The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California are proud to announce the Western Society of Malacologists 50^th Annual Meeting, June 19-23, 2017 in Los Angeles. See our registration page here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/western-society-of-malacologists-50th-annual-meeting-tickets-28744283927

Our land snail logo artwork (modeled after Helminthoglypta traskii) was created by scientific illustrator Bailee Desrocher, whose exquisite artwork is featured here: http://www.beautifulcritters.com/

Schedule & Program

June 19, Monday

1:00 – 3:00 PM: Registration at Natural History of Los Angeles County (NHMLA)
3:30 – 5:00 PM, WSM Executive Board Meeting, Grill at NHMLA (ground floor)
5:30 PM, Icebreaker at Mercado La Paloma, within walking distance of NHMLA

June 20, Tuesday

9:15 AM, Conference welcome, room 101 Mudd Hall of Philosophy, USC campus (all talks here). Map is here.
Morning Session: Topics in Marine Malacology
12:10 – 1:40 PM: Lunchtime Session: Citizen Science Training with iNaturalist, Earth Sciences Building, USC campus
1:45 – 3:15 PM, Afternoon Session: Mollusca and Climate Change
3:15 – 3:30, Remembrance of Bill Emerson
3:30 – 4:00 PM, Student and Honorary Award announcements & group photo
7:00 – 9:00 PM, Auction to benefit student award fund, NHMLA, Times Mirror Room, bring your checkbook!

June 21, Wednesday

9:00 – 11:35 AM, Morning Session: Current Research in Fossil Mollusca, rm. 101 Mudd Hall of Philosophy, USC (coffee break: 10:20-10:35)
11:35 – 11:45 AM: Group Photo for Fossil Mollusca Session Presenters
11:45 AM – 1:30 PM: Lunchtime Poster Session, courtyard of Mudd Hall of Philosophy
1:30 – 3:30 PM, Afternoon Session: Current Research in Fossil Mollusca, (break 1:45-2:00)
3:00 – 4:30 PM, Remembrance of James McLean and Twila Bratcher

June 22, Thursday

9:00 – 11:35 AM, Morning Session: Terrestrial Gastropods, rm. 101 Mudd Hall of Philosophy, USC (coffee break: 10:30-10:45)
12:15 – 12:25 AM: Group Photo for Terrestrial Gastropods Session Presenters
Lunchtime Session: 12:25—1:25 PM, 50 years of WSM: A Retrospective
2:35 – 3:30 PM, Afternoon Session: Marine heterobranchs: biodiversity and phylogenetics
3:30 – 4:30 PM, WSM Business Meeting
6:30 – 9:00 PM, WSM Banquet, NHMLA, Foyer

June 23, Friday

Field Trips: pick up near NHMLA car park (parking lot adjacent to Museum) at 9:15 AM.
- Madrona Marsh: 9:15 AM – 1:30 PM
- Pleistocene Palos Verdes/invertebrate sites: 9:15 AM to about 4:30 PM. Field trip begins with trip to NHMLA Invertebrate paleontology collections (off-site)

Other details

Talk Presentations: Presentations should be 15 minutes total: approximately 12 minutes of slides/presentation with a few minutes for questions. Talks should be loaded before one’s session on one laptop that will be provided (from a thumb/flash drive). If you want to present from your own laptop, please make sure you have the appropriate adaptors. Coffee breaks, lunch, and prior to the session (in the morning) are good times to load your talk.

Poster easels, board, and thumbtacks will be provided.

WSM 2017 T-shirts will be sold for cash at the registration table throughout the meeting until they are sold out.

********************************************************************************

Below are some web resources with information to enhance your stay in Expo Park, Los Angeles. All are within walking distance of USC’s Mudd Hall of Philosophy and NHMLA.

Food

Food options on USC campus

Food options in Exposition Park neighborhood

Food options along the LA Metro Expo Line

Science & Culture

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Your WSM-issued meeting badge will grant you free access to NHMLA from June 19-22.

Hoose Library of Philosophy in Mudd Hall of Philosophy

Exposition Park Rose Garden

California Science Center

California African American Museum

USC Fisher Museum of Art

Abstracts

The abstract submission deadline is closed. If you have a special request, please email Jann Vendetti: jvendett[at]nhm.org

Please submit your abstract (not more than 350 words, including title and authors) in Times New Roman 12 pt font as a .doc .docx or .rtf file.

The abstract should contain:

Poster or Talk (indicate that you’d like to present this as a poster or talk presentation)
Title: concise and descriptive, bold font, left justified.
Author/s: Last name first, followed by initials; presenting author underlined; plain font, left justified.
Author/s affiliations: Include full postal address and email for all authors; italics, left justified.
Main body: Use standard scientific English, avoid contractions; plain font, left justified.
(optional) References: Author/s, year, title, journal (not abbreviated), volume, inclusive pages.

As always, talks and posters about almost any aspect of molluscan biology, paleontology, archeology, and anthropology are welcome. All WSM meeting events and talks will take place in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, including at the Natural History Museum and USC campus.

Abstract Submission

Please email your correctly formatted abstract to: jvendett[at]nhm.org, please write out “at” as “@” and use subject line: WSM Abstract_your last name. Abstracts will not be accepted from individuals not registered for the conference. You will receive an email that your abstract has been received.

Posters

Posters should not be larger than 42 x 36 inches