Reefs of the Indopacific:
Hopes for the future and lessons from the past

25th – 27th September 2009
Novotel Atrium Hotel, Darwin, NT

This year the 84th Annual ACRS Conference will be held in Darwin for the first time. The conference will be followed by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies mentoring day. This is a particularly exciting time in Darwin as it hosts the Charles Darwin 200 Program. This celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin will include a three day symposium titled Charles Darwin: Shaping our Science, Society & Future from 22nd – 24th September which will be followed by Darwin 200: Evolution and Biodiversity from 25th – 28th September.

The Darwin 200 symposium is a cluster of conferences: the Australian Entomological Society’s 40th AGM & Scientific Conference / Society of Australian Systematic Biologists / 9th Invertebrate Biodiversity & Conservation / and the Australian Coral Reef Society’s 84th Annual Conference.

A common plenary day will be held on Friday 25th September with invited keynote speakers presenting talks with an evolutionary theme (click here for program). This will be followed by the ACRS Conference from Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th September. In addition, the conference will be followed by a Student Day on the 28th September which will be free of charge. The Student Day will be hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. The CoE is offering a range of mentoring activities to all graduate students attending the conference. This student day will provide workshops and seminars in general interest areas such as finishing the thesis, publishing, writing literature reviews, writing research proposals and career structuring. There will also be a social event on Monday evening. In order to help support the cost of accomodation for students, $50 will be removed from the cost of registration for those attending the full program on the Student Day.

Conference Program

The ACRS Conference will include a number of keynote speakers and a series of thematic sessions and workshops. Our program runs over two days, with 90 papers including an exciting day on the Coral Triangle.

There will be two sessions on Sunday about Science & Capacity-Building in the Coral Triangle. The primary aim of these sessions is to share experiences on coral reef science projects that have delivered effective science and local capacity-building within the Coral Triangle region and northern Australia, with a view to identifying ‘best practice’ approaches.

We will be holding a poster session on Saturday evening from 5.30 - 6.30 pm with drinks and canapés. At this time the poster presenters will be near their posters to discuss their work.

The conference dinner and awards night will be held at the Darwin Sailing Club on Sunday night. For your convenience buses will be picking delegates up from the Novotel atrium at 6:30 and 6:45 pm, returning at the end of the dinner. Prizes will be given to students for best oral and poster presentations, including the Vicki Harriott award of $500, bench fees at four marine research stations, and a number of other generous awards.

Click here for the conference program.

Our Carbon Footprint

Every effort has been made to reduce the carbon footprint of this conference. We have made all our information, call for papers and registration materials electronically and encouraged delegates to email their forms rather than mail or fax them. The program will be printed on recycled stock and we have decided against a conference satchel in favour of a ‘shopping bag’ that you will receive.

Our meal choices for our catering are considered with our carbon footprint in mind so you will notice the minimum of red meat in our meal selections. We have chosen the only Green Globe Certified hotel in Darwin and have worked with them to reduce emissions as much as possible with the use of natural light and the minimum of necessary airconditioning.

Here is an excerpt from the Novotel Atrium’s environmental policy:

Novotel Atrium Darwin is committed to sustainable development, putting the environment and society at the heart of its actions.

We recognise and understand the key sustainability issues that face our local and global community. As such, Novotel Atrium Darwin has set itself the following goals: fight against climate warming by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions; reduce its consumption of natural resources; preserve and support biodiversity; and, lastly, limit the amount of waste produced in its operation.

Novotel Atrium Darwin has appointed a dedicated “Environment Committee” lead by a Green Globe Coordinator, who is responsible for the hotels’ environmental performance, mitigation of environmental risks, performance monitoring and direction initiative and environmental and social sustainability programs.

Novotel Atrium Darwin is developing an environmental action plan in accordance with the requirements of the Green Globe Company Standard that will be implemented over the future months.

Novotel Atrium Darwin pledges its commitment to local communities and aims to contribute to local economic development and take part in local initiatives.

These commitments mean that Novotel Atrium Darwin will constantly strive to improve its environmental and social performance through maintaining best practice; exceeding compliance with regulations and by initiating sustainable actions to help the environment and society.

Therefore, we have made the following commitments:

• To implement sound waste management schemes
• To reduce lighting usages where necessary
• The reduction of Greenhouse Gases
• Staff awareness on environmental issues in the workplace
• To provide environmental and social awareness for our customers and guests

Special consideration will be given to employing and empowering staff from the local community and wherever possible efficient and environmentally sustainable, products and services will be sourced locally.

We encourage staff to present our commitment to environmental and social sustainability and our Benchmarked/Certified status under the Green Globe programme to our customers, service providers, business partners, contractors and suppliers.

The Novotel Atrium has promised that, after we have reduced and eliminated emissions wherever we can, they will fund the offset of our remaining emissions for the conference. They are working with a company called Carbon Neutral to do this.

We encourage those of you who haven’t done so already, to offset your flights to the conference as well.

Registration: Now Open!

To register for the 2009 ACRS conference you will need to download and complete two forms:

1. Registration Form
2. Payment Form

The Registration Form is fairly straight forward but the following may help with completing it.

Please fill the form in and email it to acrs@cms.uq.edu.au with ‘ACRS Registration’ in the subject.

It is an Excel spreadsheet and will calculate your total cost as you fill in the form so please complete all the boxes that require a number. If you do not want an item, just leave the zero in the box.

The different registration rates are listed in a box on the right hand side and there is a drop down list from which to select the appropriate one. As you can see, the cost of registration is $50 cheaper for ACRS members. If you are not already a member of ACRS, you can join here, and receive additional benefits provided by the Society.

Accommodation at the Novotel Atrium Hotel is NOW FULL. However, The Mantra Hotel, located next to the Novotel, has offered us rooms for the same price. This is a lovely hotel and the rooms have the same configuration as those at Novotel. ACRS will still gain an accommodation commission for rooms booked at The Mantra. Please book for this hotel only through the ACRS Registration Form. The room types and costs are listed on the right. The rates for these rooms when shared are quite reasonable but we must book soon as it is a busy time in Darwin and accommodation is selling fast. The rates listed are per room. You may notice that the one bedroom units are more expensive than the two bedroom units. This is because the one bedroom units have harbour views. If you would like to stay at Novotel and would like to share with someone but need assistance to find someone suitable, please mention this in your email and we will endeavour to help you.

Please fill in the boxes to identify which nights you would like to book for accommodation. There are drop down boxes with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ beside each date.

Events Included in the Registration Cost:

All sessions, lunches, morning and afternoon teas are included in registration costs. The Welcome Function and the Conference Dinner are also included in the registration cost, however we need to know whether or not you will be attending, so that we can cater and be charged accordingly. Again there are ‘Yes’/‘No’ drop down boxes to be filled in.

Events Not Included in the Registration Cost:

On Friday 25th September the plenary day of Darwin 200: Evolution and Biodiveristy will take place. ACRS delegates are able to attend the day for the small cost of $56. Please include the number of tickets you require or leave it at zero.

If you require guest tickets to the Welcome Function or the Conference Dinner, these can be purchased on the form.

Saturday evening delegates can purchase tickets to Social Hour at Crocosaurus Cove. A great opportunity to network with colleagues in this exciting environment. This is an optional extra @ $60 which includes entrance into the Cove, platters of food and one hour of drinks. Free evening thereafter. A night club has recently been opened in the basement of the Cove. Arrangements can be made for those attending the social hour.
The form will calculate your total cost at the end. Please pay this amount by following the instructions on the payment form.

Please email the Registration Form to acrs@cms.uq.edu.au. In the email please explain your method of payment (outlined in the Payment Form). If you have made an internet payment, please include the receipt number in the email.

Call for Papers Now closed

Student Travel Awards Now closed

	Web www.australiancoralreefsociety.org