organisers, who will provide the technical assistance.

For presentations including videos or photos, presenters should use the video and photo integration format built into PowerPoint or Prezi in order to create a seamless presentation with minimal delays. Please keep a copy of all photos and videos used in your presentation in a folder with the presentation to reduce the risk that the presentation is unable to fetch the photo or video data. For videos, use standard formats such as .MP4, .MOV, .AVI, and .WMA with high resolution (i.e. 720p or 1080p.)

POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Poster presentations are a visual, concise way to showcase research and projects, exhibited for informal browsing. In this way the presenter has the opportunity to interact with their audience.

To create an appealing poster, sufficently large fonts should be used and text should be limited to brief statements. Altogether, the poster should present the main results of your work. Large images and graphic representations of your data are recommended. Remember, that a presenter will have enough time to explain his/her work next to the poster, but the poster itself is the key to bringing the audience closer.

Posters will be displayed on the poster boards, that fit posters with maximum dimensions of 80cm x 110cm, portrait orientation.

Poster session will not overlap with any other session, so the presenter should plan and be present at poster(s) throughout the session.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POSTER PRESENTERS

• TITLE
  The title of the poster should be short but descriptive. Font size should be sufficient that it can be read from 10 feet (3m). 72 point is suggested.
• TEXT SIZE
  The main text of the poster should be in a font large enough to be read from 1m distance. A font size between 18 and 24 point (6-8mm) is recommended; secondary text (such as acknowledgements and literature cited) may be slightly smaller but no text should be smaller than 14 point (5mm).

• FIGURES
  Posters should include figures that illustrate key methods, findings or examples from the study. All text within figures, graphs, charts and tables should be large enough to be read from 3 feet (1m). Use graphs or charts instead of tables whenever possible to make your data easier to “get” at a glance. Remember to use standard deviation/error bars in your graphs and scale bars in your photographs/micrographs. Use arrows to draw attention to specific details in images.
• TOPIC
  Stick to only one idea/topic in your poster. Including too much information not directly related to your central idea often confuses and frustrates readers.
• FLOW
  Organize your poster into sections and arrange those sections so that it is easy to follow the “flow” of your presentation. If you refer to figures, make it easy to find those figures and return to the starting point in the text quickly.

STUDENT AWARDS
The Scientific Committee will choose among all oral and poster presentations, and award the best three student presentations.

Nominations for president of the 8^th Conference

Call for President of the 8^th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles

Dear colleagues and friends,

In agreement with the secretariats of the conventions supporting the organization of the Mediterranean Marine Turtle Conferences and IUCN/SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group, we are opening a call for the selection of the President and principal organizer of the 8th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles.

The Mediterranean conference on Marine Turtles is an important event held every 3 years, where experts from across the region get together to present their research and network new synergies for sea turtle conservation. The President is responsible for the preparation, organization and running of the Conference, in collaboration with the Secretariats of the conventions. Therefore, we invite all of those interested in organizing this important event to submit their proposal for president and host of the 8th Mediterranean Marine Turtle Conference.

To be eligible, the candidate President should at minimum:

1. 1) Be an established and well-known expert within the Mediterranean sea community, willing to undertake all responsibilities related to organization and realization of the conference, including fundraising, preparation of the conference program and proceedings, and communication.
2. 2) Have attended at least one previous conference.
3. 3) Have adequate institutional backing (e.g., University, NGO), with the capacity to receive funds and clear up the finances of the conference, in compliance with the accounting procedures and financial laws in the respective country.
4. 4) Indicate the location of the conference and confirm availability of appropriate facilities (i.e. conference venue, accommodation), and of accessibility (proximity to international airport, access to alternative routes, etc).

Each proposal should contain the following information:

1. 1) Name, surname, institution position and CV of a candidate for the conference president;
2. 2) Description of the institution background and available organizational support, including fundraising possibilities;
3. 3) Description of organizing plans, location, travel possibilities and available venues.

Proposals should be sent by e-mail to 7medconf@gmail.com, no later than October 19th 2022, 12:00 h, CET. All applications will be uploaded to the web page of the 7th Conference (www.7medconf.atomm.net). The next president will be selected by secret ballot voting by registered participants of the 7th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles in Tetouan, Morocco, 17 – 21 October 2022. Results of the vote will be officially announced during the last day of the Conference (October 20th), and after through the MedTurtle list server.

We encourage all of you interested in organizing this important event to submit your proposals within the above deadline. As examples, see the hosting proposal for the 7th Conference at the website of the 6th conference (https://marine-turtles.eu).

If you have any questions, we will be happy to assist. On behalf of the organizers & supporters of the 7th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtle,

Mustapha Aksissou

President, 7th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles

Head Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, PO Box 2121 Tetouan 93002 Morocco

Tel: +212 661 953689, Fax: +212 539 994500, Email: aksissou@yahoo.fr

Nominations for president of the 8th Conference on Marine Turtles (download)

Flyer of the conference

Flyer of the conference can be downloaded here.

Nominations for president of the 8th Conference

Call for proposals for a President and host of the 8th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles

Applications containing all requested information should be sent by e-mail to aksissou@yahoo.fr.

Simon Demetropoulos: Proposal for hosting 8th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles (download)

ALIKI PANAGOPOULOU: Proposal for hosting 8th Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles (download)