46th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting

Agenda: Click HERE for Detailed Agenda. Click HERE for Presentation Abstracts.

Meeting Location:

This year’s meeting will be held at the Continuing Education and Conference Center (CEC) at Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33711 in St. Petersburg, FL from November 15–17, 2024.  Parking map HERE.

Registration:

Early-bird registration discounts are available until October 25th. Click HERE to Register. 

Registration costs include attendance at two days of presentations, on-site refreshment breaks, and Friday night social dinner at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Visitor Center (dinner with vegan option available) + beer/wine (2 drink tickets). See field trip details below.

Join us in the GTC Sustainability Zone! Bring your own reusable water bottle and/or coffee mug to the meeting and receive raffle tickets to win free coffee or gift card!

Boxed lunches available for purchase. Enjoy a view of the bay at Eckerd College’s beautiful campus.

Saturday, November 16th Awards Dinner at Tampa Bay Watch, $30.00 each. Don’t forget to purchase an extra ticket if you are bringing a guest – includes dinner and drinks.

Sunday, November 17th optional Field Trips: to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve (free) or Ferry Ride to Egmont Key ($18)

T-Shirts: 

T-shirts for the upcoming annual meeting are now available. Click HERE to choose from lots of great colors and styles.

 

Lodging:

Blocks of rooms have been reserved at the following locations:

 The Beachcomber - 5.2 miles

  • 6200 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach, FL 33706
  • CLOSED-due to hurricane damage
  • For reservation assistance, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Holiday Inn St. Petersburg West - 6.1 miles

  • 1200 34th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713
  • Use Group Code GTC when booking.
  • Book online or by calling the hotel 727-322-0770 or IHG central reservations at 1-888-211-9874.

Staybridge Suites St. Petersburg Downtown

  • 940 5th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33705
  • Book online
  • Group rate expires on November 1, 2024

Terry Tomalin Campground at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - 3.4 miles

  • 2910 31st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
  • 6 cabins, 18 campsites, and a group campsite
  • Book online.
  • For Thursday, November 14th campground reservations, email Kimani Flemming (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) after booking campground reservations for the weekend. 
  • Campground rules and additional information.

 Our room blocks for this event will likely fill up quickly, so reserve your room early!

Sponsors

Please consider sponsoring the annual meeting of the Gopher Tortoise Council. These one-time donations go directly to defraying the costs of the annual meeting, meaning more of our organization’s resources can fund gopher tortoise conservation, research, and education.

Call for Abstracts: 

The deadline for submitting abstracts is October 18, 2024. 

Click HERE to preview oral presentation abstracts.

 Live and Silent Action:

Both live and silent auctions will take place at this year’s meeting so bring your best items to contribute! Our auctions at the annual meeting support GTC’s grant programs. Please consider donating auction items at the meeting to raise money for environmental education, student research, and gopher tortoise day funding!  

Questions?

For more information contact Eric Sievers, GTC Co-chair and host for this year’s meeting (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Hope to see you all in November!

 More information can be found on our website at: https://gophertortoisecouncil.org/annual-meeting 

 

2023 Annual Meeting Highlights

Meeting was held at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia from November 17-19th, 2023.

 Agenda:  Click HERE to view the complete meeting agenda.