We are now accepting abstracts for the 45th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting November 17-19th, 2023. This year's meeting will be held in Tifton, Georgia at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center. Keep reading for specific instructions for participants interested in submitting an abstract for the meeting. Registration details to come.

The deadline for submitting abstracts is November 3, 2023. We welcome presentations regarding gopher tortoise biology, conservation, and management, including:

• conservation initiatives and successful partnerships
• policy, regulation, or economics
• habitat restoration, management, and conservation
• emerging challenges in tortoise conservation
• monitoring and field techniques
• commensals and other species associated with tortoises and southeastern upland habitats
• general ecology of upland pine ecosystems

Instructions for Submitting Abstracts (Oral Presentations and Posters):

Abstracts should be ≤300 words submitted in MS Word format, and should conform to the general style of Journal of Wildlife Management format (see sample abstract below). The presentation title, names, affiliations, addresses, and email of all authors should be provided with the abstract. Please indicate if you wish to present an oral or poster presentation.

Student presentation awards are given for the top three student oral presentations at the annual meeting. Please indicate clearly if you are a student (undergraduate or graduate) so that you can be considered for an award. Submit abstracts via e-mail to Lora Smith at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Oral presentations are allotted 20 minutes, including 3-5 minutes for questions. Posters should be created using a standard poster format in MS Powerpoint, i.e., landscape orientation, set custom size to 48 inches (width) by 36 inches (height).

Sample Abstract:

The Effects of Fish Size on Net Energy Intake of Snowy Egrets

Toobee R. Estord¹ and Mork Ritters²

¹Everglades Division, South Florida Water Management District, 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33406

²Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 3200 T. M. Goodwin Road, Fellsmere, FL 32948

Draining wetlands reduces their hydroperiod and causes a shift in the size structure of the fish community toward smaller and younger fish. Reduced fish size could potentially impact snowy egrets (Egretta thula) if it reduced their net energy intake. We tested the hypothesis........... MAXIMUM 300 WORDS