How To Submit

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You must submit your proposal using the online submission form. Proposals sent by email will not be considered. Proposals that are incomplete will not be considered.

All ESA Annual Meeting proposal and abstract deadlines are 5:00 PM Eastern so that technical support and ESA staff assistance will be immediately available when submitters need it. If you begin your submission very close to the deadline, you are choosing to take a risk, and we will not make an exception if you are unable to complete your submission in time. The form automatically closes at 5:00 Eastern Time (2:00 Pacific Time) whether you have completed your submission or not.

You will receive an automatic email when you complete your submission. Every speaker listed in the proposal will receive a similar email. You will be able to return to the proposal to edit it until the submission deadline has passed.

To submit a proposal, you will need to log in using an ESA member account. If you have not been an ESA member or registered for an ESA meeting in recent years, you will need to create an ESA member account before you can submit. You do not need to pay membership dues to create an ESA member account or submit for the meeting.

Important Note

ESA meetings, open to ESA members and those interested in ecology, are among the most respected meetings of ecologists in the science community. ESA is committed to providing a safe, productive and welcoming environment. All participants including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, ESA staff, service providers and others are expected to abide by the ESA Meetings Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct applies to all ESA meeting-related events including those sponsored by organizations other than ESA but held in conjunction with ESA events, in public or private facilities. In addition, ESA members and authors of ESA publications must adhere to the ESA Code of Ethics and the ESA Diversity Statement.

About Social Events

We invite requests for social events for the 2025 Annual Meeting. Networking is one of the most important benefits of conference attendance. Whether it’s a small business meeting or a large evening mixer with food, beverages, and A/V, a little advance planning goes a long way. To help us provide the appropriate setup and meet your logistical needs, anyone planning a social event (mixer, reception, business meeting) as part of the meeting program is required to submit an event request in advance. Social events can be requested for Monday through Thursday. If you are requesting multiple social events, you should submit a separate request for each event. If you are holding an offsite event and would like us to include it in the online program, please submit an event request and provide the offsite location. Unless the event is ticketed, social events are open to all registered meeting attendees without any advance signup required.

All social events will take place in person in Baltimore. There are no remote or hybrid options this year. Social events are not scheduled concurrently with oral or poster sessions. Social events will be scheduled to minimize topic overlap and as meeting space and logistics allow. We are planning to schedule social events for the traditional breakfast, lunch, and evening time slots. See the Event Request Format section for a complete list of potential timeslots.

We will accommodate room set requests as much as logistical constraints allow. We can only fulfill requests for food service, beverage service, or equipment that incurs costs if there is a source of funding available.

Feel free to contact us (meetings@esa.org) if you have questions about planning your event. We can help you figure out what you need to request to plan the event you have in mind. If you are organizing an event that ESA has hosted before, we can help you estimate how many attendees you might expect based on past years.

Advice To Help Your Submission Go Smoothly

• We recommend submitting from a computer. The submission form is not optimized for mobile devices.
• The submission form only accepts plain text. Your proposal should not include links, formatting (such as italics or bold). Unfortunately we cannot support subscripts, superscripts, special characters, or Greek and mathematical symbols.
• You will be able to search our member database list to find people to enter for your event in different roles. Even though affiliations will appear for some people in the list, you will need to enter everyone’s affiliations after you add them to the proposal. We advise you to make sure you have everyone’s affiliations as they would like it to appear in the meeting program.

Event Request Format

The information listed below must be submitted through the online submission form. It is provided here to assist you in planning your submission. The form may differ slightly from the version listed here. Event requests that are incomplete or received by email will not be considered. You may begin a submission and then return to edit it up until the deadline.

• Submitter agreements. The submitter must agree to abide by the Code of Conduct for ESA Events, the ESA Code of Ethics, and the ESA Diversity Statement.
• Event title (up to 50 words). A strong social event title is short and descriptive.
• Organizer (Name, institution, email, country). This person is the point of contact for the event and responsible for communicating with ESA. This can only be one person.
• Co-organizers (Name, institution, email, country for each). There can be any number of co-organizers, including zero.
• Event description (250 words max., required). Describe the purpose of this social event. The session description should avoid overly specialized language. Any ecologist attending the meeting should be able to understand it. This is the text attendees will read in the meeting program to decide if they want to attend this event or not.
• Name of the group organizing the event (100 words max., required). What group is organizing this event? This could be an ESA Section, Chapter or committee, or an outside group. This will be listed in the meeting program.
• Topical track (select up to 2, optional): Would you like this session to be considered for inclusion in any of the following tracks? Please only select a track if you think it’s a good fit for this event.
  • Career Exploration
  • Education
  • Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)
  • Data Skills Training
  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge
  • Communication and Engagement
• Preferred scheduling (Required; you can choose multiple options). Please be aware that scheduling that matches the preference indicated here may not be possible.
  • Monday breakfast (7:00-8:00 AM)
  • Monday lunch option 1 (11:45 AM-1:15 PM)
  • Monday lunch option 2 (12:00 PM-1:00 PM)
  • Monday evening (6:30-8:00 PM)
  • Tuesday breakfast (7:00-8:00 AM)
  • Tuesday lunch option 1 (11:45 AM-1:15 PM)
  • Tuesday lunch option 2 (12:00 PM-1:00 PM)
  • Tuesday evening (6:30-8:00 PM)
  • Wednesday breakfast (7:00-8:00 AM)
  • Wednesday lunch option 1 (11:45 AM-1:15 PM)
  • Wednesday lunch option 2 (12:00 PM-1:00 PM)
  • Wednesday evening (6:30-8:00 PM)
  • Thursday breakfast (7:00-8:00 AM)
  • Thursday lunch option 1 (11:45 AM-1:15 PM)
  • Thursday lunch option 2 (12:00 PM-1:00 PM)
• Scheduling Notes (Optional, up to 200 words): Are there other sessions we should be aware of when scheduling this one? Please provide the title, submitter, and session type for each session mentioned. Due to the complex nature of scheduling, we cannot consider organizer or speaker availability when scheduling sessions. This will only be seen by the committee. It will not appear in the meeting program.

Is the session intended to be linked to another session or social event? Are there any other sessions you are aware of that should not be scheduled at the same time as this one?

• Event contact name and mobile phone (required). Once we are on site at the meeting, we may need to check in by phone. Please provide your name and mobile phone number that we can use to text or call you (or someone else who will be the one site point of contact) on the day of the event.
• Liability agreement: Everyone submitting a social event request must check a box to acknowledge the following: I understand by checking the box, I do hereby agree to indemnify and to hold harmless the Ecological Society of America, its officers, employees, members, and agents, from and against any and all liability claims, actions, causes of action, demands, rights, damages, cost, loss of service, expenses, and compensation for all negligence whether active or passive arising out, of, or in any way connected or related to the ESA Annual Meeting, August 10-15, 2025.
• Alignment with values (required): Does this session align with the values in the ESA’s Diversity Statement? Yes/No. If you answered “no” to this question, please provide an explanation.

For Off Site Event Requests

For events that will be held off site, such as at a restaurant or bar, you will also need to provide the following information.

• Off site event location: If this is an off site event, please give us as much information as you can at this stage of the planning process about what you are planning to arrange offsite, and where, including the street address for the external venue. Please finalize any offsite arrangements by June 26th.

For On Site Event Requests

For events that will be held on site in ESA’s meeting space, you will also need to provide the following information.

• Anticipated Number of Attendees: How many people do you expect may attend this event? We are looking for your best ballpark estimate at this point in the process. If you estimate changes over time, please let us know. We will need a final estimate by June 12th.
• Room set: Choose the room set(s) closest to what you have in mind for this event. You can choose up to 2 options. We will accommodate room set requests as much as logistical constraints allow. You can refer to these Room Set Descriptions [PDF] which include helpful illustrations. The options are: No Preference, Classroom, Conference, Hollow Square, Reception Flow, Round Tables, Theater, Theater with a Panel Table on Stage.
• Flip charts: How many flip charts will this session need? Please help us minimize costs and only request as many charts as you require (up to 3). You can tear off pages to share one chart with multiple groups. We pay more than $100 to rent each flip chart per session.
• Requested equipment. You can choose multiple options from this list:
  • None
  • A laptop (with sound for videos), screen, and LCD projector (setup for speakers with slides)
  • Podium with microphone (setup for speakers without slides)
  • Wireless internet connection
  • Wireless microphone
  • Other equipment (specify with a note)
• Equipment notes (100 words maximum): Is there anything else you anticipate you will need for this session?
• Beverage service: Bringing in outside food or beverages is strictly prohibited. Please note all food and beverage orders are subject to a 26% service charge. We do not yet know the final catering costs for this year’s convention center. Up to date menus with pricing will be sent to you in the spring for you to make your final food selections. In the meantime, you can look over the catering options [PDF] that are available from the Baltimore Convention Center’s website as of November 2024. If you are requesting a bar, please be aware it requires a $250 bartending fee and minimum revenue ($1000 for a cash bar, $500 for an open bar). If the minimum revenue (exclusive of any service charges and taxes) is not met, the group will be charged the difference. Check all that apply:
  • No Beverage Service, Bottled Water, Soft Drinks, Lemonade, Iced Tea, Coffee, Hot Tea, Cash Bar (wine and beer only), Open Bar (wine and beer only), Drink Tickets (indicate number).
• Food service: Bringing in outside food or beverages is strictly prohibited. Please note all food and beverage orders are subject to a 26% service charge. We do not yet know the final catering costs for this year’s convention center. Up to date menus with pricing will be sent to you in the spring for you to make your final food selections. In the meantime, you can look over the catering options [PDF] that are available from the Baltimore Convention Center’s website as of November 2024. Check all that apply:
  • No Food Service, Snacks, Reception, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Covering costs (100 words maximum). We can only fulfill requests for food service, beverage service, or equipment that incurs costs if there is a source of funding available. If you are requesting any of these, please specify the following:
  • Your budget to cover these costs
  • Your source of funding
  • If there is someone we should invoice for these costs, please provide their name and email address
  • If this a joint event, let us know how much each group is contributing to the costs for the event (in dollar amounts).
• Payment Agreement. Everyone submitting an on site social event request must check boxes to acknowledge the following: I acknowledge by submitting a request to host an event that all stated costs are my responsibility. If this event is a chapter/section/official ESA committee function, the costs will be deducted from the group’s budget at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting. If I’m an outside group, I understand that I will be invoiced after the meeting for payment for my event. I also understand that I can pay ESA by VISA, American Express, MasterCard or check within 30 days of receiving my invoice. If payment is not received you will not be able to hold future events until full payment is made.

Demographic Questions about the Session Organizer

The submission form asks a few questions about the session organizer to help ESA improve our services and monitor our efforts towards diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. You will be asked to answer the following questions about the lead session organizer for this proposal.  All information will be shared only in the aggregate to help us assess the diversity of our submissions. Proposal reviewers and the committee will not see this information for individual proposals. It is required that you answer each question, but you can select “Prefer not to answer”.

What best describes your race and/or ethnicity? You can select multiple answers.

• Asian/Asian American
• Black/African American
• Native American / Alaskan Native
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
• Middle Eastern or North African
• Hispanic/Latinx
• White
• Bi/Multiracial
• Other
• Prefer to self describe (free response option)
• Prefer not to answer

Where are you currently in your career? You can only select one.

• Undergraduate Student
• Graduate Student (includes PhD students)
• Post Doc
• Early Career (1-8 years since final degree, excluding post docs)
• Mid-Career (within 25 years since final degree)
• Senior Professional (more than 25 years since final degree)
• Retired
• Other (please describe)
• Prefer not to answer

What best describes your gender? You can only select one.

• Female
• Male
• Non-binary
• Prefer to self describe (free response option)
• Prefer not to answer

After Submission

Everyone who has submitted an event request will be notified of their event’s status in May. All of the logistical concerns for the event will be handled through follow-up over email.

ESA may not be able to accept all event requests. Confirmation of an event request does not obligate ESA beyond providing a meeting space and including the event in the online program.

If you have questions during the planning process, please contact us (meetings@esa.org).

Cancellation Policy

If for some reason you must cancel your event, it must be cancelled in writing (email is sufficient) by June 13, 2025. Cancellations after this date may incur a cancellation fee, especially if food and beverages have been ordered.

Important Dates

April 10, 2025                    Deadline for submitting a social event request to ESA.

May 30, 2025                    Organizers notified of event status.

June 12, 2025                    Deadline to submit final attendance estimate for on site events.

June 20, 2025                    Deadline to finalize any off site arrangements.

Questions?

Contact ESA’s Meetings Team

meetings@esa.org