It's time once again to register and submit abstracts for our annual meeting, scheduled for  March 21 - 22, at Wildlife Prairie State Park in Illinois. If you attended last year's business meeting, you will recall that we decided to hold the meeting at an off-campus location for a change of pace from the past several years. Wildlife Prairie State Park is just outside of Peoria, Illinois, roughly in the geographic center of our expansive section, and affords the opportunity to head outdoors for a hike or some plant/bird-watching on Saturday afternoon. 

Registration will open at 7:30 on Saturday morning, and we will plan to wrap up after lunch on Sunday. 

As always, this meeting presents an excellent opportunity for many students and postdocs to present their work in the form of a talk, which is often not possible at larger national meetings. Even if electing the oral presentation option, all presenters should also prepare a standard poster for display and discussion. The body of your abstract should not exceed 1800 characters and should not include any graphics or tables. 

Register and submit your abstract online. The deadline for abstracts to be considered for a talk and included in the abstract booklet is Friday, March 6,2009. 

A block of rooms is being held at the Spring Hill Suites by Marriot at Peoria-Westlake. Please use the group code ASPASPA when reserving your room on the website or over the phone (309-681-2700). The rooms are $109 per night and large enough to hold 4 persons easily. This hotel also offers shuttle service to/from the airport AND to/from the park, which is ideal if you are planning to fly and want to avoid the expense of a rental car. Please indicate whether you will require shuttle service to the park on the registration form. The block will be held until February 20.  

The park itself also has a limited number of cabins for overnight stays. There are plenty of other hotels in the area, including a Red Roof Inn and a Ramada Inn. Regardless of where you choose to stay, please reserve your room early, as we have just learned that the boys state basketball tournament will also be in town over the same weekend.  

Links:
Wildlife PrairieState Park
Springhill Suites
Red Roof Inn 

Contacts: