Artwork by Melissa Boman
Thank you to everyone that joined us and participated in the meeting!
An additional THANK YOU to all who presented at each of the daily sessions and the evening poster session!
We look forward to seeing you all in 2023!
2022 MWBWG Award Winners - CONGRATULATIONS!
- Best Student Poster: Aleana Savage, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri-Columbia - ESTABLISHING VIRAL DIVERSITY AND DENSITY WITHIN MISSOURI MICOBATS (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILLIONIDAE)
- Best Student Presentation: Kathryn McGowan, Department of Biology, Ball State University - DIFFERENT AS DAY AND NIGHT: WILD BATS MODIFY ECHOLOCATION IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS WHEN VISUAL CUES ARE PRESENT
- John O. Whitaker, Jr. Student Travel Award: Jen Woronecki-Ellis
- Dave Redell Lifetime Achievement Award: Virgil Brack, Jr.
- Sodalis Exemplary Service Award: Brian Heeringa
We invite you to join us for the 14th Midwest Bat Working Group Annual Meeting on Monday April 4th to Tuesday April 5th, 2022. This hybrid (in-person and virtual) meeting will bring together biologists, private and public land managers, private consultation organizations, educational institutions, and citizen scientists from across the Midwest.
Registration, Lodging, and T-shirts
Program Overview
Call for Abstracts
Presentation and Poster Guidelines
Mentor Meet-ups
Achievement and Student Awards
Meeting Announcement and Call for Abstracts
Statement Regarding COVID-19 and the Annual Meeting
Time and Location
Monday April 4, 2022 (11:00am CDT) to Tuesday April 5, 2022 (4:30pm CDT)
The hybrid meeting will take place:
- In-person: Missouri Department of Conservation's Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
- Virtual: Webex (presentations) and Gather.town (poster presentations & social)
NOTE: Login information will be emailed to all registered virtual participants 2 weeks prior to the meeting.
Statement Regarding COVID-19 and the Annual Meeting
COVID-19 and CDC guidance at the time of the in-person meeting will be followed to the extent possible. Please know that there is not and has not been a statewide mask mandate in Missouri. Currently, there is not a mask mandate in St. Louis County, but that could change by the meeting date. With this in mind, we still prefer you to wear masks while inside Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, and social distance as appropriate. In-person attendance will be limited and registration limits are currently set at 75 in-person participants (including the host committee). This meets the current 1/3 capacity guidance for the conference venue. As we are sure you are all aware, the situation could improve or decline in the weeks or days leading up to the annual meeting. Should conditions dictate that it would no longer be responsible to hold an in-person meeting, the Missouri Bat Conservation Alliance is committed to providing a full, two-day virtual conference experience.
For the complete statement regarding COVID-19 and the MWBWG annual meeting please CLICK HERE.
Registration, Lodging, and T-shirts
REGISTRATION options include:
- Professional/Regular In-Person: $30.00
- Professional/Regular Virtual: $30.00
- Student In-Person: $20.00
- Student Virtual: $20.00
In-person registration and attendance will be limited to 65 individuals.
Meeting registration EXTENDED TO 5pm central March 18, 2022.
LODGING for in-person meeting participants is available at:
- Holiday Inn, SW Route 66 (10709 Watson Rd., St. Louis, MO 63127)
- Rate: $109 + tax per night (Sunday and Monday, April 3-4th)
- Rooms are being held under "Midwest Bat Working Group" and will be available until March 14, 2022.
- The hotel is about 2 miles from the conference venue.
T-SHIRTS for the 14th Annual MWBWG Meeting are available for sale through the MWBWG Store starting at $16.00.
- T-shirt sales will be available for sale until 5pm central March 14th.
- For in-person participants, t-shirts will be available for pick-up at meeting check-in. Please place orders by March 1st to guarantee availability at the meeting.
- For virtual participants, t-shirts will be mailed to you after we receive the shirts from the printer.
~ MWBWG T-shirt Sales CLOSED ~
Program Overview
We will be meeting in-person with auditorium and classroom style seating and broadcasting for virtual plenary session, presentations, and business meeting. The Monday evening social and poster session will be available virtually using the Gather.town platform. This is the same virtual platform used at last year's virtual poster session and business meeting.
Monday, April 4, 2022
| Registration/Check-in |
11:00am CDT (12:00pm EDT) |
| Lunch (provided) |
12:00pm CDT (1:00pm EDT) |
| Welcome & Plenary Session |
1:00-2:30pm CDT (2:00-3:30pm EDT) |
| Break |
2:30-3:00pm CDT (3:30-4:00pm EDT) |
| Presentations |
3:00-5:30pm CDT (4:00-6:30pm EDT) |
| Social & Poster Session |
7:00-10:00pm CDT (8:00-11:00pm EDT) |
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
| Registration/Check-in/Breakfast |
8:00-9:00am CDT (8:30-10:00am EDT) |
| Presentations |
9:00-11:30am CDT (10:00am-12:30pm EDT) |
| Lunch (provided) |
11:30am-12:30pm CDT (12:30-1:30pm EDT) |
| Presentations |
12:30-2:30pm CDT (1:30-3:30pm EDT) |
| Break |
2:30-3:00pm CDT (3:30-4:00pm EDT) |
| Business Meeting, Awards, Depart |
3:00-4:30pm CDT (4:00-5:30 EDT) |
Call for Abstracts
Abstracts are being requested for virtual and in-person presentations and posters.
Your poster and/or presentation time will be specified in the agenda that will be sent to registrants prior to the meeting on April 4th. We highly encourage professionals, students, and researchers to submit abstracts for in-person or virtual presentations and be available at their assigned presentation times.
The deadline for abstract submission is EXTENDED TO MARCH 4, 2022.
All individuals submitting abstracts must be registered for the meeting to be eligible to present. Abstracts should include name, organization, address of authors, and a title. Underline the name of the author who will be presenting the poster. The Abstract should 1) state the principal objective(s) and scope of the investigation, 2) briefly describe the methods employed, 3) summarize the results, and 4) state the principle conclusions. The abstract should be less than 300 words.
Follow these format guidelines when preparing your abstract (see example below):
- Title should be all capital letters, bold, and centered at the top of the page.
- Include names and current addresses of authors after the title (and underline presenter's name).
- Italicize addresses of authors.
- Use 12-point Time New Roman font.
- Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
- Left justify authors and text only.
Email abstract submissions with subject line labeled "2022 MWBWG abstract" with attachment of abstract in Microsoft Word format to BOTH: Dr. Allen Kurta (akurta@emich.edu) & Dr. Joe Johnson (jjohnson@ohio.edu).
Deadline Extended to March 4, 2022.
EXAMPLE:
ALLEGHENY WOODRAT (NEOTOMA MAGISTER) HABITAT
CHARACTERISTICS IN VIRGINIA
Michael T. Mengak, Steven B. Castleberry, and W. Mark Ford. D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (MTM, SBC); USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station,
Newton Square, PA (WMF)
Presentation and Poster Preparation Guidelines
Posters and Presentations are due March 21, 2022 (submission instructions provided upon abstract acceptance).
Guidelines for Oral Presentations
A total of 15 minutes will be allotted for presentations, including time for answering questions (3 min). All oral presentations must be in Microsoft PowerPoint.
In-person Poster Guidelines
-
Should be no larger than 48 inches tall x 36 inches wide.
-
Should be readable from a distance of 2 meters.
-
Title should be capitalized with lettering at least 2 cm high (e.g. 72 pt).
-
Authors and institutional affiliations should be in upper- and lower-case lettering at least 11 mm high (e.g. 42 pt).
-
Text lettering should be at least 9 mm high (e.g. 36 pt) with a line thickness of at least 1 mm.
-
Text for Literature Cited section can be smaller if space is limited (e.g. down to 20 pt).
-
Information should be well organized and concisely presented. Most posters include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Literature Cited.
-
Keep written text to a minimum (remember the rule of thumb “less is more”). “Bullets” and short phrases are effective. Consider using no more than six illustrations (large graphs, flow charts, diagrams, and photographs). Keep captions and legends short and informative.
NOTE: In the chance that the meeting moves to a fully virtual format, those submitting posters for in-person presentation are also encouraged to submit their poster following the virtual guidelines provided below.
Virtual Poster Guidelines
- Overall size should be 12x9 inches.
-
Title should be capitalized with lettering around 32-point font.
-
Authors and affiliations should be in upper- and lower-case around 20-point font.
-
Text lettering should be at least 14-point font.
-
Most posters should include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Literature Cited.
-
Keep written text to a minimum. “Bullets” and short phrases are most effective.
-
Gather.town (virtual link to come) will be open 24 hours prior to the meeting for familiarization of the virtual space and for you to practice with a friend.
Mentor Meet-ups
We are organizing virtual mentor meet-ups for the MWBWG Hybrid Meeting and Poster Session! Due to the success of the 2021 Mentor Meet-ups, we wanted to include the opportunity as part of our 2022 event. This will be a fantastic opportunity for new students and professionals to meet with mentors from a variety of professional backgrounds, including research, government agencies, non-profits, and private organizations.
The virtual meetings will enable students to experience mentorship even if they are only signed up for the virtual poster session. It will also allow those that are coming to the in-person sessions a chance to get to know their mentors before the event and facilitate memorable, impactful connections while socially distanced.
If you are a professional MWBWG member interested in volunteering as a mentor, please fill out the form HERE. If you are a student interested in participating and meeting with mentors, you will receive an email with more information after signing up for the 2022 MWBWG Hybrid Meeting (virtual or in-person). We will be matching students and mentors by their indicated interests, then notifying participants by the end of March. We look forward to facilitating this unique experience!
Achievement and Student Awards
The following awards will be available this year. To learn more about these awards and to find out how to submit an application or nomination please visit our Awards and Scholarships page.
- Dave Redell Lifetime Achievement Award
- John O. Whitaker, Jr. Travel Award - Undergraduate Student
- John O. Whitaker, Jr. Travel Award - Graduate Student
- Best Student Poster
- Best Student Presentation
We hope to see you soon!
