In July of 2012, ASLO will convene its biennial Aquatic Sciences Meeting on the shores of ancient Lake Biwa, Otsu, Japan, and we invite you to participate in this "Voyage of Discovery." This dialogue among limnologists and oceanographers from the West and East will be an opportunity to share new knowledge, insights, and discoveries about the world's lakes, rivers and oceans, and to address the many challenges that these ecosystems are now facing. We, therefore, welcome proposals for special sessions on topics that are relevant to both freshwater and marine systems or that examine the interactions among them. In addition, we encourage topics that address environmental issues on ocean or freshwater systems at global and local scales, advances in innovative technologies for aquatic research, and biological, biogeochemical and evolutionary aspects relevant to community and ecosystem structure and processes.

The ASLO 2012 Local Organizing Committee has identified a variety of economical accommodation/hotel options in Otsu and Kyoto (10 minutes by train from Otsu) and many inexpensive restaurants. Also in Japan there are "convenience stores" almost everywhere where you can buy sandwiches, lunch boxes, snacks and beverages at very reasonable prices. The ASLO Conference package will also include suggestions on many types of traditional Japanese foods that you may like to sample. It also should be noted that Lake Biwa/Otsu is located in the south west of Japan and far away (several hundreds of miles) from the earthquake and aftershocks zone that affected the Fukushima region, and it is a very safe and clean place [see Vincent (2011) L&O Bulletin 20(2) 46-47].

Session proposals are due 30 September 2011. Proposals should identify at least two co-chairs and include an informative session title and a short description of the session (see details below). Session presentations will be oral, poster, or a combination of oral talks and posters to be determined by the scientific committee after abstracts have been received. To attract maximum attendance at the reception and the poster sessions, we are planning to host a variety of artistic performances just before the sessions begin each day, such as "Plankton Jazz", a Koto music performance and a Japanese drumming demonstration. It will be an exciting week, so please join us!

Emerging Issues Workshops are to encourage dialog in emerging or controversial issues. Following the submission of a special session and its acceptance, session organizers will be provided information about submitting a workshop proposal.

Guidelines for Session Proposal Submissions

Session proposals must be submitted using the form at the bottom of this page. At least two (maximum four) co-chairs that plan to attend the meeting are required. Co-chairs must be members of ASLO. Session titles should be between 45 to 180 characters. Session descriptions should be limited to 200 words and should be broad enough to include all interested researchers, regardless of affiliation or funding sources.

Schedule

Session proposals must be submitted online by 23:59 U.S. Central Daylight Time, 30 September 2011. The Call for Abstracts will be issued late fall 2011. Abstract submissions will be due online in November 2011, when an abstract fee and registration for the conference will be required. The registration fee will be refundable up to 30 days prior to the conference, should cancellation be necessary.

Oral Session Format

Oral sessions will be in groups of eight 15-min talks, or seven talks with one double-length (30-min) talk available at the discretion of the co-chairs. Chairs may designate up to two presenters as "Invited" in each session. Invited presenters are still required to submit an abstract and pay abstract and registration fees. Chairs may choose to use the 30-min talk for an overview or tutorial. Sessions will be scheduled by the Planning Committee after abstracts have been received.

Poster Session Format

Posters will be approximately 4’x4’ or 122cm x 122cm. Groups of posters, organized by topic, will be highlighted for two hours at a time when no oral sessions are scheduled. Beverages and substantial snacks will be available during poster sessions.

Town hall and other meetings

We also encourage town-hall and other group meetings, primarily during the lunch break. Request forms will be available with the Call for Abstracts.

Contacts

If you have questions about the science program, please contact the meeting co-chairs:

Kazuhiro Kogure, Tokyo University
Jotaro Urabe, Tohoku University
Michio Kumagai, Lake Biwa Research Institute

For practical and logistical information about the meeting, please contact:

Helen Schneider Lemay
ASLO Business Manager
ASLO Business Office
5400 Bosque Blvd., Suite 680
Waco, Texas 76710 USA
Voice: 800.929.ASLO or 254.399.9635
Fax: 254.776.3767
E-mail: business@aslo.org

For more detailed information, please check the website at http://www.aslo.org/forms/japan2012.html